as Angel Heart, Mississipi Burning and The Commitments (I really want to see Angela's Ashes, Midnight Show and Birdy) deserves far more recognition. In fact, he deserves credit for his run on this film alone is adequate for him to be known as an excellent director.
Roger Waters wrote most of the screenplay as good as the songs used.
Gerald Scarfe, A British caricaturist, directs the animation sequences.
Bob Geldof stars as the titular character, Pink Floyd.
This is a movie that I had heard about briefly a pair of times but had never actually seen it mentioned as one of the greatest films ever or even see it get high ratings and positive reviews from critics and audiences.
Thus watching it wasn't really a top priority for me, but when I did eventually get round to it I was so amazed, at the immensity of the movie and at my folly for not having watched it sooner, that I was speechless.
Note: Before reading my review, which is rather in-depth, you may need to determine the total film which can be base on Youtube.
Warning, the movie does take a considerable number of wildness and nudity as good as obvious sexual symbolism and some quite revolting scenes. The overall atmosphere is almost unbearably intense.
The Wall is the perfect Cult Classic.
It is really much representative of it's sentence and yet has aged admirably. Thankfully the budget was comparatively large (12 billion dollars worth I believe) so the movie has a polished, well funded feel to it that avoids it from becoming a cult classic that one watches just to see how bad special effects were "in those years" or to see how far Cinema has come, no The Wall isn't one of those films at all, it's a timeless masterpiece and an important picture that all film buffs should see at least once.
I think I should explain what this movie is about:
As I mentioned before it is based on the album of the like name by the English band Pink Floyd (who, like about other excellent bands, are becoming lost culture to the new generations), it's narrative is very easy and deals with all the several and at times conflicting aspects of one man's personality, it is a particularly excellent case study.
This type is Mr. Pink Floyd, apparently the band personified. The picture shows as his past, his present, his future, his fears, his fantasies, his memories and his emotions.
But of course all this isn't in a well ordered sequence of scenes, the man being doesn't play that way, instead we hurtle through this man consciousness and sometimes sub-consciousness at an exhausting rate, going backwards and forward between various aspects of his personality. The narrative construction of this picture may seem muddled at first but I can tell you that formerly the film is over and you meditate upon what you take only experienced, you will understand that this picture was meticulously thought out and is possessed of a genius narrative structure. For dear the end we come to see that most of the movie took office in Pink's mind, while he lay, agonizing, in his hotel room watching the Dam Busters.
On a sidenote, I couldn't help but think of Inception while watching this film. But I didn't think of it in a safe way, I thought to myself : This is how a picture that takes office in someone's mind should feel like. No well ordered landscapes and various rules to stand by, just pure creative chaos. This is something Nolan completely failed to get or purposefully left out in an attempt to get his film appeal to the mediocrity (which it did). But in my opinion, it offers nothing new or particularly interesting as to how the Idea is portrayed in film, Luis Bunuel and David Lynch offer far more thought provoking dream sequences. Not to mention Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky.
And now second to the review:
It has been said before but I'll say it again, Pink Floyd The Wall is one of the best portrayals of alienation I get always seen put on film. In detail of the estrangement of a man blessed, or cursed as the cause may be in this film, with creativity. Along with this creativity comes a sensitivity which in turn makes him far more vulnerable to the hardships of our modern world, the things that are considered normal, or are not always considered at all, such as the education systems.
It is a known fact that poets, musicians, writers etc. are far more potential to put suicide and be depressed than "normal people". In this film we are shown all the combined factors that made this man's life practically impossible for him to live, the end of his mother at a new age, the strict teachers who did not advance his creativity, the haughty mother, the doctors, the wife who fails to realise exactly what is amiss with him and instead abandons him, the coach who doesn't wish for him as a soul but as a seed of profit, the number goes on.
The movie does not shy away from showing us some of the most awful moments of this man's existence, in fact it concentrates on them, apparently this man's whole universe has been painful.
