You May Need a Murderer

I can imagine how most people might find Low to be a curious choice for a musical documentary. Indeed, everything about their music and demeanor seems about as far removed from your standard rock doc material as possible. But that didn’t stop Dutch filmmaker David Kleijwegt from following and filming Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker for a month in 2007, with the result being You May Need a Murderer.

Here’s the Amazon summary:

In almost fifteen years, Low became an institution on the indie and alternative scenes. Famous for their quiet, beautiful slow songs, and fascinating harmonies, as well as their religious background (core members Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are Mormons). For this documentary, a film crew followed Alan and Mimi on tour, at home in Duluth, MN, in their church community, and as parents. It’s more than an on-the-road or behind-the-scenes video. It shows Sparhawk as the ambivalent main character in an intriguing movie about religion, violence, conscience, and madness. It can also be seen as a touching love story.

You May Need a Murderer was originally broadcast on Dutch television in March 2008, and will be released on DVD on June 3 — click here to preorder. A brief review of the film can be found here on this Low-centric blog.