If you’re a diehard King Crimson fan, get ready for an intimate look at the band’s inner workings like you’ve never seen before.
If you’re not familiar with King Crimson, prepare to be thrown into 50-plus years of drama from a band you may have never heard of. But sit tight; it’s worth it.
In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50, the new music documentary from director Toby Amies, hits theaters this fall. Audiences in central Iowa can see it at the Fleur Cinema & Café in Des Moines for a one-night screening.
The documentary follows the band on their 2019 world tour, marking the 50th anniversary of their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King.
Upon the successful release of that album in 1969, King Crimson cemented themselves as leaders of the early progressive rock movement. They experimented with genre, blending heavy metal, classical, jazz, psychedelic and just about everything else. They soon developed a cult following not unlike Grateful Dead’s Deadheads.
Defying expectations
One would think that a 50-year-old band on a world tour would stick to playing the hits. And one would think a film about such a momentous occasion would provide an extensive overview of the band’s history and evolution leading up to that moment. But neither of those are the case.
Viewers looking for a paint-by-number biography about the band should look elsewhere. In true King Crimson style, Amies rejects the standard rockumentary formula, instead giving the audience a revealing look at the inner lives of these talented musicians in the twilight of their careers.
For Amies, the ongoing evolution of King Crimson’s members captivated him during the making of the film.
“[These are] mature artists who have a sophisticated understanding of their medium, but at the same time are still challenging themselves creatively and physically when so many of their surviving contemporaries are just bashing out the hits and seeking to replicate times past,” Amies said. “That’s why the film is largely ‘in the now.’ It’s not a filmed Wikipedia article.”
Defining the indefinable
Amies set out to capture the ever-changing incarnations of King Crimson. As fans of their music know, the band is not a one-trick pony. They’re a whole carnival.
“The film is sort of meant to define King Crimson. But I think that King Crimson is, by definition, indefinable,” Amies said. “It’s lots of things. It's had lots of different iterations. And crucially, it means different things to different people.”
In the film, one fan is asked to define King Crimson, saying, “It’s the devil.” Elsewhere, a nun (yes, habit and all) compares the band’s music to prayer.
For the love of music
If there is but one thing viewers take away from this documentary, it’s that emotionally transcendent music does not happen by accident. It takes immense dedication and hours of practice to perfect, and that is what King Crimson offers their fans.
If there is one other thing viewers learn, it’s that Robert Fripp is an intense individual.
Fripp co-founded King Crimson in the late 1960s and, as the band’s de facto leader, remains as dedicated to their creative output as ever.
Now in his late 70s, Fripp still practices guitar four to five hours a day. He equates the importance of practice to that of an elite athlete and is aghast other musicians don’t do the same.
His unrelenting perfectionism has led many members to leave the band over the years. The current lineup of eight members is the first Fripp can recall in which no one “actively resents my presence.”
Several members acknowledged the band’s many permutations, joking that they’re “irreplaceable, just like the last guy.”
Despite Fripp’s high expectations, every member of the band is committed to the music and putting on a good show. Interviews with current and past members makes that clear: King Crimson comes first.
Although it was Fripp who approached Amies about making the documentary, at times Fripp appears uncooperative and combative. There are several instances throughout the film in which Fripp interrupts Amies’ interviews, adding comments like, “That’s a terrible question.”
“There are times when he just did not want to engage, and luckily I got some of those things on camera,” Amies recalled. “And that communicates to the audience that he's not there because he wants to be famous, but because he wants to make good music.”
In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 is screening at the Fleur Cinema & Café on Nov. 8.
This story was funded by a grant from Prairie Meadows.
