One More Time With Feeling

Nick Cave has always felt untouchable, like some otherworldly entity you can never really get close to. In One More Time With Feeling, for once he feels within reach.

It’s no secret that Cave has never been a fan of interviews, or any kind of press attention for that matter, so to hear him speak so openly about his personal life is rather exceptional. At times it's also very uncomfortable, especially as a fan of Cave, to see him so vulnerable, having to remind himself that he “must be kind.” During Cave’s interviews with his friend and the film’s director Andrew Dominik, he often appears dazed and lost, unable to articulate his thoughts, suggesting that he is still emotionally volatile following the death of his 15-year-old son Arthur in July last year. We witness a man struggling to come to terms with his grief and attempting to channel that grief into a positive form; Cave reflects that “Arthur was everywhere,” and it becomes clear that this is all for him. 

However, the film also has its light-hearted moments, where Cave’s spontaneous sense of humour will have you laughing out loud: he and Dominik continually repeat the phrase “decaying and diminishing” back at each other with utter seriousness, in an attempt to try and define what ageing feels like. Part documentary, part live album, the film also includes studio performances of tracks from his 16th album with The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree. The cinematography is quite spectacular, giving added depth and poignancy to the songs. We follow the camera down a spiral staircase as Cave sings, 'The song, the song, it spins, the song, it spins, it spins no more,' on Girl In Amber, and zoom out to the Earth’s atmosphere during a performance of Distant Sky. One More Time With Feeling is a difficult watch, but it will leave you feeling closer to Cave than ever.