Air Guitar Nation (2006)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Alexandra Lipsitz

Release Date:

6 October 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Comedy | Music

Tagline:

To Air is Human

Plot:

It's time to rock and roll - air guitar style. AIR GUITAR NATION is the feature documentary about the year that air guitar swept America...

Plot Keywords:

Guitar | Air Guitar | Contestant | Contest | Finland

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dan Crane	...	Björn Türoque
David S. Jung	...	C-Diddy (as David Jung)
Hadia Ackerman	...	Jam Toast
Lance Kasten	...	The Shred
Ryan Kelly	...	Himself
John Filion	...	Johnny Rocket
Ralph Martin	...	Rufus Sewer
John Daniel Harding Jr.	...	Himself
Lucy Harrison	...	Snatchface
Rory O'Flaherty	...	Air do well
Craig Zahler	...	Czar
Paul Fichera	...	Himself
Erika Szanto	...	Herself
Elana Berkowitz	...	Herself
Melinda Murphy	...	Herself

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

USA:81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Finland:K-3 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Docurama

Soundtrack:

Get Your Hands Off My Woman

wacky fun

"Air Guitar Nation" is probably the best documentary ever made about a non-subject. Air Guitar, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the art of playing heavy metal guitar sans the actual guitar. It's what every spastic, tone-deaf teenager with dreams of one day becoming the next Jimi Hendrix has done in the privacy of his own bedroom since the late 1960's. Who could ever have imagined that a whole subculture and cottage industry would one day spring up around an activity that most of us probably never admitted to doing even to our closest buddies?

Yet, that is exactly what has happened, and in its rise to semi-"respectability," Air Guitar has gathered unto itself a bevy of impassioned, hardcore fans who see nothing crazy in cheering on a wannabe guitarist as he mimics the moves of actual music-making immortals like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton on stage. Indeed, the Air Guitar movement even boasts its own roster of revered icons and pioneers and has established well-attended competitions on the local, national and international level as a means of showcasing its finest talents and garnering itself some much-needed publicity. The movie follows two of the key figures in the field, C-Diddy and Bjorn Turoque - each with his own very different hard rocker persona - as they head to the 2003 Air Guitar championship held in Oulu, Finland.

The basic charm of "Air Guitar Nation" lies in its ability to acknowledge the silliness of the whole concept while, at the same time, evincing a genuine, heartfelt affection for both the activity and those who participate in it. Indeed, far more time is spent getting to know the "musicians" as people than in watching them actually perform. What is most striking about the young men is just how reserved, shy and self-effacing they are by nature until they take to the stage and simply cut loose with all their wild gesticulations and antics at the behest of the adoring crowd. It is then that they become truly transformed, so much so that even the most cynical scoffer may find himself caught up in the spirit of the moment, sweating out the contest's ultimate outcome right along with the participants. The men also face their inexplicable status as celebrities with a clear-eyed rationality, not taking themselves or their accomplishments all that seriously (their satirical names alone reflect that playful spirit), a fact that makes the whole thing at least palatable for those who still may not quite "get it" even after the closing credits have rolled on by.