One of the funniest, sweetest, saddest documents of obsession ever made.
This is the story of 1980s Canadian metal band Anvil and their speedy descent from stadium rockers to playing for goulash in the wilds of Eastern Europe. It’s almost impossible to believe these men are for real until you check their lengthy back catalogue actually exists on Amazon.
It will be sacrilege for some to suggest it transcends Spinal Tap – but it does. Mainly because it’s not a spoof but gut-wrenchingly real. The men in this band are in their 50s and, while the music industry has moved on, Anvil still dream of hitting the big time which so cruelly eludes them.
A roster of metal giants including Motorhead’s Lemmy and Guns’n’Roses’ Slash doff their caps to Anvil’s musical influence yet the lead singer and creative driving force now delivers school dinners in sub-zero Toronto. And he does this while expressing his optimism for the future of the band which has been long forgotten.
The access to these men’s lives for this documentary, including their long-suffering wives and children, is both illuminating and heart-breaking. The band’s tenacity borders on a compulsive disorder which at times makes for emotionally hard viewing, but both Anvil and the director’s enthusiasm for their subject is infectious and ultimately uplifting. It’s not so much about not knowing whether to laugh or cry – you’ll probably do both.
