Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band: NZIFF Review

Those not familiar with Robbie Robertson and The Band will get a great intro with this doco from director Daniel Roher.

Unfortunately, it's somewhat one-sided given Robbie is the only surviving member of the band who chooses to engage publicly.

However, what emerges from Roher's somewhat hagiographic piece is the feeling that Robertson has grown extremely reflective later in life as he looks back over what occurred.

Using Robertson's Canadian drawl to the maximum effect and some quality archive footage of the invention of rockabilly and the dawning of rock'n'roll, the doco spools out with some high profile fans emerging.

The likes of Martin Scorsese talk of how their lives have been changed by the rockers, but that's all supplementary to proceedings as Robertson takes the floor to amuse us all with stories of The Band's rising and inevitable fall.

It may be one-sided throughout, but with a veritable swagger of a soundtrack and a series of vignettes worth engaging with, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band is an amiable enough amble through the annals of a band's rise and downfall.