THE WALL (THE MOVIE)

To celebrate my 100th review at Prog Archives I am going to review this film that was one of my first ventures into progressive rock and definetly made me love Pink Floyd.

My friend Pete had played me "Wish You Were Here" and i was really impressed. The only band I listened to that I consider to be a more interlectual rock band to what I normally listened to at the time (bands like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot) was Tool. I saw that this film was going to be on sky movies and my mum said it was brilliant so I decided to watch it and was completely blown away, not just by what I saw but also the music I was hearing. This film made me want to buy Pink Floyd albums and now I have about 21 of their albums and 3 DVD's (including this one).

This film is superbly directed by Alan Parker and the picture quality is quite good for its time (1982). Alan Parker superbly blends trippy acting with Gerald Scarfes amazing animated sequeneces that looks like Disney on some Bad LSD trip! This film really brings out the story of the 1979 double album successfully. This is a truely brilliant piece of work.

One thing that makes this film extra special is that is doesn't have one line of script. The whole story is told by Roger Waters lyrics and Pink Floyds music! It works superbly well. Bob Geldoff plays the character, Pink Floyd, who is a bummed out rock star who's own personal experiences alienate him from the rest of reality. Some memorable scenes include the birth of the wall with lots of symbolism of war and commercialism with bleeding crosses. Another memorable scene is during "Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two)" where the children are fed into a mincing machine by the evil schoolmaster. My final favourite parts of this film are "Empty Spaces" and "The Trial".

Unfortunately the footage for "Hey You" was lost and never made it into the film, but it has been recovered for the special features along with some impressive documentaries, including a talk with Roger about the whole spitting incident during the Animals tour that sparked off his ideas for The Wall. The film also includes "When the Tigers Broke Free" and "What Shall We Do Now?" which did not appear on the studio album.

This is a classic film, if you loved The album you will find this extra special. Those confused about the concept of The Wall will hopefully have their questions answered by this amazing trippy journey. A brilliant film and soundtrack that is definetly worth tracking down. A special edition DVD of this film was released recently that includes new artwork and a free giant movie poster... so buy it! This film is also a landmark in progressive rock by being the only blockbuster movie to my knowledge.