Pink Floyd – The Wall

Pink Floyd – The Wall is unlike any film I’ve ever seen.  It can be seen as a long, elaborate music video, a daring rock opera or a stand alone story set to music.  There is no concert footage or time in the recording studio shown.  The film keeps rooted in the depths artist’s mind.  It boasts unforgettable images and ideas that flow and bring new dimensions to the music.

The film unfolds like a music video for an entire album.  We hear tracks from The Wall and images tell a stronger story than the album alone.  We watch a boy, Pink (Kevin McKeon), go from an idealistic youth to a disillusioned and isolated young man (Bob Geldof).  All the pain and confusion in his life, from family, school and women turn Pink into a destructive rock star, igniting a riot where similar young men take their aggressions out on a society that failed them.

The animation sequences in the film are haunting and add wonderfully surreal element to the film.  Many times, the animation depicts something so implausible and organically weird that film at the time could not do the image justice.  Flowers interact and transform, showing a struggle between the sexes.  The wall sweeps across the land, destroying a church.  A face stretches out of the wall, screaming.  And a whole army of red and black hammers march menacingly.  My favorite animated scene, the trial, depicts the mother, wife and judge in such grotesque manners, they could bring a lasting psychological impression on any viewer.

One of my favorite images is during the hit song Another Brick in the Wall.  We see school children lined up within school walls that look like a prison.  They march in rhythm into a machine, on the other side they are sitting at a desk with a nondescript face that looks like a pink plastic mask.  It depicts the British school system as an assembly line, churning out disciplined children who lack any creativity and settle for a menial existence.  Or they just become war fodder.

Pink’s relationship with women is particularly interesting.  With his father a casualty of war, he becomes the closest man in his mother’s life, and in turn, she becomes over-protective.  There is a bond, that seems longing and confused that gets shaken when Pink marries.  However, with his romances there seems an inability to communicate, a longing she has that he doesn’t know how to fulfill.  When women betray him, it leaves him even more alone and hurt, that contributes to his depression and isolation.

This film has to be at the top of any classic music lover’s list.  It may not be the most fun film.  It’s heavy themes of isolation, abandonment, war, sex and a less than glamorous rockstar lifestyle can be a real downer, but very thought provoking.  Within the serious rock/fiction genre, this is the best.

“Is there anybody out there?”

The Big Chill

After Alex commits suicide, his old friends from college get together for a weekend after his funeral.  They discuss the past few years, what they do, what they wish they did and where they wish they could be.  Some have families, others prestigious careers and some haven’t amounted to much.  They discover that what they really need is just each other.

Yes, that is so vague and yet it seems like I’ve given away the ending.  This film is so full of rich characters and ideas that I’ve given away nothing.  At times it’s like the Breakfast Club’s twenty year reunion, but there’s more to it than that.

Most people have a group of old friends that try to get together now and then but slowly drift apart.  This one includes Jeff Goldblum as a journalist for Time Magazine, Tom Berenger as an actor in an action television show, Mary Kay Place as a disenchanted lawyer, Glenn Close and Kevin Kline are a happily married couple and William Hurt as a former talk radio personality.  Like a whole fruit basket from one college.  Throughout the weekend, new motives are revealed and old histories spark new life.

The topic of their late friend is touchy.  There are slight images of how each of them grieves their friend, whether crying alone or making a joke they immediately regret.  Eventually, they’re able to talk about him and bring new life on to themselves at the same time.

The soundtrack to this movie is wonderful.  Just a few artists featured are The Temptations, Three Dog Night and Aretha Franklin.  Maybe I’m going on about the music since I’ve been watching films from the ‘30’s lately.  Still, I don’t know anyone who hates good old classic rock from the ‘60’s.

On the surface, you could think this would be a great movie for when old friends get together, but you might just end up questioning which of your group will off themselves first.  No, it’s hard to suggest a good setting for The Big Chill, but I encourage you to give it a try.  Sorry to keep it so brief, but this is a difficult to review without revealing too much or getting all over analytical.

“Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the one day they know you can’t come.”