Product description
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By any rational measure, Alan Parker's cinematic interpretation
of Pink Floyd: The Wall is a glorious failure. Glorious because
its imagery is hypnotically striking, frequently resonant, and
superbly photographed by the gifted cinematographer Pete
.com
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By any rational measure, Alan Parker's cinematic interpretation
of Pink Floyd: The Wall ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002C1X/${0} ) is
a glorious failure. Glorious because its imagery is hypnotically
striking, frequently resonant, and superbly photographed by the
gifted cinematographer Peter Biziou. And a failure because the
entire exercise is hopelessly dour, loyal to the bleak themes and
psychological torment of Roger Waters's great musical opus, and
yet utterly devoid of the humor that Waters certainly found in
his own material. Any attempt to visualize The Wall would be
fraught with artistic danger, and Parker succumbs to his own
self-importance, creating a film that's as fascinating as it is
flawed.
The film is, for better and worse, the fruit of three artists in
conflict--Parker indulging himself, and Waters in league with
designer Gerald fe, whose brilliant animated sequences
suggest that he should have directed and animated this film in
its entirety. Fortunately, this clash of talent and ego does not
prevent The Wall from being a mesmerizing film. Boomtown Rats
frontman Bob Geldof (in his screen debut) is a fine choice to
play Waters's alter ego--an alienated, "comfortably numb" rock
star whose psychosis manifests itself as an emotional (and
symbolically physical) wall between himself and the cold, cruel
world. Weaving Waters's autobiographical details into his own
jumbled vision, Parker ultimately fails to combine a narrative
thread with experimental structure. It's a rich, bizarre, and
often astonishing film that will continue to draw a following,
but the real source of genius remains the music of Roger Waters.
--Jeff Shannon
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Set Contains:
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Say what you will about Alan Parker's film of Pink Floyd: The
Wall, but this is a great DVD in terms of supplemental material.
In addition to a promotional featurette from 1982, a two-part
retrospective documentary will prove fascinating for Pink Floyd
loyalists. In a rare and inful interview, Roger Waters
discusses the autobiographical inspirations for his musical
masterpiece, and equally interesting observations are made by
director Alan Parker, animator-designer Gerald fe,
cinematographer Peter Biziou, and producer Alan Marshall. The
audio commentary by Waters and fe adds depth to their
documentary interviews.
In terms of its sound and image quality, the DVD is totally
awesome, particularly in the Dolby Digital 5.1 configuration,
which is even more impressive than Pink Floyd's original album.
Screen menus are cleverly designed to cater to Pink Floyd fans
(with appropriate titles such as "A Saucerful of Features,"
etc.), and all the bonus features combine to form a comprehensive
record of this troubled but fascinating production. For Pink
Floyd fans, this is clearly a must-have DVD. --Jeff Shannon
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