Thus he turns to drugs, apathy, television, any matter to blunt his emotions (hence the song "Comfortably Numb, which is particularly excellent) but when his emotions are aroused again, such as in the view with the female fan, he finds himself unable to hold them and falls prey to a bust of destructive rage, which can be seen as rage against how his entirely life has turned out.
Then he succumbs to apathy and perfect ignorance of his emotions, and so through this controlled, brain dead state, he descends into insanity, but his director and others inject him with drugs causing him to translate into a totally different person (the translation itself is exceedingly well done and gruesome, but naturally takes place only in Pink's mind and is entirely symbolic), this new person bears striking similarities to Hitler.
Hate rules supreme, and courses through him and his many followers, they take out at those that are different from them and eventually deteriorate into a faceless mass, similar to the process the children underwent at school. But all this happens during his Rock concert, in his province of drug induced hallucination all he saw was a Fascist rally, with himself as the Dictator. (Interesting fact, the extra's used to meet the Fascist crowd were in fact actual Neo-Nazis.)
The music declares "You cannot give me know", he is to far gone in his insanity and low that his estrangement from the repose of order has transformed into hatred for the rest of society.
The End is the most complex character of the picture by far and I don't justmean the concluding scene (which is in itself highly ambiguous) but thevarious montages and scenes leading up to it. including the shot in which he puts himself on trial.
I personally thinkPink freed himself from The Wall, he burst through it as he comes to therealisation that "all in all you were all just bricks in the wall" andthus sees the big picture instead of concentrating on each individualtragedy, but so the Wall crumbles. Does Pink die? did he kill himself ?after all wasn't that the solitary way to run from his confinement?
The symbolism in this movie is rather extraordinary, especially during the animated sequences. Of form there is The Wall itself, which works as a symbol for the alienation Pink feels from the rest of society. There are likewise the fantastically animated sequences that trade with WWII, but more on that subject later.
The symbolism was at time rather glaring and obvious, such as the massive arse on legs that appears during the test sequence.
The fact that The Insect is exploited as a symbol throughout the picture is interesting, it represents something malign and destructive to Pink, something that gnaws away at his sanity, but that comes from the home instead of the outside as is the type with those that take up the Wall.
I previously mentioned WWII, you might be wondering what that struggle has to do with the spirit of a rocker. Well, one must recall that Pink lost his mother in the War, and hence it had a profound affect on his life, but all this is shown perfectly towards the origin of the film, so was the animated sequence showing the Blitzkrieg in very symbolic terms really necessary? (note: the symbolic terms I mentioned are those such as the dark eagle representing the Reich, ripping holes out of London represents the bombing etc. I do believe it was necessary not only to really see the times Pink grew up in but modern post war society as a whole. For while the movie deals mainly with Rap and his troubles, it also offers a particularly astute look at society and criticises it in sometimes surprisingly strong terms using the soundtrack.
Now I simply enjoy a picture with a large and iconic soundtrack. The Wall is based on the album of the sami name by Pink Floyd and so it has excellent music (of flow you get to like Pink Floyd's music, if you don't there is actually no point watching in this film), and the mostly isn't only excellent it is likewise present throughout practically the whole film.
The report is told through the music, the negotiation is kept to a minimum. But what amazing music, I love this isn't a music review but yet I must observe how talented Pink Floyd were, truly one of the best bands ever. But sadly another part of civilization that is disregarded by the younger generations.Such things depress me, I appear to get second to this matter over and over, but I'll mention more on it some former time.
The most notable song of the album is doubtless the title track "TheWall" in 3 parts, but the back component is by far the most famous, this is the one that plays during the school time and the words"You're just another brick in the wall" destined towards the teacher,are symbolic, they think that the instructor is partially responsible for theunbreakable Wall of disaffection and depression that sets in some Pink,but they are not the only ones responsible, take for example Pink'sMother and the track "Mother", which states "Mothers going to help tobuild the Wall".
