I belatedly took the time to watch the film about one of my favorite bands the other night. A Skin, A Night was released, and purchased by me, about a month ago along with a companion EP, The Virginia EP by The National.

The band, who’s Cincinnati roots are far behind them now after nearly 10 years as a band centered in New York, are still local heroes that we Cincinnatians will always probably hold up as our trophy in the music world. Just like The Afghan Whigs in the past, there are things about The National that put Cincy on the indie map.

That being said, watching this film would give you no indication whatsoever that The National even know where Ohio is, much less that they are the champions of our indie rock worlds at times. But that is not what the film is supposed to be about. That is not why they hired Vincent Moon to do the film.

Moon doesn’t make documentaries, he doesn’t fill his films with introspective interviews, and most of the time he does not even give a clear explanation of what is going on. That can throw the viewer of course, someone that was prepared for a classic rock doc for example.

No, what Moon does is makes films about music, and in this case, the music is Boxer, the excellent record by The National from last year. Throughout the film, I found myself more and more drawn to the songs that play in the background as the band meticulously crafts them. I found myself making mental notes to listen again to “Green Gloves”, “Ada” and “Blank Slate” as soon as the film was over, because they are the heartbeat of the band during the film.

So although you do get some great thoughts from Bryce, Aaron, Matt, Bryan, Scott & Padma, the film drove me back to the music, which I am guessing was the intent all along. Check out A Skin, A Night if you have not done so already, and if you want to read some of Matt’s thoughts on the film and more on The National, check out a great interview Justin over at Aquarium Drunkard posted today as well.