The life of Irmin Schmidt — founder of the mythical German krautrock band CAN, which includes an early career as a conductor and a connection to Karlheinz Stockhausen, and then countless compositions for film soundtracks (such as Palermo Shooting, by Wim Wenders) and an opera, Gormenghast — is told in an intimate and humorous way, filled with archival footage that illustrate his life, philosophy and the dynamics of the band.
Michael P. Aust and Tessa Knapp’s movie guides the viewer through the history of Can, the unavoidable German band within 20th century’s music, its vast influence extending from rock, to electronics, to all kinds of exploratory music. We look at said history armed with peculiar lenses, that is to say, through the eyes of keyboardist Irmin Schmidt. An intimate journey through the life of the musician, who is now 85 years old: the much present past of Germany, growing up with the Nazi ghost still so close, the musical training with Stockhausen and Ligeti, the counter-cultural liberation of the 1960s and 1970s, the work on soundtracks and the continued, renewed enthusiasm for electronic music in post-Can life. “Can and Me”, life portrait and musical biography, is an intimate and impressionistic journey into the creative heart of the band who signed “Future Days” and “Tago Mago”. (Mário Lopes)