But the visuals do so much more.  The film's drab look underscores the movie's bleak story of a world in which record labels and rock bands are equally chaotic.  Here the only thing that is truly black and white is the music; bold and beautiful.  And the songs themselves, haunting blends of rock, folk, and pop like "Ashes of American Flags" and "Poor Places," are about survival in the midst of destruction and decay, which, ironically, is what Wilco found itself forced to do when their record company refused to release their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. 

Fiction films are shot first and then acquire soundtracks.  I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART is sort of the reverse; an album given a "videotrack" to compliment the songs; faded pictures of sad stories to accompany the eleven songs on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.  It is one of the best rock and roll movies of all time, equally about the dark side of the music industry and the triumph of the music itself over everything else.

YHF was recorded in the winter of 2000 and 2001 by Wilco, a band that was formed out of the rubble of alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo. First-time filmmaker and rock photographer Jones arrived in Chicago expecting to simply document the album's recording only to find a band in a wild state of flux; one day earlier, Wilco had fired its drummer. Jones would later capture the disintegration of the relationship between key member Jay Bennett and the rest of the band, as well as Reprise Records' rejection of Wilco's completed album for its perceived lack of commercial appeal. 

Through it all Wilco persevered.  I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART is not the great film that it is because they succeed, but because they survive. The minor accomplishments of the documentary's final minutes do not negate the loss of one of key member and the band's dismissal by a record label.  When you watch the film -- and you most definitely should, even if you aren't a Wilco fan -- compare Bennett's last performance with the band with those after he was fired.  Before his removal, the band is powerful and lively on "Outtasite (Outta Mind)," even if the tension between the members was never higher.  After Bennett leaves, the loss to the performance of "Monday" is tangible.  It's clear the band hasn't quite adjusted to playing their old rockers as a four-piece with only one guitarist.  Yet without Bennett, the band performs a startlingly beautiful rendition of one of YHF's best numbers, "Jesus, Etc." as if the new music could not be performed any other way.  Bennett's firing ultimately feels sad yet necessary, an obviously talented musician who is not in sync with Wilco's continually evolving attitude.