On Film And Stage, Jonathan Demme Looked Into The Heart Of The Song
Since Jonathan Demme's passing on Wednesday, we've been thinking about how much music infused the director's work – not just Stop Making Sense and his other concert films, but also the music moments in his narrative films (Something Wild, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, Ricki And The Flash). To that end, we reached out to a few musicians who worked with him or were simply fans to share the moments that connected them to his work, how Demme understood music's movement on film, or just a loving memory.
Glenn Mercer (The Feelies)
What I admire most about his work is that he was confident enough to be adventurous, willing to try things out of "left field," and he had the ability to trust his instincts. Having The Feelies appear as the entertainment at a high school reunion [in ] shouldn't make sense, but he had the vision to see how it would work. Our scenes are crucial to the film's arc — the whole tone of the movie turns at that point, and he was able to
