There Ain't No Easy Road

There Ain't No Easy Road (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Language Selections:
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Netherlands ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
65 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Music Video
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2002 and produced in:
Netherlands ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Huib Stam

Actors:
Fred Eaglesmith

Synopsis:

Frederick Elgersma - son of an immigrant family from the Dutch province Friesland in Ontario, Canada - was ten years old when he first saw Elvis on television. 'I'm gonna do that', he cried out. That day he wrote his first song. Thirty-five years and thousands of songs later, Fred Eaglesmith is a singer and guitarist with a substantial group of extremely loyal fans, a celebrity in the small alternative country music scene. There's not a single bar or club on the North American continent, where he hasn't performed yet, either solo or with his band 'The Flying Squirrels'. The 'farm boy' of strict Reformed upbringing, blessed with great talent for songwriting, hasn't strayed from his roots. He is a hero for those who recognise themselves in his lyrics: about poor farmers, racing trains, ramshackle trucks and love affairs full of misunderstanding. He feels no need to become a star. Due to his intensive travelling, Fred has become an open-minded, self-willed and witty observer. Yet he had never been to Friesland, the Dutch province that his grandfather Rintje exchanged for Canada in 1939. In There Ain't No Easy Road we meet Fred at a windy cemetery in the Fries church village Schraard. There he talks to Onno Elgersma, who has drawn up the family tree. In half of the graves, distant relatives rest in peace. That evening he performs for a hall full of relatives. His cousins Betsy and Andries explain to him that they have the same great-grandfather. Fred hardly has time to digest all these impressions before returning to his shack at the harbour of Port Dover, on the wintry Lake Erie. The visits to friends and relatives were brief: as soon as the bus has been fixed, he's back on the road. With a broader horizon and released from a few bad childhood memories and prejudices about the Dutch. Besides being a portrait of the musician Fred Eaglesmith, There Ain't No Easy Road is an intimate story about family ties, emigration and survival. And furthermore: full of Fred's music from the beginning to the end.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 29 July, 2018.