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Released by: Bazillion Points
Released on: 1/19/2010
Director: Dianna Dilworth
Cast: Brian Wilson
Year: 2008
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The Movie:
When you think of great, influential and powerful instruments, the Mellotron isn't something that comes to mind, at least not initially. Almost always associated with odd prog rock and sixties stoner music, the Mellotron actually started life as the Chamberlin, a musical keyboard designed to emulate the sounds of other instruments by using prerecorded bits in place of actual live sound. While sampling is common place in hip hop, rap and now other forms of music, the makers of the Mellotron were at it long before anyone else and this documentary from filmmaker Dianna Dilworth does a pretty impressive job of shedding some light on the who's, the how's and the why's of this often maligned instrumental oddity.
The film explores the time line of the instrument, from its beginnings with the Chamberlin Instrument Company in 1956 through to the forming of Melltronics, Inc. and the production of the first Mellotron in the early sixties. We follow the instrument through its free love era heyday and on into the progressive rock era and then up to the modern day (Radiohead and Kanye West both used one recently). This isn't just a collection of great archival photos and clips interspersed with input from a Mellotron historian here and there, however, as Dilworth has managed to assemble a pretty impressive array of Melltron aficionados to get in front of her camera and talk shop.
Look for contributions from members of The Beach Boys, The Moody Blues, The Zombies, King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and 'usual suspects' like that but also from members of Black Sabbath, Opeth, and Goblin among plenty of others. So you get a nice mix of metalheads, prog rockers, classic rockers, and more avant-garde types that rounds out the conversation nicely. Of course, those interviewed are pretty much pro-Mellotron (is anyone really anti-Mellotron though?) so there's a fair bit of simple praise for the machine but aside from that there's also some very insightful information as to why people want to continue to compose with these machines. The novelty, which had to have been part of the initial draw, has obviously long since worn off and technology being what it is today has completely usurped the poor Mellotron in terms of what can be done and how easily it can be accomplished. So why the appeal? There's more to it than hipster credibility and vintage fetishes, there's a very real community of people who use these machines incredibly well.
The history of the machine itself is interesting - Chamerlin's original instrument was essentially stolen from him by his salesman and sold to a company in England which birthed Mellotronics - and its influence much further reaching than it would at first seem. With a mix of humor and clever insight, Mellodrama does a very fine job of opening your eyes to what the Mellotron means to a lot of people in addition to how and why it became what the musical oddity that it is today.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie starts off fullframe and then morphs into a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer that's letterboxed at approximately 1.78.1. The video quality is pretty good when you consider that this was shot on a low budget with a consumer grade digital camcorder and take the limitations of the format into account. Some shimmering shows up and some mild compression artifacts are here and there, but overall the movie is perfectly watchable and colors are generally well produced and decent looking.
The sole audio track on this disc is an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. No alternate language subtitles or dubs are offered. As far as the quality of the mix goes, there's nothing to complain about here. As you would hope, the scenes involving music sound quite good, though the interviews and talking head bits are nice and clear as well. The levels are generally well balanced, though they do fluctuate just a little bit here and there - that minor complaint aside, the movie sounds just fine here.
Included on the disc is a trailer for the feature as well as a collection of sixteen bonus shorts that deal in Mellotronics and cover painting the instruments, performing with them live, various Mellotron owners and more thoughts on the instrument from the likes of Mike Pinder, Ian McDonald, Tony Banks, Brian Wilson, Rick Nielson, among others.
Aside from that, look inside the slick white packaging for some great archival pictures and a booklet containing an essay from Mike Pinder as well as a Mellotron timeline and credits for the film.
The Final Word:
A much maligned and misunderstood instrument, the Mellotron receives the respect it deserves with this surprisingly fascinating documentary. Simultaneously humorous, quirky and interesting, it sheds some welcome light how the Mellotron came to be, why it mattered then, and why it matters now. Some welcome bonus material rounds out a pretty solid package from Bazillion Points.