A Well-Spent Life

Documentary filmmaker Les Blank has made some of the best films I've ever seen, and his film "A Well Spent Life" is another masterful doc!

The film takes place in Texas, and it revolves around the music and personality of musical performer Mance Lipscomb, and the environment surrounding him. We watch some interviews, done by Blank, himself, with the artist, and take a glimpse of the daily lives of Mance Lipscomb and the others that live around him.

The film is full of beautiful landscape shots, and wonderful music! Like a lot of other Les Blank masterworks, this is both a document of, and a celebration of the topic! It celebrates the land and the man, in a fascinating, enjoyable, and wonderful way!

Fans of other Blank films must see this! Even if you've never heard of Les Blank, you should still see it, as long as your a fan of music, love, and film!

A deeply moving tribute to the Texas songster, Mance Lipscomb, considered by many to be the greatest guitarist of all time.

Les Blank was previously in Texas capturing Lightnin' Hopkins and those around him. In many ways, this is a follow-up, as it features another Texas blues guitarist. But there are some notable differences.

Lipscomb is full of wisdom he acquired over his 75 years, and talks freely about farming, cooking, women and the importance of sharing the earth and not giving in to the temptation of claiming too much for yourself. Unlike Hopkins, who seemed to live in a world gleefully ignorant of their shortcomings, Lipscomb seems fully aware and even more seems to think it is the correct way to live -- as simply as possible. Perhaps he is right.

This short documentary is about Mance Lipscomb, a country Blues guitarist who was discovered when he was in his 60s. Despite some fame and money from the sale of his albums, he was a very simple man and enjoyed his lifestyle. The film consists of Lipscomb just talking and reminiscing about his life...with no narration or much in the way of structure. Now this makes for a somewhat dull film, I'll admit it. But I STILL am glad they made "A Well-Spent Life" because it's a historical document of the man, his times and a lost way of life. And, as a retired history teacher, this alone would recommend this picture.

I felt quite lucky after seeing this film for the first time. It is filled with the `good stuff' that is present in all great art, and has made it's mark on my life. Les Blank, at his very best, has made a beautiful film with this documentary about Mance Lipscomb.

In a very quiet and intimate fashion, the film gets to the real heart of a good man and the great music he made throughout his life. Blank delicately films the goings on in Lipscomb's life and in the world around him. Obviously, the film is full of great music that any lovers of old folk music would enjoy. This is a very good film that is worth much more than the price/time it takes to watch it.

I suppose most viewers, like me, come to this film to witness a great blues musician perform. There certainly is a lot of fine music. (Lipscomb is one of the great rhythm guitarists with that pick on his thumb!)

However, there is so much more: a close-up of an intelligent, thoughtful and generous man. Two things that stand out are the story of the man who became a good husband only after his wife shot him and left him lying in a field all night, and Lipscombe's pride in the children he helped raise (3 adoptees, his younger siblings after their dad left, and 17 grandchildren).

As priceless as the recordings of Lipscombe's music are, the film is also important for preserving a sense of his noble spirit.