Jeff Buckley’s Amazing Grace: A Review of Amy Berg’s ‘It’s Never Over’

By Emma Ferguson

Fusing genres, writing excruciatingly raw lyrics and bearing a voice that easily spans four octaves, the musical genius of Jeff Buckley cannot be understated. Having been a huge fan since I was around sixteen, I had high hopes for the new Amy Berg film about Buckley’s music and life, and it lived up to my expectations. Unlike many music biopics and documentaries, Berg successfully strips away the shackles of fame which tormented Buckley’s psyche, presenting him separately from the world he so loathed in favour of depicting a man whose brain worked in incomprehensible ways. We are not bombarded with chart statistics and record sales but instead are presented with a series of interviews with ex-girlfriends, friends, fellow musicians and most touchingly, his mother. Berg compiles intimate voicemails, exclusive live performances and interviews to create an image of Jeff Buckley as a man who lived both for and through his music but ultimately drowned in the world of fame.

I Never Asked to be Your Mountain

From the onset of his career, Jeff Buckley was considered in relation to his father’s musical success, despite being absent since before his birth. Buckley was tormented by comparisons to his father, but agreed to perform at an anniversary service to commemorate his passing.  He left the performance with almost sixty business cards. Berg tackles Buckley’s anguish at being compared to his father, including an interview clip in which when asked what he inherited from his father Jeff responded “people who remember my father. Next question.” Buckley’s own views on his complex relationship with his father are given a voice by Berg throughout the film, which consistently prioritises Buckley as an individual rather than fuelling the plague of media outlets who initially perceived him merely as ‘Tim Buckley’s son’.

Hallelujah

Citing his greatest musical influences as “love, anger, joy, depression and dreams… and Zeppelin”, alongside Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, and a host of others, Buckley initially paved his way on the east village scene through his soulful covers. Later in his career, his Edith Piaf rendition earned him a strong following across France, whilst tackling Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah skyrocketed his career internationally. Buckley’s rendition surpassed Cohen’s original and is deemed by many to be not only the greatest cover of Hallelujah, but the greatest cover of any song of all time.

However, Buckley’s adoration of such incredible artists was not without its problems. Captivated with the lyrical excellence of the likes of Dylan, Jeff held himself to a near unattainable standard, obsessing over his work and struggling under the time pressure placed on him by his record label, Columbia. After his first album, the masterpiece that is Grace, Buckley struggled to produce new material. Berg depicts the hardships of touring for two years whilst trying to meet the impossible demands of record labels and shows Buckley’s limited success in America. However, the film succeeds in focusing on his personal conflict rather than these commercial issues. Berg presents the audience with a man who is crippling under the weight of imposter syndrome, worried that the success of his first album was merely a fluke and above all loathing the world of fame. Throughout the film, Berg remains committed to Buckley’s insistence that normality is integral to the creation of art. It was this conviction that drove the very concept of It’s Never Over, with Buckley’s mother rejecting Brad Pitt’s intention of creating a biopic in favour of creating a documentary centred around his own words. The entire film is dedicated to an honest portrayal of Jeff Buckley, offering an authentic portrayal of who he truly was, both as a man and through his music.

Last Goodbye

Buckley’s tragic passing is perhaps as famous as his music, with years of speculation as to whether it was an accident or suicide. Berg rejects fuelling decades of conspiracy, focusing instead on who Buckley was as a human and on the magnitude of his loss. Berg highlights the tragedy of losing a creative genius, and who loved life and lived accordingly. The spontaneous swim in the Mississippi River that cost thirty-year-old Buckley his life was referred to by an ex-girlfriend as an accident, which occurred “in a moment of joy”. In true Buckley style, he entered the water singing along to Zep’s Whole Lotta Love, before being caught in an undertow. Six days later, Buckley’s body resurfaced at the foot of Beale Street, where he had previously played. Berg avoids looking at the accident through the detached lens of celebrity status and rejects contributing to the conspiracies surrounding this tragedy, instead showing the brutal reality of the magnitude of loss experienced by those who loved Buckley. In a touching moment, Jeff’s mother plays the last voice message he ever left her where he tells her of his love and appreciation for her. Ultimately, Berg’s focus remains not within the boundaries of a successful career or on a far-removed celebrity figure, but on a man who lived and died in his love for music.