Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (2017) **** (out of 4)This documentary, clocking in over two hours, features Eric Clapton discussing his life and career as we get clips from various concerts and television specials. Throughout the running time we learn about how his career took shape, his friendship with George Harrison and the love affair that shaped some of his greatest songs.If you're a fan of Clapton then I'm sure you're going to already know a lot of the stories told here but the documentary is extremely well-made and there's no question that you can get some added joy out of hearing Clapton discuss these events. This includes the various high points of his life but also the low ones including the death of Jimi Hendrix as well as his son, which also led to one of his most loved songs.There's no doubt that getting the interview footage with Clapton was a major plus but the greatest aspect of this documentary is that it has a lot of really great video footage. This includes a lot of early concert footage from Clapton's time with Cream as well as some earlier projects that Clapton worked on. There's no doubt that the brilliance of Clapton as a guitarist gets to shine here and if you're not a fan then you will be after watching this.ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS takes a look at a brilliant but troubled man and I thought it was extremely fair handled and entertaining.

I'm bored to write reviews. I have rated over 4000 films in IMDB, but this is my 1st review because this docu made me furious. First of all a WARNING: this is not a docu about Clapton as an artist, but as a person in his social life with just a pinch of his music. So, the title has nothing to do with 12 bars (I'm a guitar player and Clapton IS one of my gods), rather than his social life, like a cheap American reality show. I can accept the director's view and differentiation of how Clapton behaved in his social life, however when you do a docu about a world class musician and famous person , you do it to show how and why he became famous, in our case because of his music and guitar playing, and NOT because of his affairs. You can mix some of that inside, but the main scope should be the artist's work. I couldn't care less if he was "drifting" with various ladies, his mother issues, drugs, and other stuff, as long as he was writing music history, which he did every step of the way. I want to see his music legacy, period. We know Clapton because of his music and NOT because of his affairs. I can't stress more how many "vital" for his career persons, were never mentioned in this docu, like Delaney & Bonnie, JJ Cale, and others. Moreover, the film shows irrelevant videos to various eras (you see 1967, and in the video, you see Clapton in 1973, etc). It goes back and forth with no chronological order and messes up everything. You never get an explanation about the famous graffiti "Clapton is God" despite the fact that this was the beginning to gain world fame as a player (with the record John Mayall with Eric Clapton), or why he was named "Slowhand". At the end, even if he was an irresponsible person in his life, we know him and his name is in music history with gold, because of his tremendous soulful playing, his songs and the Blues revival from England. Do we judge artists for their social life or for their work (question applies to all past and present artists from Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison to Kevin Spacey....) ?? I prefer to judge them for their work and legacy, and not for their social behavior.....(which is their own business....)

Interestingly, the director has chosen not to use any talking heads, so the interviews on the soundtrack serve to underscore incredibly private images of Clapton's life, which lead the viewer into an intimate view of the 60s and 70s that's rare been shown on screen. The film focuses on Clapton's life as a man driven by music rather than on his music itself, which I suppose may disappoint some hardcore musos, as there's little in the way of geeky guitar player info. Yet, as a guitar player myself, this seems an infinitely wiser choice, as it opens the story up to anyone who's passionate about English rock music or blues more generally, rather than catering merely to fans who want to learn more about his guitar technique or which amps and effects he used. A painfully honest portrayal of one of the world's greatest rock stars - beautifully made.

Excellent. Incredible insight into Eric as a man. And as a musician. Intertwining the man and his music. His passion playing through his guitar. It's that passion that drives the emotional response so many people have to his guitar and his music. Welll beyond just virtuosity. That's why he's Eric Clapton. That's why you need to see this. Whether you're a fan or not, an extremely well done, sensitive, interesting documentary on Eric. Thank you for making this movie.