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Indigo Girls have been going strong for over 40 years now, and maybe the key to their resilience is that they never were cool. Often, they got it worse: Even at their commercial peak in the 1980s and \u201990s, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers were routinely mocked for being too earnest, too poetic, too folky, too lesbian. Back then, being labeled a female, gay singer-songwriter was an artistic and commercial curse, as Ray recalls in \u201cIt\u2019s Only Life After All,\u201d a smart, compelling new documentary.<\/p>\n
The director, Alexandria Bombach, greatly benefited from Ray\u2019s archivist instincts: The musician has held on to decades\u2019 worth of artifacts and opened up her vault \u2014 1981 rehearsals, recorded on cassette when Ray and Saliers were in their teens, are startlingly crisp documents of a budding chemistry, for example.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
From this clay Bombach has sculpted an affecting portrait of two women who have stuck to their beliefs and, just as important, their loyalty to each other. Existing fans will be mesmerized, but non-fans like me should also get a kick out of \u201cIt\u2019s Only Life After All.\u201d The film is especially good about contextualizing the band\u2019s emergence in the midst of condescension (at best) from the mainstream media \u2014 their dramatic, and very funny, reading of a withering 1989 review in The New York Times<\/a> is a highlight \u2014 along with their personal struggles and steadfast political engagement for causes, including the Indigenous-led organization Honor the Earth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Now that the band is experiencing a cultural moment \u2014 its hit \u201cCloser to Fine\u201d was prominently featured in \u201cBarbie,\u201d<\/a> and an indie jukebox musical movie set to their songs, \u201cGlitter & Doom,\u201d<\/a> came out last month \u2014 it is delightful to see them have the last laugh.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Only Life After All<\/strong>
Not rated. Running time: 2 hours 3 minutes. In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n