The recent documentary about the life and music of Guy Clark, Without Getting Killed or Caught, is now available for renting on Amazon Prime. Is it worth watching?
All fans of Guy Clark will enjoy learning more about the great Texas singer-songwriter from the documentary based on Tamara Saviano’s 2016 book of the same name and the diaries of Clark’s wife Susanna Clark. The film was produced and directed by Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield, it was written by Tamara Saviano and Bart Knaggs.
The film does a good job of recapping the music of Guy Clark, while also revealing more about his personal life, including the complicated relationship among him, his wife Susanna Clark, and singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Fans of Van Zandt will also find much about his life and death.
The film provides a proper place in history to the person often overlooked in the story, Susanna Clark. While understandably overshadowed by the talents of Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, the film highlights how she was an important part of the lives of both men. It also gives more context to her own talents in painting and songwriting. Additionally, the film literally gives Susanna Clark a voice through home audio recordings and narration in her voice by actress Sissy Spacek.
If there is any weakness in the film, it would be that it leaves one wanting to know more about Guy Clark’s music. The movie does a good job giving space to the songs in the time it has, but it probably was inevitable that a movie about someone with such a deep catalog would leave viewers wanting more.
One also may be curious to know more about Clark’s personal life and his feelings about his complicated relationship with his wife and Townes Van Zandt. But of course one film can only cover so much ground.
The movie largely rises to the challenge of exploring the life and music of Clark. It also makes the case that Guy Clark is one of the great American singer-songwriters who is too often overlooked.
(Below is a featurette about the film, featuring Jack ingram, Lyle Lovett, Patty Griffin, Rodney Crowell and others. For more about the film, here is a link to an interesting conversation between Steve Earle and filmmaker Tamara Saviano.)
What is your favorite Guy Clark song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
