While Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s fictionalised 2014 documentary, 20,000 Days On Earth, offered us a carefully constructed and measured portrait of Nick Cave and his musical legacy, One More Time With Feeling is an intimate examination of what happens when tragic events beyond an artist’s control impact upon his work, family and colleagues. As such, the film reveals a previously unseen side of Nick Cave as artifice is stripped away.
Originally screened as a one‑night-only event in 950 cinemas in 30 countries, One More Time With Feeling could have so easily been a hagiography to promote Cave’s 16th studio album, Skeleton Tree. Filmed during the final production of the recording, the film – while featuring performances of the album’s songs – instead becomes a meditation on terrible loss in the wake of the death of Cave’s 15-year-old son, Arthur, who passed away as the album was being recorded.
The pain, confusion and grief in the aftermath of the event slowly unfold via a series of interviews and internal monologues. The support Cave receives from his bandmates, particularly Warren Ellis, is touching, as is the tenderness displayed between the singer and his family.
A profoundly moving and affecting film.
