
DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711270087

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E6   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW

SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

MOVIE PAINTS VIVID PICTURE OF BAND'S ON-STAGE EVOLUTION

PONCHO SAMPEDRO throws down the gauntlet right at the outset: What makes some artsy-fartsy New York director think he's going to sum up 30 years of total insanity with a couple of cheap questions?

The guitarist's question is posed - good-naturedly, with a wicked smile - to Jim Jarmusch, director of ``Year of the Horse,'' the unconventional documentary about Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

``Unconventional'' is key here. In pairing Young and Jarmusch (``Stranger Than Paradise,'' ``Mystery Train''), both of whom have made careers of defying convention, there's no way this project would be anything but atypical. But it comes at a small price.

``Year of the Horse'' is likely to appeal more to Young's hard-core following. For the casual fan, he remains as enigmatic as ever.

That aside, the movie should stir some interest locally. It was filmed in Washington state and France during the band's 1996 tour; on Aug. 15 of that year, nearly 6,400 fans turned out to see Young - dressed for business in a wrinkled T-shirt and baggy, shin-length shorts - put on the best concert of the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater's inaugural season.

Young opened his Beach show with ``Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),'' but the film doesn't dive deep into such familiar songs. One reason is ``Pocahontas'' and ``Powderfinger'' are on other videos and albums, including last June's live, double-disc ``Year of the Horse.''

The other reason is songs like ``F(AT)!(NU)in Up,'' ``Tonight's the Night'' and ``Big Time,'' with its telling verse, ``I'm still living the dream we had, hoping it's not over,'' get more at Jarmusch's intent - to present an impressionistic portrait of what makes Young and Crazy Horse endure.

He paints that picture with archival footage and interviews with Young, Sampedro, drummer Ralph Molina and bassist Billy Talbot conducted last year. Other musicians can play rings around them individually, Sampedro says, but when all four are on stage, something magical happens.

Scott Young, who wrote a biography of his son, provides firsthand insight into Neil's motivation. A former Toronto sportswriter, the elder Young is on the mark when he says the band plays with more passion now than it did only a few years ago.

Oddly, Jarmusch is less successful when he turns to the stage. Using a hand-held camera, his cinema verite technique suits the music, but the grainy reproduction doesn't hold up on the big screen. The sound, however, comes through loud and fuzzy; it's the next-best thing to hearing Young live.

And to his immeasurable credit, Jarmusch includes entire songs, not a snippet that fades out after two minutes. To do anything less would be an injustice; after all, it is Young's lyrics that hold the answer to every question. ILLUSTRATION: REPRISE RECORDS

Neil Young and Crazy Horse are the focus of a new documentary that

is purely ``unconventional.''

MOVIE REVIEW

``Year of the Horse''

Cast: Neil Young, Billy Talbot, Frank ``Poncho'' Sampedro, Ralph

Molina, Scott Young

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Music: Neil Young and Crazy Horse

MPAA rating: R (language, marijuana use)

Pilot rating: **1/2

Location: Naro Expanded Cinema, Norfolk