Incredible journey into the mind of rock star slowly going insane.
For a more complete analysis that I could ever dream up, check out
“Pink Floyd’s The Wall: A Complete Analysis”.
**The Wall** is the semi-autobiographical story of Roger Water’s
childhood and Syd Barret’s adulthood (with some gray areas in the middle).
As such, most of the events in the film have actually happened to either
Roger or Syd.
##Pure Art
I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie either before or since that is more purely
a work of art than this one.
[[theWall]]
The structure of the film is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.In a way,
it’s like a painting by Pablo Picasso; On the surface, there’s no rhyme or
reason to what you see, but by the time it’s all done the whole makes
perfect sense.
There’s really no sense of chronology to the story. There’s no beginning,
middle, and end, per se. But rather, we meet the main character Pink right
as he’s on the cusp of ending up insane and from there travel into his
mind to see what brought him to this point, and how he now sees himself.
At the same time, it’s important to remember that the exact chronology
isn’t necessarily important (just like it’s not important to remember
every childhood event in the exact order that they happened. The important
thing is to remember that they happened). For a complete understanding of
the movie, I think it’s important to keep in mind that the question of
*what” is much more important than the question of ”when*.
And as for the delusions (the Nazi rallies, the shedding of the old skin,
the animations), the important thing, again, is *what* they represent.
Taken literally, one might think that Roger Waters (being the writer of
the music and movie) is condoning anti-semitism, homophobia, essentially
hatred of any kind. But the exact opposite is actually the truth.
##And Now for something completely different
The present takes place in a hotel room somewhere in Los Angeles during a
concert tour. It’s this that’s our anchor for the telling of the story.
As we watch Pink go insane, we see flashes of his past that helped to shape
who he finally became. Each of these significant events become bricks in
his wall that he erects to protect himself from being emotionally injured
again.
The earliest and most significant *brick* is the death of his father.
His father was killed at Anzio Beach in WWII during a German attempt to
push the English back. He was killed when Roger (Pink) was just an infant,
but growing up without a father became an incredibly bitter memory. There’s
an incredibly sad scene in which the young Pink is playing at a
playground, trying to find some man that’s willing to be his surrogate
father. It’s quite simply heartbreaking to watch.
Another series of flashbacks involves his time at a strict prep school.
The teachers here taught by intimidation and humiliation.
Overbearing Mother
Overzealous Fans
In The Delusion
As he slowly slips into madness, he starts to become the monster that he
loathed during his life.
The further he slips, the more hitlerian he becomes, finally seeing himself
as not simply an entertainer, but the leader of a movement. Instead of
concerts, he has rallies. Instead of singing songs to the audience, he
delivers speeches of hatred.
##Autobiographical
The movie and the album are autobiographical, with a twist. Most, if not
all, of the events in the early life of Pink come from the real life
experiences of Roger Waters. The later events and eventual slip into
insanity are from the life of a former member of the band, Syd Barret.
##DVD Notes
In general, the DVD of [[Pink Floyd: The Wall]] is spectacular. It’s packed
with more extras than just about any DVD I’ve seen so far.
The DVD was made from a pristine inter-positive print that Roger Waters had
at his home (supposedly). The picture is so clear! As is the audio (which
is at least as important to this movie).
The two documentaries that are on the DVD are wonderful and shed quite a
bit of light on the evolution of the movie, and the changes that were made
in the music from the album.
I do have one minor complaint though. The chapter list doesn’t include the
titles of the songs, so if you’re looking for a particular one, you kind of
have to guess which chapter number it is and then search around until you
find it. What a pain! This movie screams for chapter titles! Each chapter
title corresponding to one of the track titles on the album. What could
have possibly been more obvious?!?
CarneyWeb 