In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50

If you are not a King Crimson fan, but love music or are interested in the process of making music, then, you should consider watching this documentary anyway.

In the Court of the Crimson King is really about as good as rock documentaries get, in capturing the essence of a group of musicians and how they relate to each other, the world and a muse whose demands result in literal and figurative calluses.

Each personality comes across with honesty and humility as they encounter age, death, and performance without compromise and on their terms or stage of choice.

Rarely does a music documentary so vividly evoke both the artistic approach and the tricky personality of its subject.

There’s nothing sentimental about this documentary, which looks at people with the clear, unflinching gaze of a portraitist.

Fripp, an endlessly thoughtful and meticulously articulate guitarist, is the group’s most tireless and paradoxical explainer in the film.

Even if you have zero interest in “Crimson” or Crimson, see this lovely film to check out an unbelievable badass who never let the specter of death win (and an extremely cool nun).