It Might Get Loud: Rock n Guitar

Three great guitarists- Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, meet up and introduce to each others their individual style and philosophy. This is the premise of the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud directed by David Guggenheim. The movie itself contains very few scenes of the meeting. Individual interviews, trips down memory lanes, initial struggles, demos of guitars and equipment they use and old clips of stage shows and photographs make up the rest.

The theme that bind the three narratives is electric guitar. Most of the reminiscences are based on their experiences of learning, knowing and playing guitar. It is interesting to know that the way they approach their guitar sets them apart. Jimmy Page has a love affair with his. He compares it to a woman to make love with, a romantic notion. For Edge, who is very particular about the sound he produces and techno-savvy among three, guitar is a tool to reach that sound that he wants.  Jack White, the garage rockstar has a more primal connection with it. To him, it's a fight that he makes while playing it. He need to win the fight to succeed.

The right move by the makers were to make the three stars to represent three distinct eras of rock music- after Great Depression, during Vietnam war and the Counter Culture movement and finally, someone from present times. This way, they managed to concisely line out the evolution of rock music. Another interesting factor to note is that while Jimmy Page and Jack White, the first and latest of them, are inspired by the Blues, The Edge has no such strains in him. It was interesting to see him clearly out of his comfort zone when others were discussing blues. It's like they reached a complete circle.

For me, the defining moment of the movie was when Page played Whole Lotta Love and others looked on, mesmerised. With all the differences of POV and generation gap between them, that scene demonstrate the power of music to unite all.