Some things are best in small doses. Cheesecake and Ketamine come to mind. The more-is-not-necessarily-better conundrum confronts the creators of Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story, a Vice News documentary about the punk folk band Gogol Bordello and EugeneHtz, the bands charismatic lead singer.Htzalso doubles as a Ukrainian activist/raconteur/resident deep thinker. He can be a lot. Audiences appreciation of the doc will depend on their patience withHtz,a man whose intentions are good even if his volume is always set to 11.
Directors Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib have the difficult task of trying to explain a 24-year-old cult band in 99 minutes. It is very much an immigrant story. Theres an early shot ofHtzswaggering onstage with the band a mlange of violinists, drummers and guitarists and baptizing the audience with his beer.
But soon the film drops intoHtzs origin story. He was born in Ukraine during the last decades of the repressive and rotting Soviet regime. He had the double strike of being both Ukrainian and Roma. Htz remembers only three colors: the gray of the buildings, the yellow of the sand needed to build more gray buildings and the blue sky above. His first real introduction to Ukrainian music and dance happens when his family flees Kyiv for Western Ukraine after the Chernobyl meltdown. He talks in wonder of the flamboyant customs of his countrymen who existed a few hundred miles further away from Moscows reach.
The Soviet Unions fall allowed his family to emigrate, first to Europe and then to Burlington, Vt., whereHtzmade his first friends at a record shop by simply repeating the name of punk bands, Dead Kennedys and The Ramones. In his 20s, he moved to New York City and found like-minded musicians many of them immigrants who cottoned to his vision of a band that leaned on Ukrainian traditions, classical violin, Dadaesque lyrics and elaborate stage presentations.
Htzs story is fascinating and triumphant as the band progresses to semi-stardom in the 2000s with appearances on Conan and David Letterman. Still, the film is less claustrophobic when he is off-camera and other members are interviewed. This is true, even if there is an unintentional Spinal Tap moment in their appearances as the years they were in the band flashes on the screen like dates on a tombstone. (Violinist Sergey Ryabtsey is the only member other thanHtzwho remains from its early days). But they have something to say. Pedro Erazo has been in Gogol Bordello since 2007 as a sort of co-MC. Hes an Ecuadorean who has lived his adult life in the United States. He quietly mentions that he feels like a tourist in Ecuador and with his accent wont ever be completely American. But he then lets out a luminous smile. He notes that he doesnt have to belong to a country to feel like he belongs in the world. Erazo captures the immigrant experience in 30 seconds in a way thatHtzdoesnt manage throughout the documentary.
Gogol Bordello has shed members at a terrific rate through the years; there are now more ex-bandmates than actual bandmates. Some of the departures can be explained byHtzsmanic drive the band frequently did 200 shows a year but not all of it. The film doesnt dig deeply into howHtzis perceived by other band members, apart from some cursory praise. He is either the most benevolent band leader since Alexanders Ragtime Band or the directors left any sign of strife out of the film.
Eventually, the grind even beat down the maestro. Htz talks of shows where he went horizontal to vertical without a lot in between.He eventuallyescapes to Brazil where he learns meditation and qi gong between DJ gigs.While important toHtzs growth and sanity, the footage of him actually doing qi gong leaves aDocumentary Now!aftertaste. Its one of the films flaws: takingHtz too seriously.Theres a moment whenHtzmuses something quasi-profound about the world being an organism as is every human being. The film then cuts to shots of galaxies and other cosmic scenes.
No matter, Scream of My Blood remains essential, if only for its archival concert footage. Gogol Bordellos shows captured in the film whether on the Lower East Side or an outdoor show in Chicago with its giant Ukrainian community show incandescently joyful fans, many of whom, likeHtz,have been on a long journey to find a place for themselves in a strange land.
Toward the end of the film, Russia has invaded Ukraine.Htzand the band travel home and make a trip to visit refugee centers and play for soldiers. We seeHtzin stark midday sun for the first time. Theres a moment of silence for the fallen, and uniformed young men and women stand at attention. But then the band plays. The once rigid soldiers dance and sing, smile and cry. They should be at cafes and bars instead of brandishing rifles, but for a moment they forget all that. They look young and immortal.
If music could change the world, wed be living in heaven a long time ago, saysHtzin a quiet voice. His eyes then light up. But music is a form of magic.