Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1978 • United States
Starring Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko
More than just one of the greatest concert films ever made, THE LAST WALTZ is an at once ecstatic and elegiac summation of a vital era in American rock music. Invited to capture the farewell performance of the legendary group the Band at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving, 1976, Martin Scorsese conceived a new kind of music documentary. Enlisting seven camera operators (led by director of photography Michael Chapman, and also including renowned cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and László Kovács) and production designer Boris Leven to design the strikingly theatrical sets, Scorsese created a grandly immersive experience that brings viewers onstage and inside the music itself. That music—as performed by the Band and a host of other generation-defining artists, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, the Staple Singers, Muddy Waters, and Neil Young—lives on as an almost religious expression of the transcendent possibilities of rock and roll.
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1978 • United States
Starring Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko
More than just one of the greatest concert films ever made, THE LAST WALTZ is an at once ecstatic and elegiac summation of a vital era in American rock music. Invited to capture the farewell perf...
This commentary track features director Martin Scorsese and musician Robbie Robertson.
This commentary track features Band members Levon Helm and Garth Hudson, journalists Jay Cocks and Greil Marcus, producers Jonathan Taplin and Steven Prince, cinematographer Michael Chapman, music producers John Simon and Irwin Winkler, and performers Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, and Mavis Staples.
The following conversation between director Martin Scorsese and Rolling Stone senior editor and critic David Fear about THE LAST WALTZ and Scorsese’s work in music documentary was recorded in New York in November 2021.
This 1978 interview with director Martin Scorsese and musician Robbie Robertson was originally broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “90 Minutes Live” on April 14, 1978.
This 2002 documentary chronicles the making of THE LAST WALTZ, including storyboards and conceptual art, and features interview segments with director Martin Scorsese and musician Robbie Robertson.
This performance features Band members Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson, in addition to their fellow musicians Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Carl Radle, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Ronnie Wood, and Neil Young.
