''This Much I Know to Be True'' is a 2022 British

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by Andrew Dominik. It is a companion to Dominik's documentary ''

One More Time with Feeling ''One More Time with Feeling'' is a 2016 British documentary film directed by Andrew Dominik. It documents the recording of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' sixteenth studio album, ''Skeleton Tree'', in the aftermath of the death of Nick Cave's 15 ...

'' (2016). The film had its world premiere on 12 February 2022 at the

72nd Berlin International Film Festival The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale took place from 10 to 20 February 2022 in person. On 15 December 2021 the first film of the festival was announced. The festival opened with François Ozon's drama ...

Synopsis

''This Much I Know to Be True'' explores the creative relationship between Australian musicians

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

and

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

. It features their first performances of songs from their last two studio albums, '' Ghosteen'' and '' Carnage''. It was filmed in spring 2021 before their UK tour. Cave and Ellis are accompanied by singers and a string quartet. The film also features an appearance by Cave's longtime friend and collaborator Marianne Faithfull. The performances are combined with interlude segments exploring the creation and themes of the music. The film also explores of the process of Cave writing The Red Hand Files, a website he uses to respond to questions from fans. It also includes a visit to the workshop of London-based sculptor Corin Johnson, who assists with ''The Devil – A Life'', a series of seventeen Staffordshire stoneware sculptures created by Cave depicting the devil's life.

Cast

* Marianne Faithfull *

Earl Cave Earl Cave (born 23 June 2000) is an English actor. He is known for his film roles in '' Days of the Bagnold Summer'' and ''True History of the Kelly Gang''. Early life and education Cave was born in London to Australian singer Nick Cave and Eng ...

* Andrew Dominik *Wendi Rose * Janet Ramus *T Jae Cole *Eloisa-Fleur Thom *Alessandro Ruisi *Luba Tunnicliffe *Max Ruisi

Production

Dominik was first contacted by Cave while Dominik was finishing work on his film '' Blonde'' about the life of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. Dominik's felt his schedule left him without the time necessary to travel to London and shoot during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He initially planned to decline Cave's request, but felt compelled to accept upon relistening to ''Ghosteen''. The film was shot in five days on location in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. The performances were shot in

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade ...

Release

The film premiered on 12 February 2022 in the Berlinale Special section at the

. The film was released worldwide on 11 May 2022 by Trafalgar Releasing in a global cinema event.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A must-watch for Nick Cave fans, ''This Much I Know to Be True'' simply and soberly highlights the redemptive power of music." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Wendy Ide of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' called it "simply executed but undeniably powerful in its lean, stripped back elegance." Jessica Kiang of '' Variety'' wrote, "This remarkable performance documentary may be for the Nick Cave-curious exclusively, but for them (us) it is close to essential."

References

External links

* * {{Andrew Dominik, state=collapsed 2022 films 2022 documentary films Documentary films about rock music and musicians Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Films directed by Andrew Dominik Films set in Brighton Films set in London Films set in Bristol 2020s English-language films 2020s British films British musical documentary films