UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US — ★ — Documentary feature about Norwegian black metal music; with English subtitles (Norwegian dialects); not rated, probable R (profanity, violence, gore, slurs, vulgarity, brief drugs, nude artwork); Tower Theatre
If you didn't know any better, you'd swear that "Until the Light Takes Us" was supposed to be a musical "mockumentary," along the lines of the beloved 1984 film "This Is Spinal Tap."
And as such, you'd probably be tempted to laugh it off. That is, if everything about this particular film weren't so dire. The first-time filmmakers, the subjects and everyone associated with the documentary take things so seriously that it becomes a bore.
Worse still, this is one of the most inept and clumsy pieces of filmmaking in recent history. It's as if co-directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell had no idea what they wanted to say, only that they wanted to make something on the subject of Norwegian black metal music.
Aites and Ewell try to examine this supposedly misunderstood musical genre, which dates back to late '80s.
And their main subjects are Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes and Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell, former friends and contemporaries who haven't spoken in years.
Nagell is dull, and Vikerne tries to excuse his violent past — including his ties to a series of church burnings and similar vandalism in the mid '90s.
And neither the filmmakers nor the musicians even acknowledge the debts they owe to such Gothic metal pioneers as Alice Cooper and Glenn Danzig (the Misfits, Samhain).
Frankly, if you want to see something more entertainment and educational about the same subject, watch Adult Swim's cartoon series "Metalocalypse." It's even a good hour shorter than this unholy mess.
"Until the Light Takes Us" is not rated but would probably receive an R for strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang and other sexually suggestive talk), brief but strong and disturbing violent imagery (photos of a fatal shooting and footage of fiery mayhem), bloody and gory imagery (those same photos), derogatory language and slurs, brief drug content and references (recreational drugs, as well as tear gas), and glimpses of nude paintings and statues. Running time: 93 minutes.
e-mail: jeff@desnews.com