Filmmaker Mike Mills’ 24-minute film, I Am Easy To Find featuring new music by The National has been released. The film was inspired by The National’s forthcoming album of the same name, which is due this Friday, May 17 via 4AD.
The genesis of the project dates back to September 3, 2017, when Mills emailed The National frontman Matt Berninger. Mills’ introductory email began a relationship that led to what press materials refer to as “the most ambitious project of The National’s nearly 20-year career.” The band was scheduled to start a vacation after an extensive tour but instead entered the studio to record music for Mills’ film.
“The National gave me the stems for their songs, some were sketches some were finished and encouraged and allowed me to create my own versions of the songs to score the film,” Mills said. “The album then features different versions of these same 7 songs – and 9 new songs which sometimes refer to the themes, texts, ideas from the film – but are their own work, their own piece of art.”
Here’s more information on the film and album from a press release:
The former is not the video for the latter; the latter is not the soundtrack to the former. The movie was composed like a piece of music; the music was assembled like a film, by a film director. The frontman and natural focal point was deliberately and dramatically sidestaged in favor of a variety of female voices, nearly all of whom have long been in the group’s orbit. It is unlike anything either artist has ever attempted and also totally in line with how they’ve created for much of their careers. The film, shot all on location near Pomona, CA, took only 5 days to shoot, but is comprised of 164 scenes. The production design is sparse and minimal, consisting only of one chair, a bed, rug, and couch used over and over in the film. Beautifully shot by Daniel Voldheim and edited for about 8 months by Aaron Beckum.
Watch I Am Easy To Find starring Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander below:
Check out a recent Q&A featuring The National and Mike Mills:
Here’s a version of I Am Easy To Find including Mills’ commentary:
Finally, listen to Berninger and contributor Carin Besser’s commentary:
