By Prabhjot Bains
The director discusses the striking parallels between architecture and filmmaking, the power imbalances that plague art, and not giving a fuck.
No Dress Rehearsal Delivers an Intimate Look at The Tragically Hip’s Legacy
Mike Downie’s docuseries captures the triumphs, challenges, and lasting mark left by “Canada’s Band.”
by Prabhjot Bains
- Published on
The Beach Boys are said to be America’s band and Britain has the Beatles, but the voice of Canada — to many folks— rests with The Tragically Hip. It’s an emphatic sentiment echoed by the band’s guitarist Rob Baker in The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal. On the surface, it’s an opinion that reeks of personal bias, especially since the four-part docuseries is directed by Mike Downie, brother of Gord Downie, the late lead vocalist of the titular band. Yet, what could have easily been a vanity project, or a schmaltzy puff piece is an exhaustive and intimate account of a band that captured the spirit of a nation despite battles with insecurity, inspiration, and illness.
Regardless of its highly personal and subjective lens, the series treats viewers to never-before-seen, private footage of each member and iteration of the band. Downie’s series leaves no stone unturned, tracking their formation in Kingston, Ontario as a punk band under names like Rick and the Rodents and The Filters to their final cross-Canada arena tour. No Dress Rehearsal alternates between a joyous and wistful current during these moments, reaching a crescendo during sequences where members return to the streets and venues where it all began.
No Dress Rehearsal is most fascinating when it deconstructs the band’s hits, recontextualizing everything we know about their creative process. Downie submerges us in the minute details of conceiving tunes like “Little Bones” and “Ahead by a Century” to entire albums like “Up to Here” and “Road Apples”—a wry title studio execs had a tough time of marketing. Across a meaty 256-minute runtime, Downie allows us to soak in every facet of The Hip’s musical vision, each stylistic detour and creative difference that made one of Canada’s foremost storytellers.
It’s here where No Dress Rehearsal carefully dissects the difference between nationalism and portrayal. The honour of being dubbed “Canada’s Band” comes with the responsibility of tapping into the truth and the dark, peculiar history that comes with it. From the loon call in “Wheat Kings” to an entire song about painter Tom Thomson of the Group of Seven, Downie taps into the power of simply telling Canadian stories in a space devoid of them.
Snappy interviews from celebrities like Will Arnett, Jay Baruchel, Dan Aykroyd, and even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, detail their relationship to the band and how “Gord made it cool to be Canadian.” It’s an effect Downie’s film attributes to The Hip’s inability to gain traction in the American market, with many of the members poking fun at how their authentically Canadian vision kept them from the biggest stages.
While the series’ latter half pulls attention away from other bandmates to focus on Gord, it illuminates his electrifying stage presence, ultimate battle with cancer, and championing of reconciliation. And while the series loses points for its lack of flair and style, it makes up for it with insight and honesty—culminating in a final episode that immerses us in their final, legendary tour. No Dress Rehearsal could have easily proved to be a cautionary tale, but Downie hones his unique perspective to cement a detailed and authentic celebration of a band that defined the Canadian Condition.
The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal is screening on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Vancouver International Film Festival
By Prabhjot Bains
From electrifying horrors to genre-defying epics, these films not only entertained but challenged the way we see the world.
By Stephan Boissonneault
Inside the Montreal-based songwriter's creative space where fashion and music collide - with our friends at Brixton.
