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The Boston-born "Low Rock" band Morphine blazed like a comet across the international music scene in the 1990s, rising from local small clubs to indie and major label record deals, high and wide critical acclaim, and packed shows until its singer, songwriter and inventive two-string bassist Mark Sandman died of a heart attack onstage at an Italian music festival on July 3, 1999 at age 46. The trio's unique and mesmeric sound continues to resonate with its fans and music lovers as the group ascends to legendary if not iconic status. The documentary is the definitive, in-depth tale of this unique musical act's compelling career and life together and their resonant musical creativity. The film doesn't just get behind the music but inside the band as its story is primarily told by the trio's surviving members, saxophonist Dana Colley and drummers Billy Conway and Jerome Dupree plus the close-knit familial coterie that worked with them as well as Sandman's girlfriend Sabine Hrechdakian. It's punctuated by incisive commentary and observations from such friends and admirers of the group as Henry Rollins, Joe Strummer and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos. A wealth of live performance footage gathered from across Morphine's career recalls and amplifies the band's innovative yet at the same time classic, timeless and "beautifully bottom-heavy" sound, as Rolling Stone praised it. Viewers ride and fly along with the hard- touring band's road experiences, vibrantly brought to life as Colley reads from his tour diaries at key points in the film as well as through his accompanying Polaroid pictures and Super 8 films. "Morphine: Journey of Dreams" is not just a tale of music business struggle, triumph and tragedy, but also a love story - among its members and team as well as Sandman and Hrechdakian - as well as an adventure, drama, travelogue, and something of a roller coaster ride. Plus, when all is told, an evocative and loving tribute to a rock band that was like no other.
