Looking Through The Wall

Wassup,

So I watched The Wall last night. Here is a short review:

I was immediately struck by the opening credits. After showing the title in red graffiti, "Pink Floyd's The Wall", the next credit was, "Created By: Roger Waters". The audacity of Mr. Waters! It is PINK FLOYD'S The Wall, but Roger Waters unabashedly takes all the credit. No wonder the band broke up (aside: Reunion at Live 8!!).

The movie tells the story of a musician named Pink who is totally fucked up and has built a metaphorical wall around himself. Most of the time he sits completely silently staring at nothing, or the TV. He is haunted by memories of his dead father (killed in WWII), his overbearing mother, his strict schoolmasters, and his recent ex-girlfriend, who he also imagines sleeping with another man throughout the movie.

Thats all well and good. Here is my problem with the movie, though. Whoever directed it obviously just learned what "imagery" is. The depiction of Pink laying in a bloody pool almost naked with his arms outstretched doesn't remind one of Jesus or martyrdom, it shoves it in my face and whacks my brain repeatedly with it. The scene where Pink shaves off all his hair (eyebrows and chesthair included) and then repeatedly splashes himself with water just reeks of rebirth and renewal. The constant images of walls being built is a bit unnecessary being that the movie is called The Wall, and three songs are called Another Brick in The Wall.

Basically, the movie was a 90 minute long music video. It was overly artsy, it was jam packed with imagery, and it had music telling the story. When one thinks of long music videos, smiles abound as thoughts of such magnum opi as Michael Jackson's Thriller or even Daft Punk's Da Funk come to mind. Unfortunately, this movie was not in the same vein. It was weird in an altogether displeasing way.

Another striking feature of this movie is that every song from The Wall that is in the movie (not all were there, and there were also some added songs) was changed slightly. Some were sped up, others slowed down, some shortened, some changed instrumentation. It was as if less than 5 years after recording the original album, the band rerecorded the entire thing, but a little off.

To sum up, I will make use of a short anecdote. On a recent road trip to Connecticut, Lindsey and I listened to the album The Wall. As we enjoyed the tunes, she asked me what it all meant. I gave her a rundown of how its about Roger Waters and how his past haunts him and he cuts himself off from everyone. I explained the meaning of Mother and Another Brick in the Wall Pt. II and Comfortably Numb. It made a great story and really added to her listening experience. Fast forward to last night...the movie ends, we look at one another and both agree that my 10 minute explanation of the album was better than the entire movie.

Pink Floyd's The Wall: 1.5/5 fingers up. It gets .5 for the walking hammers.

Final note: Roger Waters is so fucking full of himself!