Film Review - Not Dead Yet

Jason Becker speaks through eye movements

Riverside Studios, 11/6/2013 (+ Q&A with director Jessie Vile)

Avid readers of 1980s guitar magazines will be aware of Jason Becker, the electric guitar prodigy from Mike Varney's seemingly endless stable of shredders, which included Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Shawn Lane, Marty Friedman, and Paul Gibert. Nostalgia aside, I have to admit not being a fan of Becker at the time, as (perhaps unfairly) I had him down at the Friedman/Yngwie end of the spectrum, whereas I was more of a Howe/Vai fanboy. Imagine a wasp humming Bach at 240 bpm, or Paganini, you get the picture. Becker had just got the gig as David Lee Roth's guitar player and was recording the A Little Ain't Enough album for Roth when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), a debilitating neurodegenerative condition. Not Dead Yet documents Becker's life and his continuing career as a composer.
Given that Becker was on the point of going stratospheric when the diagnosis and rapid deterioration came, most of the first two acts are pieced together from amateur footage, whether 8 mm film shot by his uncle, or VHS video from various sources. Aside from this we have interviews with various figures who knew him at the time, and many musicians who were aware of his work. He appears to led a charmed life until the diagnosis, and his personality and humour come across very clearly. Oddly, there are only two pictures in existence of Becker with David Lee Roth, who refused to appear in the film.
ALS hits Becker hard and he is given three years to live. He deteriorates very quickly, culminating in an strange moment in the film where we are seemingly led to believe he has died. The director even goes as far as to imply that his childhood friend thought he was dead and was shocked to receive a message from him. This seems to be an unnecessary cheap trick that the film doesn't need.
Following this mysterious near death experience, although almost completely paralyzed and able to communicate only through eye movements, Becker regains his spirit and humour and continues to compose music through some ingenious devices and with the help of his father and various musical folk.
Ultimately the film is about one man, his fierce spirit and will to live, and his family without whose incredible love and support he would be nowhere. Jason Becker would almost certainly have faded away and died had he not been the willful character that he is with the humour and personality that he has. Despite the absence of a narrator, the film maintains its momentum, and everything comes across through the clever editing of the mostly found footage, reinforced through interviews and snippets of Becker's own memoirs, read by his father. Apart from the cheap shot death scene, this film is a moving and inspiring testament to the human spirit, and you don't even have to like the music to enjoy it. 4/5

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGFDWTC8B8g