‘The Go-Betweens: Right Here’ is a new feature-length documentary about The Go-Betweens directed by Kriv Stenders, out this week on DVD. It’s about the people behind on of Australia’s most beloved bands. Watch the trailer here: vimeo.com/251353828
It is a heartfelt story of discovery, uncovering the intensely passionate, creative and fraught relationships at the heart of this much-loved and influential group. It is also the universal story of a great creative adventure that spanned three decades, through countless successes, failures, romances, break-ups, betrayals, triumphs and tragedies. It is a compelling investigation into the exhilarating, unpredictable, and precarious lives of musicians, that reveals the true price paid by them to pursue their art.
As it unfolds, we discover how relationships – both creative and romantic – are continually tested, challenged, remoulded and, in some cases, destroyed. In Forster, we reveal a man who finally learns how to survive and reconcile himself with the ephemeral nature of fame and success, whilst in McLennan we discover a man with a ferocious talent, who struggles with inner demons and emotions that eventually begin to consume him. And in Lindy Morrison (drums) and Amanda Brown (violin, oboe, guitar) – who were also in romantic relationships with Forster and McLennan respectively – we get a profoundly moving insight into their, as yet never told, side of the story and of their fight to be recognised as musicians in their own right.’
Director Kriv Stenders states that “my ambition was to make an emotionally immersive documentary that explored the nature of memory, recollection and the past, and how we all remember in our own uniquely personal ways. While the band members guide us through an intimate and cinematic journey into their pasts, running in parallel and woven within these at times provocative and contradictory accounts are conversations and interviews with various friends, collaborators and contemporaries. These openly candid interviews, along with rare archival photographs, film, music recordings and impressionistic reenactments, all combine to create a rich, continually evolving collage of image, sound and emotion. A series of recurring locations that echo or are inspired by imagery and elements from the group’s iconic songs and album covers were used to stage these conversations as a framing device.”
‘The Go-Betweens: Right Here’ doesn’t assume knowledge of the group or its music. It offers an evolving revelation of them that truthfully exposes all the highs, lows, joy, pain, sorrow and beauty of being in a cult band and of trying to survive the harsh, brutal realities of an at times exploitative music industry. Unflinching, insightful and at times painfully honest, the film tells the story of The Go-Betweens from the inside out, from the people who lived it and from those whose lives were transformed by it.
