Danielson: A Family Movie

Danielson the band has an interesting story, but Danielson the movie needs some serious editing. I wanted to like it, but this 1:45 documentary should have been pared down to a one hour special. Sufjan really steals the show. I started out liking both Danielson and Sufjan Stevens, but as the movie went on, I found myself getting more and more irritated by Daniel Smith with his shrill voice and rambling explanations and more and more enamored by Sufjan Stevens with his amazing voice and talent.

Danielson the band (in any of its incarnations) is likely not ever to be a major sensation. That makes this film all the more powerful, as we see the influence Daniel Smith and his family had on Sufjan Stevens. I was especially struck by the way Sufjan eventually incorporates performance art elements into his shows (swan wings, butterfly wings, home videos of carrie and lowell), linking him back to Smith directly, and the way St Vincent, who sang with Sufjan, does much the same. Influential.