Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by: Alan Parker (RIP)
Starring: Bob Geldorf, Christine Hargreaves, Jenny Wright, Bob Hoskins, Eleanor David
From: MGM
This is not only me tipping my cap to the late Alan Parker (who directed a wide variety of motion pictures for decades) but also my acknowledgment that when I was back in the Midwest for a few days late last week, on the classic rock radio stations I listened to while in the car, several songs from The Wall were heard on the radio. That includes Mother; that did not bring me down-the mom in that melancholy song is not like my late mother and Wish You Were Here would be a sadder tune for me at the moment anyhow. I am not like Pink anyhow... my father is still alive, for example and I definitely do not have fascist fantasies-although at times I do build a metaphorical wall around myself.
Pink Floyd was pretty awesome from The Dark Side of the Moon to The Wall. Those two albums along with Wish You Were Here are tremendous, and even the forgotten Animals was pretty good even if it's several very long songs about the stereotypes associated with a few different creatures. Presumably most are familiar with this album but just in case... The Wall is a rock opera about a singer named Pink who is rather troubled; he is depressed for a number of reasons. His life is examined which explains why he has walled himself away from everyone else. His dad died in World War II when he was an infant, his mom was overprotective, he had troubles in school, etc. The movie deals with plenty of metaphors and for certain, is the opposite of subtle. It was based on the life of Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters (who at the time felt alienated from his audience as the band become incredibly popular; due to this he wanted to create an incredibly personal look at himself) along with former bandmate Syd Barrett, who was not in the band long due to mental health issues that likely were exacerbated by heavy drug use.
The production of this was troubled as Parker, Waters, and animator Gerald Scarfe (who created the tremendous and trippy cartoon sequences) constantly clashed. Thankfully, this weird product-which has minimal dialogue and plenty of odd & unforgettable imagery-has since become a cult favorite due to its uniqueness and the album being beloved by millions since it was released in late 1979. Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), Young Lust, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell are still radio staples today-although not all are heard by me on Central Florida radio stations... then again the stations down here have become rather bad in the past 15 years, but that's another rant for another time-although I do enjoy most of the songs on the 81 minute double LP album. What you hear in the movie are mainly remixes of the album tracks, along with some new tunes.
While something this bold won't naturally be for all tastes, if you love the album and somehow haven't seen this... the movie has plenty of unforgettable moments-whether live-action or animated-and at least for me will always be a compelling journey as many men can relate to the idea of them needing to create a hard exterior... to list but one example. One last thing: I have to bring up the infamous Channel Awesome. IMO, they were rightfully canceled by many after their appalling behavior become public knowledge and all those people who used to be a member of that conglomerate had those horror stories. Well, almost a year ago The Nostalgic Critic released what presumably was his magnum opus, a 40 minute thing concerning this movie. I've never watched it myself as what little Nostalgic Critic I have watched, it's a bunch of obnoxious yelling and unfunny critiques, along with low-rent parodies of what he is reviewing. With that magnum opus, I only needed to watch several YouTube videos which people dunked on him to know that creation was atrocious. Each critique of the critique had footage from the NC video and it just seemed... so... bad. It was a terrible re-creation of the movie which mocks the movie throughout through parody songs yet he claims he loves the album and the movie... I don't get it either. The fact that Doug Walker appeared to not fully understand the source material and the production quality was so cheap, the entire thing would make me cringe so hard if I ever had the nerve to see the 40 minute fiasco for myself.
All that said, there have to be better YouTube reviews of the movie and like I said, for Floyd fans this is a must.
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