Greetings from Tim Buckley | |
---|---|
Directed by | Daniel Algrant |
Written by | Daniel Algrant Emma Sheanshang David Brendel |
Produced by | Patrick Milling-Smith Fred Zollo John Hart Amy Nauiokas |
Starring | Penn Badgley Imogen Poots |
Cinematography | Andrij Parekh |
Edited by | Bill Pankow |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Focus World |
Release dates |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $11,157 [1] |
Greetings from Tim Buckley is a 2012 American film directed by Daniel Algrant starring Penn Badgley and Imogen Poots. The film follows the journey Jeff Buckley took in grappling with the legacy of his late musician father, Tim, leading up to and culminating with his performance of his father's songs. [2] The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2012 to generally positive reviews. The film was released on May 3, 2013, in a limited release.
In 1991, a young Jeff Buckley rehearses for his public singing debut at a Brooklyn tribute show for his father, the late folk singer Tim Buckley. Struggling with the legacy of a man he barely knew, Jeff forms a friendship with an enigmatic young woman Allie, working at the show and begins to discover the powerful potential of his own musical voice. Greetings from Tim Buckley is filled with stirring musical performances and the memorable songs of a father and son who were each among the most beloved singer/songwriters of their respective generations. [3]
The only audition tape that came in that took on that record store scene was Penn's, and it was almost as you see it. He just did it and took such risks, and anyone who's going to take such risks on his audition is my guy. When we filmed it, I remember saying, 'Keep going, be bold,' because I would think Jeff would want him to be bold and bolder and boldest, and so we went that way.
—Algrant on casting Badgley as Jeff [6]
Principal photography took place in August and September 2011 in New York City. [7] [8] Interior scenes were shot at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn where Buckley's actual gig occurred back in 1991. [9] Production was managed by Smuggler Films and A-Z productions. Screenwriters are Emma Sheanshang, David Brendel and Daniel Algrant. The executive producers include Brian Carmody and Jill Footlick (Boys Don't Cry, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) and Ben Limberg. Producers are Fred Zollo, Patrick Milling-Smith, John Hart, and Amy Nauiokas. Avy Kauffman is the casting director. [2]
Music used in the film comes from the Tim Buckley estate, except Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," which Jeff Buckley covered on his only studio album, the 1994 Grace . [10] Jeff's character and Gary Lucas also jam on the instrumental of "Grace" as a song idea that Gary had. Singer-songwriter Jann Klose sings and plays guitar on the Tim Buckley songs, "Song For Janie," "Pleasant Street," and "Once I Was." [11]
Badgley was cast after he sent a tape of him singing. [12] The audition tape that he sent included an interpretation of Led Zeppelin III , which also appears in the film. [13] For the role, Badgley lost some weight: "I remember in my head thinking, 'I'm never going to be able to get as thin as him, so I'm just going to stop working out. I'm just going to stop getting in the sun. I'm just going to try to get as thin and pale as possible'." [14] He also took guitar and vocal lessons. [15] The vocal coach taught him how to warm up and warm down his voice and the guitar teacher taught him scales and progressions. [16] Serving as a consultant, songwriter and former collaborator of Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas played and rehearsed with Badgley. [17] Badgley performed all his singing scenes live. [18]
Pictures of the set surfaced on August 22, 2011. [19] while the first official images were released on August 14, 2012, with additional ones on August 24, 2012. [20] [21]
Algrant explained: "The concert is true – the rest is fictionalized and conjecture. I really tried to be as emotionally honest as I could be, as opposed to having to worry about truth." [12]
Celluloid Dreams obtained the international rights in January 2012. [22] Focus Film and Tribeca acquired the U.S. rights in December 2012. [23]
Greetings from Tim Buckley had its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2012. [24] The film was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2013 [25] and was released in a limited release on May 3, 2013.
Upon its premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter said it was a "sensitive, well-cast film about father-son musicians Tim and Jeff Buckley gets the emotions and music just right". Young also praised lead actor Badgley for his "vibrant break-out performance" noting his "seductive energy" and Poots pointing out her "strong screen presence". [26] Rolling Stone was also positive of Badgley's portrayal writing he "does an impressive turn as Jeff." [12] The Globe and Mail placed Greetings from Tim Buckley among their top six favorite movies of the festival. [27] Variety 's Dennis Harvey was critical of the narration deeming it "scant". He described Jeff as "a fine illustration of how good, even great art can be made by exasperating personalities that only a groupie (or biographer) could love" and concluded: "The result is at once skillfully observed and a bit so-what." [28]
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk as well as unconventional vocal stylings. His commercial peak came with the 1969 album Happy Sad, reaching No. 81 on the charts, while his experimental 1970 album Starsailor went on to become a cult favorite. The latter contained his best known song, "Song to the Siren." Buckley died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind sons Taylor and Jeff.
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Penn Dayton Badgley is an American actor. He is primarily known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2013) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series You (2018–present). For Gossip Girl, he received six Teen Choice Award nominations, and for You, he earned MTV Movie & TV Award and Saturn Award nominations.
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"Song to the Siren" is a song written by Tim Buckley to a poem by his writing partner Larry Beckett, released by Buckley on his 1970 album Starsailor. It was also later released on Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, the album featuring a performance of the song taken from the final episode of The Monkees TV show which aired on March 25, 1968.
Jann Klose is a pop singer-songwriter, who has released seven albums and two EPs. Based in New York City, Klose was raised in Kenya, South Africa, Germany, and northeast Ohio. His original songs have charted on Top 40 radio in the United States and South Africa. He is the singing voice of Tim Buckley in the movie Greetings from Tim Buckley, starring Penn Badgley and Imogen Poots, released by Focus Features and Tribeca Film. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jann talks about guitarist and collaborator Gary Lucas recommending him to director Dan Algrant to sing in the movie. He has performed as an actor and singer in touring companies of Broadway musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll & Hyde, and The Who's Tommy as well as made for TV movies, voice overs and commercials. In 2005, the off-Broadway production Moonlight Interior, a musical based on Klose's music and directed by Yoel Cassell, premiered in New York City.
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