Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2007)

86% of critics liked it
(29 reviews)
78% of users liked it
(1,164 ratings)

Explore the life and career of a musical artist who penned some of the biggest hits of the 1960s before turning his back on fame and completely reinventing himself as a reclusive outsider artist. In the mid-'60s, few bands rose higher up the British pop charts than the Walker Brothers, and as the… More Explore the life and career of a musical artist who penned some of the biggest hits of the 1960s before turning his back on fame and completely reinventing himself as a reclusive outsider artist. In the mid-'60s, few bands rose higher up the British pop charts than the Walker Brothers, and as the front man of the group, Scott Walker was constantly in the spotlight. In the years that followed, the American-born Walker would split from the group to establish himself as a successful solo artist while inspiring such popular musicians as David Bowie and Bono. Now, as the release of Walker's 2006 solo album, The Drift, draws near, the existential crooner notorious for not granting interviews allows filmmaker Stephen Kijak to follow along for tantalizing glimpse at one of the world's most enigmatic musicians. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Stephen Kijak
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

In Theaters: Oct 31, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Dec 1, 2007
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures

Critic Reviews

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (which takes its title from a Walker-penned song) makes a fascinating case that in the years that followed, Walker became the music equivalent of a 'poet's poet.'
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man chronicles the career of musician Scott Walker, an enigmatic figure whose influence far outreaches his relative obscurity.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is the latest in a mini-wave of pop-music docs, like The Devil and Daniel Johnston, that try to inflate cult figures into lost geniuses.
Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle
Director Stephen Kijak not only got a composed, almost warm interview out of Walker, but he filmed some of the sessions for Walker's latest adventuresome recording project.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man glosses over the depression and alcoholism that have bedeviled Walker as well as any relationships he might have had. But that doesn't make the film any less interesting.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, is the story of and oracular singer, experimental composer, British-based American expatriate and reclusive cult figure.
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man gestures toward Walker's own process, as he has been and continues to think through the possibilities of sound.
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com
For Walker fans, I imagine 30 Century Man will come as a bit of a vindication, having the knowledge that they knew this world before it had been fully documented and made ready for public consumption
Steve Simels, Boxoffice Magazine
Director Stephen Kijak's profile of reclusive pop icon Scott Walker is one of the most remarkable music documentaries in ages.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Those unfamiliar with [Scott Walker] or, especially, those who don't like his music, will be only moderately engaged and ultimately underwhelmed.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
By actually playing the music and allowing this commentary, Kijak hits upon a kind of astute music criticism, and an argument for music as challenging as this.
David Noh, Film Journal International
One of the best music documentaries ever made, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man will have you yearning to learn more and fully immerse yourself in its subject.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Breathlessly details the step-by-step evolution of an enigmatic musical artist within pop culture from the 1960s on to the avant-garde, though little about the man.
Hank Shteamer, Time Out New York
Stephen Kijak's 30 Century Man hacks away at the mythology surrounding the enigmatic artist, proving that his about-face wasn't nearly as abrupt as it often seems.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
A riveting documentary.
, Independent
A ghostly, sonorous boom that sometimes feels like the loneliest sound in the world.
Kevin Harley, Total Film
The proof of the pig is in the pounding: it sounds good.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Nicki M

I had never heard of Scott Walker, but I found this documentary very interesting, and also his music very interesting (especially as his career goes on). Includes interviews from a lot of other good musicians such as Jarvis Cocker and David Bowie.
Stella D

a fascinating look at the reclusive musician, who rose from boy band pop icon of the 60's to a truly avant garde artist. not as well known as he should be, especially in his native america (not that he cares), his influence can be heard from bowie to the the smiths to radiohead… More
a fascinating look at the reclusive musician, who rose from boy band pop icon of the 60's to a truly avant garde artist. not as well known as he should be, especially in his native america (not that he cares), his influence can be heard from bowie to the the smiths to radiohead and beyond. his dramatic baritone voice, painting extraordinary images with abstract poetry, sounds like nobody else. i hadn't heard of him til fairly recently, my bad, but i certainly admire his courageous creative spirit and loyalty to his unique muse. and i'm acquiring a taste for his music too. he's still recording, every 10 years or so, most recently the drift in 2006.
Stephen M

Good as it was, after watching Scorsese's Dylan movie, "No Direction Home", I didn't feel like I knew its enigmatic subject any better than I did beforehand, but this superb documentary about Scott Walker is surprisingly revealing. If he weren't American by… More
Good as it was, after watching Scorsese's Dylan movie, "No Direction Home", I didn't feel like I knew its enigmatic subject any better than I did beforehand, but this superb documentary about Scott Walker is surprisingly revealing. If he weren't American by birth, Walker could easily be the archetypal wilfully eccentric Englishman, ploughing his own lonely furrow. Though littered with insightful contributions from Walker's peers, whose diversity reflects the visionary trail blazed from his boy-band roots, what makes the film are the candid interviews with the man himself. For all the genuine demystification, Scott Walker remains just as fascinating an artist at the close: an uncompromising perfectionist, riddled with insecurity. There are a couple of unintentionally funny glimpses of Walker at work in the studio though, which are reminiscent of Reeves and Mortimer's Mulligan and O'Hare at their most avant garde. I caught this again on TV recently and I am sure it had been re-edited, with a couple of bits taken out.
Eric B

Scott Walker's music is an acquired taste -- a taste that I've only partially acquired myself -- but I feel no such ambivalence about this documentary. Fascinating from beginning to end. The tale of this shadowy musician's rise, fall, transformation and rebirth seems so… More
Scott Walker's music is an acquired taste -- a taste that I've only partially acquired myself -- but I feel no such ambivalence about this documentary. Fascinating from beginning to end. The tale of this shadowy musician's rise, fall, transformation and rebirth seems so archetypal that one half-expects the credits to reveal it's a work of fiction...some knowing pastiche or myth dreamed up by an imaginative music fanatic. But no, this is fact. My one small misgiving is that the film is rather UK-centric. The contemporary musicians interviewed are all trendy UK tastemakers, and often they're not nearly as well-known in the United States. This leaves most Americans without an easy entry point into the tale. Walker's impact may be dominantly overseas but, if so, then we could have used more insight as to why he's such a marginal cult figure in the States.

Cast

            Scott Walker as Interviewee

            Sara Kestelman as Narrator

            Brian Eno as Interviewee

            Radiohead as Interviewee

            Jarvis Cocker as Interviewee

            Sting as Interviewee

            Damon Albarn as Interviewee

            Marc Almond as Interviewee

            Ute Lemper as Interviewee

            David Bowie as Interviewee

            Brian Gascoigne
            
            Johnny Marr as Interviewee

            Angela Morley
            
            Hector Zazou
            
            Peter Walsh
            
            Cathal Coughlan
            
            Gavin Friday
            
            Chris Sharp
            
            Hugh Burns
            
            Jonny Greenwood as Interviewee

            Alison Goldfrapp as Interviewee

            Peter Olliff
            
            Simon Raymonde
            
            Rob Ellis
            
            Philip Sheppard
            
            David Sefton
            
            Dot Allison as Interviewee

            Arnie Potts
            
            Lulu as Interviewee

            Ed Bicknell
            
            Richard Hawley as Interviewee

            'Cally' Calloman
            
            JD Beauvallet
            
            Colin Greenwood as Interviewee

            Ed O'Brien as Interviewee

            Evan Parker
            
            David Bates
            
            Micheal Morris
            
            Martin Lawrance
            
            Alasdair Malloy
            
            Mark Warman
            
            Al Clark
            
            Tim Painter
            
See full cast