The Haunts of Murray McLauchlan
2018 · 5m · Canada
Directed by Michael McNamara
Genres: biography, documentary, musical
Tones: contemplative, tender, whimsical
Musician Murray McLauchlan shares songs and stories in a Toronto studio, reflecting on a well-worn guitar and the lives that shaped his music.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It's a straight-ahead musician-in-studio doc that could've been PBS filler, except McNamara resists the urge to make McLauchlan a hero—he just lets the guy sit with his guitar and contradict himself, which is honestly more interesting than most biopics dare.
A formally restrained portrait that trusts the folk-documentary tradition without genuflecting to it; the editing lets silence do the work, and the film understands that a well-worn guitar is a more honest biography than any voiceover could be.
The decision to stay locked in that Toronto studio—refusing the temptation to cut away to archival footage or performance—forces everything into McLauchlan's face and hands, which means one small gesture of doubt becomes the whole film.