Pink Floyd: The Wall (El muro)

I recently rented and re-watched Pink Floyd The Wall for the 200th time, and I had forgotten, over the years, why this is my favorite movie. Surprisingly, the reason it is so good has little to do with a rock star having a mental breakdown. Pink being a rock star is almost incidental to the real message of the film. It seems as if director Parker took the initial idea of Pink Floyd's album and ran away with it. The film serves less as a study of one celebrity individual, instead serving as a cinematic indictment of all of our worst aspects as human beings: cruelty, brutality, insanity, herd mentality, fascism--all the most negative traits of twentieth century man are splashed upon the movie screen, as if the Director was asking the audience "Why?" This is a film in rebellion against the status quo. Funny then, that it should be driven by the music of a major rock and roll band. But, all in all, that is besides the point. The film of the Wall begins and ends with scenes of oppression by authoritarian figures (police men, skinheads, teachers, etc.)It is almost as if the entire sub textual content of the film is drawing a parallel between the internal alienation of a single individual and the social and global alienation that fostered the cruelties of World War 2, the holocaust, ad infinitum. Pinks degeneration is the degeneration of Everyman, confronted by a world that is (still) spinning increasingly out of control, away from the light, further behind the wall of its own nihilistic will toward self-obliteration. The violence of the imagery, the final "Trial", and the psychic attack of the final montage of disturbing images (masked children put into a meat grinder, cartoon teachers becoming hammers, neo-Nazis on a rampage) as the scene fades into a blank grey wall, are grand, satirical, operatic "Theater of Cruelty" in a cinematic framework. But it is the final lyric (sung by a repulsive, animated "Judge") that puts the entire scope of this picture into focus: "I sentence you to be EXPOSED before your peers..." The Judge , of course, is not merely talking to the fictional "Pink", but to the viewers of the film, and well, the entire world, for all that, and again, the Director has, seemingly, high jacked the "rock opera" format, and used it as a vehicle to ask that ultimate question: why is mankind so mutually interested in its own self-destruction? Why do nations and civilized cultures slide easily into fascistic thinking? How many war orphans are we still, to this day, creating?

I am not, now, a fan of Pink Floyd's music, although all of the music in this film is beyond excellent. Oddly enough, I am the farthest thing from the dope-smoking "hippy" that is supposed to be a Pink Floyd fan. I am an Industrial musician and a writer. My favorite music, at this point, is anything by NON, Throbbing Gristle, etc. This film has, over the years though, shaped my own artistic outlook in ways I am probably not even aware of. One does not need to smoke dope, or even be a Pink Floyd fan, to be affected quite deeply by this film. Roger Ebert once said that Star Wars was, to him at least "a perfect film". Well, Pink Floyd The Wall, to myself, is a perfect film, whether you are a pothead or no. I have given this film ten stars, but it is a little beyond that. If it was simply a rock movie, it could be rated in a conventional manner. But Allan Parker has done something here that is beyond even the concept of the bestselling album that this movie is based upon. He has crafted a surreal essay on the madness and self-destruction that lurks within the human spirit. And he has created one of the most sobering, angry, and dizzying satirical pieces ever committed to celluloid. In short, this film is a work of sheer, jaundiced brilliance.

What can you possibly say except that this movie is amazing?

"The Wall" is one of the few movies out there that has a powerful effect on the people are receptive to its message. Told with practically no dialogue, the only guide to the bizarre, frightening, and strange images is the incredible music by Pink Floyd, from their equally good double album. A considerable number of the songs were re-recorded for this movie, and one song (the heart-wrenching "When the Tigers Broke Free") was added. The new versions of the songs are sometimes worse than the album (Waiting for the Worms), and sometimes better (Mother, In the Flesh).

"The Wall" isn't a pleasant movie, nor is it a simplistic or banal movie. It is brutal, cynical, and disturbing, but it has moments of flesh-tingling beauty and an uplifting message in the end, if you persevere. I recommend both it and the album to anyone who enjoys a powerful movie. In my opinion, "The Wall," along with a few other albums, represents the pinnacle of rock music.

The Wall tells the story of Pink; a burnt out rock star who has retreated into himself. Told in a non-linear fashion we see how he is effected by the loss of the father he never knew in the war; cruel teachers; a wife who leaves him; the adulation of his fans and too many drugs and finally how he grows to see himself as a fascist demagogue.

This is a far from conventional film; there is a minimal amount of dialogue. Instead the story is told through the images we see and the music of Pink Floyd. The images are a mix of conventional live action shots of Pink's life; images of war and animation designed by Gerald Scarfe. This is sometimes tragic and sometimes brutally disturbing. The scenes we see perfectly match the music; adding something to what isn't there on the album in a way that makes it hard to just listen without recalling the imagery. The animated sequences demand separate mention; they are creative and shocking in a way one doesn't expect in western animation; they contain a sense of bleakness, brutality and even flowers that border on pornographic! Overall I'd say that this is a must see for fans of Pink Floyd and for those looking for something different who don't mind being disturbed.

I have seen the movie several times now and every time I watch it I see something new, something I haven't seen or heard before. Some unsung line, some lost message... Every time I watch the movie I seem to dig deeper into this complex work of art.

However, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that this movie is so underestimated, and, above all, misunderstood. How many times have you heard someone say something like: "You can't watch 'The Wall' unless you're really drunk or really high" ? I have heard this line probably from every single person that has seen the movie and it hurts me so much that nobody really tries to understand the movie.

The key to understanding the movie is in the lyrics. The movie is not just a long series of video clips that accompany the album. The images are just a final piece of the puzzle, the final touch on a magnificent piece of art.

The first time I saw this movie I felt very embarassed. Yes, embarassed, because I felt like a fool for hearing the album so many times and not realizing what it was about. The movie made me appreciate the lyrics of a rock song for the first time in my life.

The week after seeing "The Wall" for the first time I bought Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut". Do you know what was the first thing I did when I opened the CD case? I read the lyrics, from the first to the last word. And I actually tried to understand what the album was about.

"The Wall" is so much more than you think it is. The only solution to not understaning the movie is watching it again and paying more attention. Once you get it, you will never forget it.

A film made in the 80's – for children of the 60's.

Pink Floyd's The Wall is arguably the best `rock opera' ever. – But the angst and societal issues that the album addresses only seem aged now.

The film, by blending the original music plus skilful re-mixes and new tracks tells a simple story, but the imagery used is dark and disturbing and relates to the social issues of the time. The film was made when the fears expressed in the novel 1984 were still a threat, (as an aside, while the film was being made in England there was a political campaign comparing the then conservative government of M. Thatcher to the Orwellian fascist world of 1984.)

But, as much as I and other members of my generation can relate to this film, does it have a message for today's youth. I think that it definitely does. The issues today may be different from those of the late 70's, but, the sentiment and the dangers are the same. We have huge segments of alienated people, we have bigotry and hate, and we have governments which operate in secret. We have movements that preach rigid conformity and hate, we have religions that have lost the message of caring and we have schools that only want to turn out mindless corporate robots.

In fact, I think that this film, and therefore the message behind the music, is MORE important today. The issues we as a society face now are far more dangerous to personal freedoms than when it was first released.