Friday evening kicked off the Deli Magazine’s Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) experience with the screening of The White Stripes’ documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights. The film showed footage of the legendary two-piece rock band that launched the career of the Nashville staple, Jack White. It seemed impossible to admire him any more than we already did – what with his dominating influence and wide-spread popularity – but some people probably were not aware of what a unique approach he and Meg White took to their tour of Canada in 2007, and this documentary surely opened their eyes.
The film primarily featured live concert footage from the countless shows they performed in very obscure "venues" of each province and territory, including locations such as a bowling alley, a bus, a YMCA and the meeting center for an Inuit tribe, intersperesed with interviews from the band. The concert footage was interesting because it was supported by insights from Jack and Meg. They spoke about the details concerning their aesthetic, songwriting, work ethic and anything else a lot else you might not have expected Jack to reveal about the inspiration behind his creative genius.
Although the movie took place in the faraway realm of the White Stripes, interestingly enough, all of the music was mastered at Nashville’s own Georgetown Studios (and we love to see our local celebs keepin’ it real and representin’). Despite the fact there wasn’t much else about Nashville, Under Great White Northern Lights was consistently personal and genuine. It was definitely a worthwhile endeavor to make an entire documentary about the Stripes, rather than a brief, 60-minute DVD of concert footage.
Nashville should consider the legacy of Jack White and his White Stripes one of its most prized possessions. – Erin Manning