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| Elvis Costello, 1978. |
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| Elvis Costello, 2010's. His aim is still true. |
The 2013 documentary Elvis
Costello: Mystery Dance recently aired on the Showtime network, and it’s
worth checking out if you’re a fan of Costello’s music. Directed by Mark Kidel,
a veteran of music documentaries, Mystery
Dance interviews Costello himself as well as Paul McCartney, Nick Lowe, and
Allen Toussaint, among others. Mystery
Dance covers Costello’s nearly forty year career in just sixty minutes, and
my complaint about the film is that it’s too short. But when I was researching
the film for this review, I learned that there’s also a 90-minute version,
which has only been shown in the UK. I’d be interested to see the 90-minute
version and see what it adds.
Hopefully the longer version adds more details, since Mystery Dance is a little light on
those. In the film Costello talks about making an album and says he made it
just because it was time to make another album. As he’s talking the film shows
the cover for his 1981 album “Trust.” Is that the album Costello is talking
about? It’s not clear. If it is, then it’s a damn good album he came up with
just because it was time to make another one. I also learned while reading an
interview with director Mark Kidel that he visited Paul McCartney’s studio and
heard demos that Paul and Elvis made when they were writing songs together. It’s
not made clear in the film whose studio it is, and I would have appreciated a
little title telling me that I was seeing Paul McCartney’s studio.
One of the coolest moments in Mystery Dance is when we see a clip of Costello’s father, Ross
McManus, singing “If I Had a Hammer” with the Joe Loss band. Father and son
look a lot alike, and the film highlights Costello’s relationship with his
father, who was a trumpet player and singer. But again, I wanted more details.
What did the elder McManus think of his son’s success? What did he think of
Costello’s music?
Costello is one of the great singer-songwriters of the rock
era, and he’s one of the most versatile, recording with everyone from Burt Bacharach
to opera star Anne Sofie von Otter. Costello had a great quote in the movie,
and I’m paraphrasing slightly, “Whenever you do something that’s a little bit
different from what you usually do you get some people who act like it’s the
end of the world. It’s not.” Costello is an ideal subject for a documentary,
because he’s extremely articulate and intelligent. It’s also apparent how much
respect other musicians have for him. Costello’s love for all kinds of music
comes through very strongly. It’s great fun to see the wonderful Allen
Toussaint talk about recording the album “The River in Reverse” with Costello.
There’s not much of an arc to Costello’s career as presented
in Mystery Dance. No dramatic events
or turning points are uncovered. I think there’s a lot more to Costello’s
story, but maybe he’s saving that for when his autobiography comes out later
this year.
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