Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006) – S. Kijak

Musician Scott Walker died in March this year (2019), so I took the opportunity to watch this documentary about his career (up until his first 4AD album, The Drift).  I was more or less oblivious to Walker’s music (including his chart-topping British hits of the 1960s with The Walker Brothers) until I bought a used CD of Scott 4 (1969) sometime around the turn of the century.  What I found there was gloomy portentous singing over sixties adult contemporary pop/rock – but not sounding like anything else I knew (particularly the lyrics).  This album proved to be the last of Scott’s self-composed songs (influenced we are told by Jacques Brel) until the Walker Brothers reunited with a strange album, Nite Flights (1978), that led to further opportunities for Scott.  His subsequent solo records were spaced far apart but became progressively weirder and more unique, as Walker simultaneously became a recluse seen only with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes.  Surprisingly, then, he is very engaging and accessible when interviewed by documentarian Stephen Kijak for this film.  He offers some interesting insights into his way of working and his goals (artistic and not commerical, of course).  There are the usual famous talking heads, mostly British rock celebrities, who have nothing but praise for the iconclast (except for Marc Almond who hated the later work, particularly Tilt, 1995).  Of course, the real reason to treat yourself to the film is to hear the work of Scott Walker – although we get only excerpts, it does convey his musical journey aptly (at least up until 2006 – he subsequently released several more albums, including one with Sunn O)))!).  Worth a look, if you are curious.