Without Getting Killed Or Caught
We’re in both a golden age and a glut of music documentaries right now. The most moving example I’ve seen in a while, and I fully admit to my biases here, is Tamara Saviano’s gripping, intimate portrait of songwriting guiding star Guy Clark, Without Getting Killed Or Caught.
Saviano logged many hours in Clark’s world writing her excellent biography of the same name. She made the brilliant choice to tell his story through the voice of Susanna Talley Clark (also an acclaimed songwriter with big hits like “Come From the Heart” and “Easy From Now On,” along with being a painter and writer). Saviano uses Susanna’s audio diaries and her written diaries narrated by Sissy Spacek to capture that vital voice.
Because Susanna’s voice is so prominent, much of the movie focuses on the inseparable trio rounded out with Guy and Townes Van Zandt. Still, Saviano never lets it turn into a Townes movie. The impeccable editing keeps the focus without ever getting mired in minutiae.
Saviano also avoids the trap of too many talking heads. Every person in the film is someone Guy loved and who loved Guy and Susanna. The closest thing to a record label suit is Barry Poss from Sugar Hill, who helped resurrect Guy’s career at a low point. He adds vital color to Guy’s place in the burgeoning Americana scene. There’s no bending over backward to prove the subject of the film is important.
Everyone who appears – Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Verlon Thompson – knew Guy’s love up close. Nowhere is that more clear than Rodney Crowell, who almost serves as a joint narrator. The quick cutting from one of these almost invariably laughing voices to another reminds us of how art and personalities can bring people together. A scene which epitomized this feeling came with the clip of Guy taking a long drag of wine and pointing to a very young Steve Earle and saying “You need to hear this” to the camera from Heartworn Highways echoed through Rodney Crowell talking about writing the last song with Guy almost 40 years later.
There were more of those moments in this film than I could keep track of. One that echoes with me a couple of days after seeing this was the revelation he wrote “She Ain’t Going Nowhere, She’s Just Leaving” for Bunny Talley, Susanna’s sister, who killed herself. Then the hammer drop of Guy’s recorded voice recounting the story with the line, “Part of being alive is going through that veil of tears.”
Anyone with the slightest interest should check this out in its staggered digital screenings and whenever it finds a more permanent home. Without Getting Killed Or Caught reminded me how much I love my friends and was an incitement to be better.
Screen of Distance 