Why are there so many films about Jeff Buckley in the works?

The musician, who died in a swimming accident in 1997, is the subject of three forthcoming movies
  
  

Jeff Buckley at Glastonbury in 1995.
Jeff Buckley at Glastonbury in 1995. Photograph: Redferns Photograph: Redferns

Age: Forever 30.

Appearance: Sensitive, handsome doomed musician.

Oh dear. Is this a sad story? I'm afraid it is. Buckley was a singer-songwriter who spent years mustering the courage to record his brilliant first album, Grace, in 1994. It is now almost unbearably poignant because he died in a swimming accident in 1997 before finishing a second one.

How terrible yet glamorous. You might say that his life describes an almost perfect Aristotelian tragic arc. To be honest, I doubt I would. Although that would explain why there are now three Buckley movies on the way.

Three? I'll count again … Yes, three. The first one will be Greetings from Tim Buckley, which juxtaposes Jeff's life with the life of his father Tim, also a famous musician who died young. That was first shown at the Toronto film festival last September, and is set for general release soon.

OK. Another, A Pure Drop, is being filmed by the Australian director Brendan Fletcher, and also focuses on Jeff and Tim's relationship – or the lack of one. According to the film's writer, Train Houston, it will be a "warts-and-all look at the life of a gifted and troubled musician who was haunted by a father whom he hardly knew".

Gotcha. And finally there's Mystery White Boy, the "official" biopic, inasmuch as it is executive-produced by Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, and holds the rights to use Buckley's music, including his most famous song, a cover version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

I see. And how warty will that film be? Not very warty at all, according to some reports. Although the production itself has been full of bumps, having once been led by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's production company, then by a group including Ridley Scott's son Jake, who was going to direct.

He must know a bit about the shadows of famous fathers. He must. And about heartache, since he has now been replaced as director by Amy Berg.

Why can't they all just get together and make a trilogy? You should be in Hollywood.

Do say: "Why do the good die young?"

Don't say: "This erroneous perception is most likely a form of confirmation bias caused by people's cathartic enjoyment of sad stories and thus the overestimation of their incidence."

 

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