Photo: Hulton Archive
King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp hoped that taking part in the new documentary film about his iconic progressive rock band would provide him new perspectives on its career.
In the Court of the Crimson King premiered this week at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It traces King Crimson's history from the late-'60s through its last tour in 2021.
Fripp cofounded King Crimson in 1969 and has been the band's lone continuing member since 1970. With so many other musicians coming and going through the collective's ranks over the years, Fripp wanted to hear their stories.
"We had been approached by some very good, professional music documentary makers who would make a nice, conventional documentary from which I would learn nothing," Fripp told The Guardian in a new interview.
He explained that the director chosen for the project, Toby Amies, was selected in part because he was an outsider who didn't know much about King Crimson's history.
"For me, this was ideal," Fripp continued. "I thought, 'Here is an independent filmmaker with his own attitude who will come in and show me aspects of King Crimson that I'm perhaps unaware of.'"
Despite his longtime stewardship of the group, Fripp says he's gotten too much credit for King Crimson's success over the years. One of his goals with the documentary was to "remove this preposterous notion that Robert Fripp is King Crimson."
Amies' film explores the challenges of King Crimson's current and former members. While Fripp is often cast as the band's puppet master, Amies observed a different dynamic.
"It's not that you've got a tyrant telling you what to do," he said of Fripp's presence. "It's that you have somebody who is giving you the opportunity to be your own personal tyrant. I think that it would be possible to drive yourself mad in that space, especially when you've got someone like Robert, who is clearly willing to make great personal sacrifices in the service of their work."
In the end, Fripp is pleased with Amies' film, calling it "moving and informative ... Ultimately, King Crimson is a force entirely of itself."
A worldwide release date for In the Court of the Crimson King has yet to be announced.