When, in 1982, the Argentine flag was raised over the island of South Georgia, John Cale, former member of the Velvet Underground, was mulling over the collected poems of Dylan Thomas. The political and the poetic converged in Cale's composition "The Falklands Suite," four beautifully shaded songs with symphonic interludes. With the album, entitled Words for the Dying, ready for recording abroad, Rob Nilsson accompanied Cale and producer Brian Eno to the Soviet Union and, eventually, England to document their aural machinations. This is not your typical "making of" documentary. Once in Moscow, director Nilsson discovered that Eno wanted no part of the filming. Words for the Dying becomes a clash of wills as Nilsson tries to cajole Eno back into the project. It is a subtle internecine battle, the camera crew tiptoeing through a minefield of bursting egos. All the while a placid-faced Cale is rendering the darkly lyrical words of Dylan Thomas melodious. Words for the Dying has much to say about the living.