LIVE AT POMPEII (THE DIRECTOR'S CUT)

I recently viewed this movie for the first time, and I viewed the director's cut. And what I simply want to say is that this viewing this film was one of the best cinematic experiences in my lifetime. And while I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan and enjoyed the performances and the intermittant dialogue and studio shots of the band members (Waters' flippant remarks to his interviewer are at times utterly hilarious), what astounded me is the spectacular imagery director Adrian Maben has layered over the music. While at first glance the convergence of outer space imagery, clips of Roman ruins and mosaics, and volcanic footage of Pompeii may seem an odd combination, Maben has done such an artful job arranging the music and imagery, that the film begins to gain a strange sort of momentum, a momentum that by the end of the film climaxes in the cataclysmic integration of all the film's imagistic themes in the volcanic eruption of Pompeii and its destruction of the city below---all to the throbbing rhythm of "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun." Stanley Kubrick himself could not have done it better.

It's curious that earlier reviewers have argued that the director's cut is weaker, but I cannot think how the removal of even one frame of the director's cut could make this a better film. Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii is not only one of the best rock documentaries I have ever seen, it is one of the best films I have ever seen. I highly recommend this film. Five stars.