Giunti Odeon presents an extraordinary film dedicated to one of the greatest icons in rock history: Bruce Springsteen, “The Boss.” 1981: Springsteen is fresh off the success of the River Tour, which made him famous far beyond his native New Jersey, and his record label wants a new LP right away to “strike while the iron is hot.” But he is in the midst of a crisis, partly due to guilt over leaving his roots behind and leaving behind that working-class world of diners, pinball machines, and suburban houses, and partly due to his conflictual relationship with a father who drank heavily and was violent.

Everywhere he goes, he is followed by a dark shadow and an emptiness that he cannot shake off until, in a room in his modest apartment, he composes the songs that will be part of his least known and most respected LP - Nebraska - far removed from what the record company expects. Bruce wants them to be mastered exactly as he recorded them on an audio cassette (without a case), and he doesn't want to do any tours, singles, or interviews: not even put his face on the cover.

Ad assisterlo è il manager e produttore discografico Jon Landau che, pur comprendendo le esigenze della casa cinematografica, crede nell'onestà artistica di Springsteen. E Bruce, a 32 anni, rimane ferocemente attaccato alla sua verità e cerca la sua strada, anche se su di lui grava quella forma depressiva che lo accompagnerà per tutta la vita, e che affonda le radici nella sua infanzia tormentata.