Barring an increase in the level of applause, nothing much happens when Nick Cave enters the room. Darkness doesn't close in and a chill doesn't descend. Given the Australian's apparent obsession with death, that's almost a surprise.
Cave has come to the BFI for the premiere of the fifth in a series of 14 films titled Do You Love Me Like I Love You, each designed to accompany a reissued Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album.Cleverly edited from hours of footage, the film is 40 minutes of people talking directly to camera about what the album Tender Prey means to them. The collage of musicians, fans and others close to the band - including lots of recognisable faces - is insightful and seriously entertaining, with some real laugh-out-loud moments.After the screening Cave takes to the stage - not to perform live, but for a Q&A alongside the film's directors, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.What's immediately obvious is that Cave's stage persona is a bit misleading. Up close he's likeable, with a deadpan sense of humour and self-effacing charm which somehow coexist happily with his unmistakeable aura of rock. He's lost the 'tache too.We learn Cave feels "physically sick" when he listens to his own music and that he reckons "the bar is pretty low" when it comes to writing lyrics. He gets a big laugh when he explains that his kids think No Pussy Blues is a song about a cat, and an even bigger one when he dismisses the Jonas Brothers in a single word: "Who?"Forsyth (with an impressive beard) and Pollard have plenty to offer too, explaining their vision for the film as a sort of "mix tape" and offering an insight into how it was made. Indeed, as the evening draws to a close it's clear the audience would happily listen to this all night.The films will be available with the reissued albums later this year. You can also watch a preview online and see Forsyth and Pollard's video installation (which doesn't have anything to do with Nick Cave) at BFI Southbank.
