Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 7, 2019

Chances are that unless you have a specialized interest in some of the indigenous folk music(s) of the United States, your recognition of the name Les Blank, if indeed you recognize it at all, may well come courtesy of Burden of Dreams (note that the link points to a DVD, not a Blu-ray), Blank’s fascinating documentary about the filming of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. That piece was actually kind of an outlier in Blank’s oeuvre, a large body of work that otherwise tended to focus primarily on musicians (though there are a couple of exceptions in this set). Criterion’s collection of fourteen Blank documentaries may understandably be thought of as a niche product, but for those interested in this subject, it’s a virtual smorgasbord of great performances and at least some biographical data.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins Blu-ray review

God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance Blu-ray review

Spend It All Blu-ray review

A Well Spent Life Blu-ray review

Dry Wood Blu-ray review

Hot Pepper Blu-ray review

Always for Pleasure Blu-ray review

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers Blu- ray review

Sprout Wings and Fly Blu-ray review

In Heaven There Is No Beer? Blu-ray review

Gap-Toothed Women Blu-ray review

Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking Blu-ray review

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists Blu-ray review

Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella Blu-ray review

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Criterion has organized this set a bit unusually in terms of supplements. As can be seen from screenshots 5 - 7 accompanying this review, several documentaries share each disc. When you click on any given title of an individual documentary, that then brings up a submenu offering supplements supposedly tied to that film. Those supplements are listed in the appropriate reviews, linked above, though those interested in this set are encouraged to explore the supplements on all the films, as some of them (especially the "appreciations" by film notables) tend to be more generalist in nature rather than devoted to the sole film which they're "attached" to. The set also includes some other generalist supplements, as detailed below.

Disc One

• Les Blank: A Quiet Revelation (1080i; 10:17) is a sweet excerpt from a longer documentary about Blank done by Harrod Blank and Gina Leibrecht.

Additionally the set comes housed in a slipbox which also includes a nicely appointed insert booklet (more of a pamphlet, really) with information on all of the films.

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This grab bag of works by Les Blank should easily appeal to those with an interest in any of the folk and/or indigenous music(s) featured in several of the documentaries included, but it may also appeal to those who want a feel for various regional cultures in this vast land of ours. Blank was, as Taylor Hackford states, something of a "poet" with the camera, and while many of these piece ostensibly focus on music, there's is typically a rather potent subtext that manages to capture what it's like to actually live in some of these areas. Technical merits are generally strong, and the supplemental package hugely enjoyable. Highly recommended.