BEING waterboarded in a secret CIA prison would be a lark compared to being subjected to “easy listening” radio and pap such as the Walker Brothers’ “Make It Easy on Yourself.”
At least that’s the way I used to feel. Then I watched Stephen Kijak’s “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” and gained a whole new respect for Scott Walker, one-third of the British bubble-gum group from the 1960s.
Actually, the lads weren’t brothers and they weren’t named Walker. (Scott was born Noel Scott Engel.)
Kijak’s creatively filmed doc follows the career of Scott, the group’s artistic center, from pop idol to recluse (he has “Garboesque leanings toward seclusion,” somebody says) to composer of avant-garde music.
Kijak scores a rare interview with Walker, as well as glowing sound bites from David Bowie (the film’s executive producer), Sting, Brian Eno, Radiohead and others.
“People didn’t come to see you; they came to scream,” Walker says of the pop days. Then he tells how the group was trapped inside a car that fans had turned upside down in Dublin.
We learn that Walker is a fan of classical music and European films, especially Bergman’s, and that Jacques Brel has been a major musical influence.
“Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” glosses over the depression and alcoholism that have bedeviled Walker as well as any relationships he might have had. But that doesn’t make the film any less interesting.
Running time: 95 minutes. Not rated (some rude language). At the IFC Center, Sixth Avenue at Third Street.