Pink Floyd - The Wall

MOVIE
VIDEO
AUDIO
EXTRAS
OVERALL

One Disc
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English Subtitles
Original Theatrical Trailer
Original Making Of Documentary
Documentary
Audio Commentary
Music Video
Deleted Sequence
Run Time: 100 Minutes
Keep Case

MOVIE
Rated R for language, violence, disturbing imagery and brief nudity

I was very lucky. First off, I never EVER saw The Wall in pan & scan, but I can imagine the atrocities committed in that version. I actually had the opportunity to make my first viewing of it widescreen thanks to the widescreen section that I single handedly built at the local branch of the big B during my period of slavery there. Oh, I mean gainful employment. One of the tapes we got in soon after we started the section was The Wall. I took one look at the image on the back, the image below and decided that I needed to see this movie. I knew only the bare minimum about the film, that it was a music movie (and I only had Koyaanisqatsi to compare it to in that respect) and that it was based on a concept album. The only other movie I knew to that effect was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band starring the Bee Gees and no matter how much I love the Beatles and that album, I wasn't about to even try the movie. The Wall, though, offered that outstanding visual image. So, hmmm. Well, I took it home and was blown away. Even in simple stereo off of a VHS, it was a stunning achievement. So many people I talked to claimed that there was no story there. I couldn't believe that thought. You may have to work harder for it, to look for it, but there's definitely a story. I bought the album days later, and what luck, it'd just come out in a newly remastered edition. I found, to my surprise that even in the album alone the story was fairly apparent.
So, then, Windom, what the hell is it about? It's the story of Pink (Bob Geldof) (I'll only assert that his last name is likely Floyd) a musician at what may be the pinnacle of his career going crazy in his palace-like hotel room just before a big concert. He's in America while his wife is with another man back in Europe and he finds an outstanding flaw in himself. He hates his fans. He hates himself and the world around him, the world that took his father away in WWII. But more importantly, the film is about the wall he builds between himself and those around him, most significantly his wife. Often the fact that a couple doesn't communicate is tossed around with the impression of meaning that they don't communicate WELL, in Pink's life this term refers to the fact that they don't communicate at all. This is demonstrated tremendously in two scenes specifically (though in others as well) one being inter-cut with young Pink (Kevin McKeon) spying on a girl getting ready for bed across the way and older Pink trying to watch TV while his girlfriend/wife (Eleanor David) strips and nearly begs his attention. The other does a great audio trick as pink plays his piano, composing and his wife's voice is a million miles away despite her being directly in front of him. He blames his overbearing mother and a sadistic teacher for his inability to have personal relationships, but perhaps the problem lies more within himself.
Is this explicitly stated ever? No. This information is all inferred based on the knowledge I've gleaned over many viewings and listening to the CD over and over. The beauty of The Wall is that, like Koyaanisqatsi, the actual message isn't as important as what you take away from the film. Unlike Koyaanisqatsi, however, there is a definite interpretation that lazy people could take, which follows my story line above. The more important interpretation is of individual relationships and sequences in the film because there is so much more depth there, especially between the moment he gets the injection through the end of the film, taking him through his fascist stage and (my personal favorite scene and song) The Trial. Most people assert that this is a drug movie, and yeah, I could see how it is. Judging from my experience seeing a midnight show at a local theater and the scents in the air, I could definitely see how that could be. However, while you may think you understand it all under the influence, only through multiple sober viewings can you get beneath the surface, and there's so much down there.

VIDEO QUALITY
There are moments in the film that could pass for something shot today, released recently instead of twenty years old. Then, in much of the animation, there's a bad flicker or muddy brown-gray blacks that ruin that like new appearance. That being said, this print of the film is light years ahead of the one I viewed on videotape (even newly remastered) and is so far ahead of my theatrical experience it's almost like a different film. The Wall does show its age, but with a newly struck Anamorphic print of its wonderful original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1, this is definitely a delight for fans.

AUDIO QUALITY
This was one of the first films to use an aggressive soundtrack in a way almost never done before. Multiple speakers and strange techniques were employed, along with a David Lynchian technique of turning the speakers all the way up to eleven because that's one louder than ten. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is nearly flawless in quality with good levels and good separation. There are sound effects that travel, but those are rare and the rear speakers are mainly employed to fill out the front speakers rather than do their own things and one wishes that happened a bit more frequently. However, for fans of the film or the album, this mix is almost everything you could've hoped for. Often when doing work near my sound system, I'll put in The Wall and turn off the TV to just listen to Roger Waters' poetry the way it's never sounded before. One caveat. The bass seems to be mixed more to the speakers than the subwoofer causing the low frequencies to be a little weaker than they maybe should've been.

EXTRAS
First up, and my favorite extra is as always the running audio commentary. This commentary is with Roger Waters the creator and writer of The Wall both in film and album form and Gerald Scarfe, graphic designer and animator (who's work you might also know from, shockingly, Disney's Hercules). Both have no love lost between themselves and Director Alan Parker who's not present on the track. They talk about the genesis of the project, its stage and album origins and how difficult it was to transfer to film, especially with Director Parker. A very interesting track with a peculiar design. Scarfe and Waters are in opposite front speakers that gives you the flight feeling that you're sitting in on a conversation between the two. Next up is the original documentary put together in the early eighties, just under a half hour long, called The Other Side of the Wall. This runs like film propaganda as electronic press kits are supposed to and offers some interesting views of the production and some "thank god it doesn't look like that on this DVD" terrible grainy and scratched clips from the film. Far surpassing this doc in terms of quality and honesty is the two part retrospective doc featuring new interviews and running, in total about fifty minutes. This doc discusses many of the things mentioned in the commentary, fleshing (excuse the term) them out further. It also again touches on the animosity between members of the production and crew.
Next we have the deleted sequence set to Hey You in very rough black and white form. The footage is mostly old news to us having been recycled back into the film in other places after the sequence was cut, but it's still interesting to see this new construct. Then there's the trailer, which seems to be geared for a re-release rather than a first time release. Oh well. All in all, quite a nice batch of extras.
I'd like to take a moment, however, to address the very strange and annoying menu design. For most DVDs, you select the menu option and then press enter. This menu is designed so when you use the arrow key to select an option, it automatically goes to that feature. This leads to some getting used to and I still don't like it now that I'm used to it. The menus also feature a short audio clip, too short, though, so when it recycles, you get that annoying audio change sound from your receiver. While this hardly decreases the quality of the extras, I'm forced to bring the overall grade down a bit.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Pink Floyd - The Wall is a movie not to be watched just once and then forgotten about. Like Koyaanisqatsi, it provides ever-deeper meaning once you find your way below its skin. The thoughts and ideas in it are always relevant and I've found myself reacting to it in a way of reexamining my own life. By no means is it a concert film, despite being based on an album. That concert film is Roger Waters - The Wall, a filmed version of The Wall performed by an all star cast including Albert Finney, Cyndi Lauper, Tim Curry and Waters himself in Berlin just after the wall came down. This is a meditation on the nature of fame and depression and how everybody can put their own bricks in the wall between you and the world.