Soldier of the Road: A Portrait of Peter Brötzmann

How do you become Peter Brötzmann? How do you become what you are: a painter, a musician, an absolute artist? Europe was nothing but a ruin and shame possessed the heart of the young Germans. They needed to invent, scream, regain a lost brotherhood. Overcome this silence! That’s how some young German, British, Dutch, Belgian… musicians made Europe exist long before Maastrich and have kept on cherishing, imperturbably, their freedom! They are no longer twenty-year-olds, but others have followed. They set themselves one constraint: reinvent everything every time. A way to take the very instant into account, to let the unexpected in, to match to the world.

Directed by Bernard Josse, Soldier of the Road: A Portrait of Peter Brötzmann leans on a strong ensemble — Peter Brötzmann, Han Bennink, Mats Gustafsson — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2012.