ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
VH1 Films
80 min., dir. by Sacha Gervasi
The documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil opens with a wide variety of well known metal musicians professing admiration and affection for a band I’d never heard of. It’s a smart move, because without it we might wonder why we should care.
Back in the ‘80s, Anvil was poised to rise with the likes of Metallica and Slayer — yet they ultimately disappeared from the public eye. Residing in Canada, childhood friends and unwavering members of the band — Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner — never stopped playing music to their very small but loyal fan base, and never gave up on their one shared dream: to be rock gods. It’s the same dream of a million teenage kids playing in their parents’ basement. But most of these kids grow up and change; they settle down, get a nine-to-five job, and, at best, pick up and play the guitar when they have a free moment.
This is a movie, more than anything else, about unbridled passion. Lips and Reiner are both in love with their music, and it’s this enthusiasm that bleeds through every frame of the film. Their lack of success is seemingly only a result of never being in the right place at the right time, and the viewer cannot help but root for them.
It’s hard to spend 25 years constantly fighting an uphill battle and only seeing lateral movement, and this situation would destroy most people. Fortunately, one loyal fan and ex-roadie, Sacha Gervasi, decided to catch up with them. We watch the band battle the same battle they have battled for years — except now, the music industry, which was never kind to them to begin with, has turned even further away. Heavy metal is no longer in vogue. But still, instead of changing their sound to fit with what is popular, Anvil plays the same sound they perfected years ago — unwilling to sell out, yet unwavering in their commitment to “make it.”
Even if heavy metal isn’t your type of music, you will love this band. Even when their egos get the best of them and they act irrationally, you never judge them. Instead, you feel inspired. The best made documentaries — and perhaps the best made of all films regardless of genre — function as a mirror for the viewer. They allow us to reevaluate our own lives, by watching others live out theirs. If you have ever given up on a dream, Anvil will make you pick back up the pen, paintbrush, or mic. For all the pain they go through, they remain eternally optimistic. The only thing Lips wants out of life is to entertain; for him, the peak of his existence comes in the connection formed by performing to an audience. When they play a 10,000 capacity room with a 174 people in attendance, your heart will ache. But when their triumph comes — and rest assured it does — you will understand why they do what they do.
For all their absurdity, they are true artists — never giving up on a 14-year-old’s dream to be a rock star. This is an absolutely wonderful film and a great example of what rock documentaries should be. Perhaps instead of simply celebrating the bands who have it all, we should take a deeper look. A quick internet search will show that, since this film’s release, Anvil has been on a greater road than ever before. It is a beautiful intersection of film and music — one helping the other, so that both can achieve more.
