The Boss is back.
Bruce Springsteen, whose “Western Stars” played at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019, returns with “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band,” which, like the earlier film, was directed by Thom Zimny. The new film is described as “an evocative look back at the path he and his band have blazed since the ’70s, and a look forward to what lies on the horizon. Mortality, yes, but also more of the passion, energy, and grit they’ve always brought to touring, as they prepare to hit the road one more time.”
TheWrap’s Steve Pond talked to Zimny about his long-running collaboration with Springsteen. “I think I have around 14 long form films with him at this point, and I have not really kept count with the short form, either music videos or shorter music films,” Zimny said. “But it’s been 24 years of adventures in filmmaking. This ‘Road Diary’ has all those challenges that the Bruce films throw at you. You never know what to expect.”
As to where “Road Diary” actually originated, Zimny explained: “The beauty of working with Bruce in general and also in making this film, is that we don’t go in with a set POV. It literally starts with Bruce saying, ‘We’re going to get the guys together, rehearse the band, come on by and do some filming.’ And for me, in my collaboration with [Bruce’s longtime manager and producer] Jon Landau and with Bruce, it’s to be present,” Zimny explained.
According to Zimny, he “saw a story.”
“I saw an emotional story, because it was a story about a band returning after the world shut down, when there was no live performances, a band full of history. And also Bruce, who’s at a place where he was playing music that he wasn’t able to share. This music felt very in sync with the moment of the time of coming back to a world now experiencing this community.” Zimny’s job “is just to be present and try to notice the smaller details and tell a little bit of E Street history.”
Springsteen was instrumental in shaping the documentary. “He gives me these amazing moments of narration and his thoughts. There’s this dance that happens in the editing process and the filmmaking process, which is I’m taking in all these moments and scenes, unpacking them in the edit room, sit with John and Bruce, and take it to another level. That’s what happened with ‘Road Diary.’”
Watch the full interview above.
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