Bernard MacMahon directed the first official documentary of arguably the greatest rock band of all time – and it did not disappoint. This documentary included it all; present interviews with the band members, rare interviews from the 60s, unseen footage, childhood pictures and excellent performance footage.
It initially concentrated solely on each member of the band, how they were brought up, what inspired them to create music and moved on to explore how they found each other. MacMahon exceptionally documented what each member brought to the band, and how their own unique musical approach fit perfectly when put together. Plant explained that playing together felt like putting the best pieces of each one of them into one entity.
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ allowed itself time to truly get into the music, as the band intended to, by making you sit through the live performances, which was an experience in itself, aside from the movie.
All members expressed a feeling that they were creating something uniquely new, something transcendent. This very feeling is communicated well throughout the film.
The movie moves on to discuss their rise to fame, and whilst they were not initially well-received, they managed to sign a record deal shortly after producing their first album. The documentary then starts to focus on live concerts more than anything else – which is an excellent choice: one of the earliest performances of ‘Dazed and Confused’ in London 1969 was played for ten minutes. This allowed the documentary to focus, uninterrupted, on the music.
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ allowed itself time to truly get into the music, as the band intended to, by making you sit through the live performances, which was an experience in itself, aside from the movie. It was also interesting to see how Plant, Page and Jones were very involved in the making of the documentary. It mostly consisted of them taking the audience through their journeys in becoming Led Zeppelin, thus avoiding common misconceptions and assumptions that documentaries can make when not including what is being documented.
This made the film a genuine embodiment of what the band wanted to put out there – which also allowed them to gloss over some of the controversies surrounding them. Yet this might be very well necessary if the focus is purely artistic.
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ also engaged us with how various songs were created, their inspirations, and each member’s role in the song, which was fascinating to see. Overall, the film managed to capture the magic of Led Zeppelin through its inclusion of the band’s artistic visions, as well as its constant engagement with the music.