I have never seen music put to such a extensive narrative use in a picture before, it truly is what makes the movie great, but it isn't the only remarkable aspect, I think Bob Geldof's performance deserves a lot of praise as well.
Bob Geldof is the only actor worth noting in the entire film, his execution is important to the winner of the whole picture and must certainly have been a challenging one, and yet he doesn't disappoint, in fact he gives one of the best performances I've always seen.
He perfectly captures the type of the alienated rock musician, he doesn't say anything but his expression say more than words could possibly describe, it is one of the most heartfelt performances I've always seen and it affected me to near-tears many times. I live he wasn't a professional actor but he certainly was better than most actors of his time. He gave an unforgettable performance.
The life is particularly worthy of mention. The images were simple yet colourful and often scary. Especially the one displayed while "Goodbye Blue Sky" is playing (see the next image), this drastically increases the already powerful force of the songs played, it truly is easily done.
The life is rather complex and in perpetual motion, the face I truly liked was the fact that many elements were in continuous change, unable to support one class for too long. As good as the excellent use of colour.
Some sequences could be described as psychedelic, not that I get always interpreted any such drugs, and are fitting with the movie as drugs are a big portion of the chronicle and lots of the film takes place in Pink's mind.
All in all it adds up to almost 15 minutes of animation masterfully done by Gerald Scarfe and his whole team, a noteworthy achievement.
My favorite part of life is well the section that commences at about 37 minutes in. It is a first disturbingly sexual, but it speedily becomes one of the most eye opening pieces of film I've always seen, before watching this I never knew somebody had put such firm and rebellious ideas on film before, it's see at our depressingly materialistic society is even more relevant today than ii was in the early 80's. It is packed full of beautiful imagery, as the Wall sweeps past everything, it turns flowers into barbed wire, babies into fascist, destroys cathedrals all while the track "Empty Spaces" plays. Even if you don't see the total film, you must at least see this! It's mind-blowing really. These pieces of medicine are so interesting one could write whole reviews of them alone.
Overall, Pink Floyd The Wall is a masterpiece in a huge number of ways. Some of which I didn't even mention in this review, it seems every scene brings something new and thought provoking, essays could be written on this film. It is the classic "Rock Film".
I highly recommend it.
But this is not a film anyone will enjoy, being a fan of Pink Floyd isn't plenty to assure ones enjoyment. Those wanting something comprehensible and not "too experimental" will be disappointed, but those with an eye for Cinema will surely recognise this as the Cinematic masterpiece it is. For however large the medicine is, however talented the animation team is, however fantastic Bob Geldof is, the movie would however not have been great if it wasn't for Alan Parker holding all these individual elements together in bad conditions and next to give such a wonderful film.
Having said that though, not everyone did know it, even amongst those with an eye for Cinema. Maybe it's the films refusal to be put into one category, it's rebelliousness, it's intensity, it's delirious journey through nightmares that put people off, I don't know...
It has had a monumental impact on me as a person, something which few films ever have. Maybe because I myself am of depressive temperament or because I'm rather immature and even in my formative years and such things can have influences into how I get into a big and get into the entire extent of my own creativity.
Whatever the reason, I sure have ground one of my all time favourites!
Sadly though, this films final form didn't please the band much at all. Throughout the production there had been an enormous clash of ego's in between Alan Parker, Roger Waters, Gerald Scarfe and Bob Geldof. Parker nearly walked out of the see many times, Roger Waters was displeased that Geldof starred as he had cherished the purpose for himself, and Bob Geldof often brought much of his own personality into the film, even though he was simply the actor.
The product was made even harder by the nature of the movie itself, with caused all those involved to come out in some way or another.
But I believe that the troubled origins of the film perfectly fit it's subject matter, after all the product of such a searing, depressing, intense and emotional film could not help but have an impression on those running on it.
Check out Roger Ebert's review, it is one of his particularly excellent ones and we are in perfect agreement.
Collectors information & Description:Gatefold (FOC) cover pattern with artwork / photos on the inner cover pages
