Lemmy (2010)

If you are a big rock fan, you will immediately think of Motörhead when you hear the name Lemmy. For those that don’t know the band, there is a big chance that you do know their most famous song, “The Ace of Spades”. Motörhead is also known as the loudest band on earth and although I have not verified this myself (in not my type of music) I heard from friends that earplugs are a necessity at their concerts. This documentary tries to give the viewer a look into the life of its lead singer. Does he live as loud as his music?

Lemmy is 65, but despite his age his still rocks as hard as he used to. A lot of well-known artists (members of Metallica, Anthrax, Henry Rollins, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash) are all interviewed and tell their stories about Lemmy as a person and as a musician (the way he plays the bass apparently is different from what other bass players do). Lemmy has been living in L.A. for years in a relatively small house which is full with a lot of strange attributes. He regularly visits the Rainbow Bar, which is a famous bar that is visited by lots of musicians. Lemmy enjoys himself a lot by sitting alone at the bar all day, playing a trivia quiz. This documentary makes it clear that he’s a big fan of games, whether it is video games or one-armed bandits, he enjoys it all. Once he sees them he enters his own little world and isn’t fussed about what happens around him.

Lemmy himself is interviewed as well and tells stories about his past, his sons and what music means to him. He is also fascinated by the second world war. He’s got a big collection of things that have something to do with it and even walks around in nazi clothes. His explanation is that their clothes were the most stylish and that he also has non-white friends, but I had my doubts about that.

If you don’t have any knowledge of his music (which I must say I didn’t) this documentary manages to give a good idea about his way of life and his ideas. It’s hard to say if Lemmy is the ultimate documentary about his life, but it offers enough information to be able to form your own opinion about him.

Score: 7