2017-11-30

Eric Clapton Documentary 2017

The documentary about the life of famous guitarist Eric Clapton who publicly exposed the dark side of his past as a drunk despite being directed by his old friend, Lili Fini Zanuck, was launched in Toronto.

Zanuck who knew Clapton for 25 years, directed "Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars," follows the life of the 72-year-old British guitarist from childhood to international star, through his struggle with drugs and alcohol and boy's death his four-year old in 1991.

"To see myself going through it is not easy," Clapton told reporters on Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film debuted. "Until I stop being a drunk, I just talk nonsense," he added. In his autobiography in 2007, Clapton recounted his addiction to drugs and alcohol for 20 years, which cost him about 16 thousand dollars a week for heroin in the 1970s.

The death of his son, Conor, who fell from a high-rise building in New York, triggered him to quit the addiction. The musician who is the producer in the film, talks about his struggle by letting his life be documented and interviewing Zanuck in a movie that does not hesitate to reveal the mistakes he made. "I do not like my pictures taken, I do not like talking to reporters, I just love to play music," Clapton said. Zanuck, winner of the Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1989 said that Clapton could not have assumed the responsibility given to him.

"For me, this film reveals about redemption - personal redemption, unlike what the community expects," Zanuck said. "No one has made him rise from despair, he did it himself," he added. Clapton who has hits such as "Bell Bottom Blues," "Cocaine" and "Layla," has won 17 Grammy Awards, and was immortalized in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. She is ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine in 2015 100 greatest guitarists of all time, after Jimi Hendrix. "Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars" will be airing in North American theaters later this year and will be airing on the Showtime premium cable channel in February. Reuters reported.

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