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Pink Floyd The Wall
(***1/2)
After seeing the first few moments of this movie, I was reminded of the 1928 art house film "Un Chien Andalou". While "The Wall" is not exactly like this magnificent series of visuals, the parallels are superb. Neither film has a cohesive narrative; instead relying on a series of visual images carried along with a soundtrack. In the case of "The Wall", the music is all by Pink Floyd. While the casual viewer might become lost in "The Wall", those paying attention will be well rewarded.
The story centers along a rock star named Pink who, after too many years of drugs and being locked behind his own wall of repression, has holed up in a Hollywood hotel room. The heart of the story is here, although we see Pink both as a child, and also in his delusions as a Fascist leader. We meet young Pink, who lost his father in World War 2, and we learn how all the bricks in the wall have built up to create the despondent Pink we find at the hotel room.
It's been long bashed as being "anti-woman", and it's not overly difficult to see why it would be thought of that way. Pink's early "bricks in the wall" come from his mother, and her unwillingness to free him to the world. In one chilling image, Pink finds a sick rat in the field. A caring child, he takes the rat in to care for it, but his mother shuns the rat; thereby shunning the compassion within Pink. Also, Pink's final blowout (done to the fabulous song 'one of my turns') is in response to his wife and her affair.
Despite all this, it's really not "anti-woman". Rather, it's anti repression. The largest influence in Pink's life was those people who held him back. Primarily, the teachers. Intolerance. Anything deriding all those different. Pink's vision as a fascist leader may have been extravagant, but someone cut off from the world is someone who hates the world.
Geldof was spectacular in the role of Pink; and it was a good choice to both give the role to a new face, and also to let that face record the music himself. Every time Geldof is singing, it really is Geldof; although the voiceovers are Pink Floyd. Alan Parker directed, and he did a fascinating job. However, I feel the true kudos must go to another party; animation director Gerald Scarfe. The visions of crosses turned to planes of war in 'Goodbye Blue Sky' still haunts me.
The story itself is powerful, but that's not the greatest thing about this movie. The greatest thing is the score. The way Alan Parker choreographed the music to the images, not to mention Roger Water's primary vision when writing and recording the album, is something that many filmmakers strive to and few achieve. Primarily an attack on repression, isolation, war, and even religion.