Experience (1968)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Peter Neal
Starring Jimi Hendrix

Features:

• Live performance of "Wind Cries Mary" and "Purple Haze" for Swedish TV
  
• Live performance of "Red House" and "Sunshine of Your Love" for Swedish TV
  
• Live performance of "Wild Thing" from Olympia (WA), 1967
  
• Original promo spot for "Hey Joe" from 1967
  
• "Dolly Dagger" music video (1997)
  

Rating: NR, suitable for most audiences.

Anamorphic: Nope. 1.33:1 full-screen

My Advice: Own it if you're a fan, rent it otherwise.

Despite the relative brevity of his actual performing career, few musicians have left as lasting an impact on rock music as Jimi Hendrix. His trademark style (both personal and performance) make him one of the more memorable icons of the 1960's. And it was perhaps with an eye to this photogenic nature of Hendrix that led Peter Neal to assemble the documentary Experience about the man at the height of Hendrix's career.

The documentary itself is as unusual in form as the subject himself. Rather than the traditional approach of examining the early life of the artist, followed by the obligatory discussion of transformative experiences that led to life in music, etcetera, Neal opts for a more free-flowing approach. Mixing concert footage with shots of a relaxed Hendrix fielding questions (both heard and unheard by the audience) from his band mates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. The total effect is that Experience comes across less like a documentary and more like sitting on the floor opposite Jimi while he expounds on various things about himself and his world. It's an interesting approach, but also very structurally disjointed, so it's sometimes hard to follow the train of discussion (though this may have more to do with the mental state of the interviewee than anything else, honestly).

To its credit, the film doesn't shy away from relevant social questions of the time, nor does it attempt to downplay Hendrix's own involvement with the U.S. military in order to avoid damaging his "hippie credibility." This documentary is nothing if it isn't honest, and there are no edits made for the sole purpose of cultivating Jimi's image, or cleaning up dialogue to remove the natural character of the man or his bandmates.

Director Neal deserves perhaps the most credit for simply staying out of the way. He had a dynamic subject, interesting interviewers with a solid connection to the subject, and a man whose image is so tied up with the 1960's counterculture that it needs no introduction or explanation even today. So he let the camera roll and made himself transparent. Not as easy as it might sound, as any Ken Burns documentary series can amply testify.

The DVD treatment is good, if not great, with clear video and sound that pops and crackles only minimally. Most of the video and audio "glitches" are the result of the original's age rather than a poor DVD transfer. The extras are excellent stuff for any Hendrix fan, including some very rare live performances originally broadcast on Swedish television. You won't find too many other performances of "Red House" anywhere, and to see it as well as hear it is something else. The free-wheeling 10-minute jam session version of "Sunshine of Your Love" is fantastic as well, even though it's completely instrumental (Jimi didn't know the words). The recently-produced music video for Jimi's recently recovered "Dolly Dagger" is interesting MTV fare, though it suffers from all the same cheesy stereotypes that have plagued much of the music video world for years.

Experience is a great addition to any serious music junky's DVD library, and a must for any die-hard Jimi Hendrix fan. The bonus live footage adds tremendous value to the documentary, as much of it is unlikely to appear elsewhere.