Grammy Award-winning rock duo The White Stripes have for years have maintained an air of mystery around them, but a new film documentary offers a rare insider's look at the pair, who often toy with their public image.
Director Emmett Malloy's ‘The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights,’ which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, follows Jack White and Meg White as they tour every province and territory in Canada, a feat they claim has rarely been attempted.
The film about their 2007 tour, mostly shot in black and white, offers audiences an intimacy that is not usually seen under the media spotlight.
‘We trusted Emmett a lot from working together so often," Jack White said at a festival news conference.
‘You always should be apprehensive because those are the most special things about what you do, why you're alive and why you're creating together. To give it away too easily, it cheapens those special moments.’
The White Stripes burst onto the music scene to critical acclaim with their 1999 album ‘The White Stripes,’ and went on to make five more records including the latest 'Icky Thump'.
The exact nature of their relationship since forming the band more than a decade ago has been a running joke. They were once married, but for years claimed in interviews to be brother and sister. Even now, in a press note for the industry screening at the festival, they claim to be siblings.
Another running joke is the fact that Jack talks and Meg doesn't, and it's a point that is intentionally played up in the documentary as Meg's words are subtitled.
‘She is an incredibly shy person and we touched on that,’ said White. ‘I think it's necessary to show. A lot times, people think I'm not letting her talk, and we joke about that in the film. I'm actually talking over her as she's trying to explain herself, which we thought was hilarious.’
