A SKIN TOO FEW: THE DAYS OF NICK DRAKE
Directed by: Jeroen Berkvens.
Director of Photography: Vladas Naudzius.
Edited by: Stefan Kamp.
Music by: Nick Drake.
Released by: Roxie Releasing.
Country of Origin: Dutch. 47 min. Not Rated.
With: Gabrielle Drake & Paul Weller.

“If you met a girl and took her back to her room, and if there were some Nick Drake records there, you’ll probably want to marry her.” What better endorsement for a singer/songwriter than this. Drake, born in Burma to an affluent British family, died at age 26 in 1974, having made three albums. Over the decades, his music has gained a following. His older sister, the beautiful and elegant Gabrielle, is featured among the interviews and offers the most prescient observations on her sensitive brother - “I always felt that Nick was born with a skin too few.” The love she has for her brother and parents comes through crystal clear.

Drake’s melancholic folk-rock songs, backed with rich arrangements, is a kindred spirit to the 1990s band Dead Can Dance. His music and the picturesque footage of the English countryside dominate the documentary, appropriately for - as he is described - a man of little words. The rolling hills and villages are like a John Constable painting come to life, creating an irresistible pull for Anglophiles. Overall, A Skin Too Few is a brief summary of Drake’s life. His history of depression is only sketchily described by second-hand sources, but like his music, the film is not imposing and quietly moving. Kent Turner
May 6, 2004