It’s something of a cliché to say, “you really don’t need to be a fan of the music to appreciate this film” – but it’s true. As Mistaken for Strangers, a documentary which follows the renowned indie band The National as they embark on a world tour, is far more concerned with the director Tom Berninger’s brotherly relationship with the band’s lead singer, Matt, in a somewhat similar vein to popular music doc Dig!
Tom Berninger is not quite so successful at his older brother. While Matt is out, gallivanting around the world, performing his songs in front of adoring fans all the way to Barack Obama himself, the former remains mostly at home – with his mum – making low-budget horror movies in his bedroom. However when asked to go on tour with The National and help out as a member of the crew, he decides to bring his camera along and document the adventure. However, the project that is initially supposed to be about the group themselves, soon turns into a candid exploration of how this one man deals with being less successful than his sibling.
To label this as a music documentary seems to undersell it somewhat, as there’s so many more layers to this nuanced piece, particularly in the fractured relationship between these two brothers, which is the heartbeat of this production. Tom feels jealous towards his brother’s fame, and resents him certainly – but all the while there is degree of pride, and a willing to protect his own flesh and blood – a sentiment which works both ways. He acts as a brilliant entry point and vessel into this world too, as he’s neither awestruck by the band, nor is he well-informed. He just represents normality, as his line of questioning when interviewing the band members is naïve in parts, and simplistic, similarly to the approach taken by documentarian Louis Theroux, in that regard.
He’s a fascinating character too, and Mistaken for Strangers blurs the line between fiction and reality, as Tom can be described as a quite deadpan, almost comic creation, which makes you question how much of the Tom that we’re seeing is authentic, and how much is a caricature of sorts that he has invented for the piece. Either way, it’s certainly a very close version of himself, and any palpable theatricalities are disregarded dramatically in the latter stages, when emotions are running high and it becomes clear that this is no act.
Where this picture also triumphs, is how we normalise a situation that is otherwise so luminous and foreign to the everyday man. A band on tour ignites this vision of rock and rollers hitting the road, travelling past landscapes that wouldn’t look out of place in Easy Rider. Yet this revels in the mundane, it’s not all sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and this delves into such a notion, as instead it seems quite tiring, and well, like work in a way. Tom’s editorial skills ensure that we have a strong juxtaposition between The National’s shows, where they play to so many adoring fans who treat them like royalty, to the more intimate, human moments that ground the band and show they’re just a few blokes who write good music.
Mistaken for Strangers could work better on the smaller screen, as a short, but sweet picture that is thoroughly easy to indulge in and enjoy. Tom Berninger sums up proceedings by saying, ‘Matt is a rock and roll star – and I’m not”. That may well be the case, but Tom Berninger is now an accomplished, documentary filmmaker. Is Matt?
[Rating:3/5]
