Product Details

• Actors: Robyn Hitchcock, Deni Bonet, Tim Keegan
• Directors: Jonathan Demme
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: July 5, 2000
• Run Time: 77 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 079284601X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,449 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This Hitchcock is a thriller of a different stripe, thanks to director Jonathan Demme, whose evident passion for music again combines with his consummate filmmaking skills to show off its subject to maximum effect. Much as he did for the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense, Demme here gets right to the core of singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock by focusing on him in performance. It's a testament to all involved that Storefront Hitchcock achieves an impact similar to that classic concert film through a strikingly different approach.

Unlike the Heads, Hitchcock is a quintessential cult artist who retired his band, the Egyptians, and now performs mostly solo. To capture his songs in sharp focus, Demme filmed the musician playing in a vacated Manhattan storefront, his back to its broad window, his small but rapt audience heard but not seen. Apart from an establishing credit sequence that descends to the streets, the 77-minute program consists of Hitchcock in medium or close shots, with occasional glimpses of passersby and onlookers in the street behind him. Simple stage lighting is augmented by use of a translucent curtain, an opaque backdrop, and a checkerboard overlay of different colored gels that periodically change the outward view. For DVD and VHS, Demme has opted for a full-frame transfer that actually makes sense in terms of sustaining this intimacy.

That simplicity, and the beautifully shot and composed color film footage, draw us deeply into Hitchcock's songs and monologues, which confirm his acerbic wit, a sharp eye for pop cultural details, and a free-floating surrealism that lends his verbal riffs an antic poetry. He's not a virtuoso by any measure, yet it's easy to hear why he's such a musician's favorite in the instinctive drama and energy of his mostly acoustic guitar work. If you've never heard Robyn Hitchcock, this stunning, minimalist feature will intrigue you. If you're already a fan, prepare to swoon. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SEEING IS BELIEVING, February 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Robyn Hitchcock - Storefront Hitchcock (DVD)

just like HOCKEY...it seems to get Robyn Hitchcock you need to see him LIVE...and I can't imagine a better simulation than this wonderful little film. THE ONLY drawback is it is WAY too short! with DVD I have become expectant of bonus material and a few extra songs wouldn't hurt ..but hey that just tells you how good this is..YOU DO NOT WANT IT TO END. I wasn't a big fan before I saw this movie and now I understand why his fans (or cult) are so passionate..lyrics which are challenging (to say the least) great vocals (lennonesque) and a pretty stunning guitarist to boot...BUY this DVD...you will be charmed and enthralled.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANT, July 27, 2004

By	rocketfly (Walhalla, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robyn Hitchcock - Storefront Hitchcock (DVD)

I had seen this film breifly on Sundance but a friend of mine always turned it to something else saying "I hate this guy!"
Then I found what I was sure was it, even though I didn't know the title before I bought it. I took it home and watched it and was hooked; I continuously watched it and it never got old. I always find something I missed the time before. No one I show it to understands it the same way I do, but there's something special about it. It's like it's not just a concert video, but it's really a movie, but a different kind of movie all together. I reccomend this to ANYone, however, I've determined that this is the border of coolness. If you enjoy this film, you're cool, if you don't then you are uncool and you probably only listen to mainstream pop anyway.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant film just WAY too little of it. , September 21, 2005

By	Bill Wikstrom (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robyn Hitchcock - Storefront Hitchcock (DVD)

I love Storefront Hitchcock. However the DVD was released in Standard format only (full screen) which is way lame.
And Hitchcock performed many other songs that were filmed that could've easily been included here. the Soundtrack CD contains a bunch of songs not in the film (and the Soundtrack Vinyl LP contains a few more).
It's nice that Demme would make this film but why is it SOOO brief?
I mean his Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense is nearly two hours in length.
Come on, 77 Minutes?!?
It's shame that it took so long to be released on DVD/VHS to begin with but why it
was given such a half baked-release is beyond me.
Hitchcock deserves much better.