Stay Awhile (2014)
Director: Jessica Edwards
Country: Canada
Genre: Documentary | Drama | Family | Music
Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage of the Whistler Film Festival. For more information visit whistlerfilmfestival.com and follow WFF on Twitter at @whisfilmfest.
Stay Awhile is a film about a Canadian super group called The Bells. The story centers on the relationship developed between two of the group members and the rise and fall of the band. The music sounds great but this film feels like a short film stretched out to become a full-length feature film.
At first the audience is provided with a brief background on The Bells. This is an opportunity to provide background for those unaware of the group, which must be the majority of the audience. The opening is too brief. We’re told it’s a group of five but the focus remains on Anne and Jackie Ralph and Cliff Edwards. Perhaps this is a reflection of the way things were with the band at the peak of their careers but it’s difficult to get buy-in with such a brief introduction. We learn the Ralph sisters were originally from South Africa and that they weren’t used to the spotlight.
The music sounds great but this film feels like a short stretched out to become a full-length feature.
The original band members tell the story through a series of interviews. Perhaps this is a minor gripe but the names of each interviewee name is only displayed a couple of times for each person. To make things even more confusing, each person is interviewed in numerous settings throughout the film. One moment Edwards is in his house with a guitar, the next he’s outside, the following scene he’s in a studio. Without the visual cues of showing his name through each scene change it was an exercise in frustration to follow along, “Oh that’s Cliff again. Wait he looks different.” The Ralph sisters bear a strong resemblance to each other so when their settings change in the interviews it took me out of the film to realize, “Oh That’s Anne. Wait, no that’s Jackie.” The two sisters also sound similar.
When the story becomes interesting the audience is treated to a musical montage set to stock footage and photographs of the band. The montages are excessive in this film, padding out the runtime. There were times when a person was telling an intriguing story, then the film cut to a song from The Bells and photos of the band members, family, and concerts. The film can certainly play as a celebration of the music but not at the expense of its flow. Each montage derails the movement of Stay Awhile.
The last five years have brought us terrific musical documentaries such as Searching for Sugar Man, Sound City, Charles Bradley: Soul of America, A Band Called Death – Stay Awhile feels like it wants to be a mash-up of what made the listed movies great. What made these movies great is the intimacy felt between the viewer and the subjects. Whereas each movie flowed beautifully, Stay Awhile isn’t focused enough on the music or the relationships. Both stories feel half-cooked. Would a non-Canadian audience member connect with this film? It feels unfair to compare this film to the films listed above but at first it feels like we’re being told this is one of the great untold stories of a Canadian band. This has become a common theme in documentaries of late.
The film can certainly play as a celebration of the music but not at the expense of its flow. Each montage derails the movement of Stay Awhile.
The film is directed by Jessica Edwards, the daughter of Anne Ralph and Cliff Edwards. Jessica’s brother states at one point that this is, “Expensive therapy.” Perhaps that’s the best outcome of this film, that the family settles issues that have been bothering them for years. There are layers of love, pain and everything in between in this film and that’s why it bothers me to write a negative review. This film did not have enough going to keep me hooked for the 73-minute runtime. A more focused approach to either the music or the relationships built or destroyed may have benefited this film.
Stay Awhile is sparsely entertaining with terrific music. The stories are interesting at times but once that interest piques, we’re removed from the film with a montage. It’s too bad because I enjoy any opportunity to champion Canadian film but cannot do so with this one.
Stay Awhile is sparsely entertaining with terrific music. The stories are interesting at times but once that interest piques, we’re removed from the film with a montage. It’s too bad because I enjoy any opportunity to champion Canadian film but cannot do so with this one.
