Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis

This documentary might seem a bit of a deep cut from the outside. The story of a design studio focused on record sleeves. Is it not all a bit boffiny. Well yes a little, but Hipgnosis do have quite a pedigree and with Anton Corbijn at the helm here, what transpires is a celebration of experimentation and creative expression. We all know the artwork. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, T-Rex, Wings... er, 10CC but who was behind it all? Storm Thorgerson has a profile doesn't he. That's the (excellent) name you think of, certainly if you've been through art school. Po Powell though might be a bit more obscure. The other cofounder, he leads us through the 60s psychedelic boom, those early fumblings as they figured things out, LSD indulgence, riding their luck and falling on their feet, all whilst playing with visuals not seen anywhere else in pop culture. There's lots of voices here though, Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters (not together of course), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher who sums things up beautifully saying "They represent the golden age of the music business, where people believed that music was art and it could change the world. Whereas now music is a commodity". There's as much about the environment and culture they worked in as how they actually created some of these works, but there's enough to keep every viewer happy. Whether it's terrifying stories of Zep's fearsome manager Peter Grant or Peter Saville hinting his inspiration for Joy Division's Unknown Pleaures. It's a fascinating story, made up of hundreds of little stories that paint a picture of a dizzying group of artists all feeding off one another, both good and bad. Egos, excess, flying pigs.

Fascinating film about the 2 extraordinary guys who were responsible for the most iconic album cover of all time and countless others album covers from the late 60 onwards. Great interviews from the likes of Dave Gilmour, Roger Waters ,Jimmy page, Robert Plant ,Paul McCartney and many more. Some great stories behind the album covers (Animals is particularly funny) and the thought process behind them. After all these years I never understood the significance of the man on fire on Wish You Were Here Its shot in black and white and colour to dazzling effect and each time I watch it I notice something new. The film manages to convey the absolute chaos and spontaneity of there lives This harks back to a time when the album cover was nearly as important than the vinyl inside Hopefully there will be a soundtrack album as well. Anyone who laments the end of an era of truly inspiring music will love this.

The stories in this documentary have been told before, but never quite like this. Every shot in this documentary is designed and perfectly matches the period and persons it depicts. We follow the rise and fall of design studio hypgnosis, where the story is being told by the two main designers and their in those days larger than live clients. It is very interesting to hear the memories of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul mc Cartney and others about the period where their fame and ambition was limitless and to see how everything that was once new and happening becomes old and history. Music and photography could not have been done better and is a testament to the brilliance of Anton Korbijn.

I wasn't sure I could watch 101 minutes of this but it went by quickly. I could've watched another couple hours with these stories, although not likely in one sitting.

I laughed multiple times at the anecdotes about Storm's personality. It was great to see them told by people, musicians and friends, with firsthand knowledge and not just by fans. It was very well done.

I appreciate the work of Hipgnosis, and have been familiar with them for many years, although I prefer the work done by Peter Saville more.

Storm did design the cover for one of my all time favorite albums though, the Catherine Wheel's Chrome, from 1993.

I was interested after seeing the trailer, and decided to see it, because I knew the director with the unpronounceable name is really good. I loved the film about Joy Division, and his videos are certainly way better than most.

If you're over a certain age, you're going to really love this film. If you loved Pink Floyd, and most of the album covers that accompanied the vinyl albums, you are really going to love this film. If you're curious what Hipgnosis meant, and how they got the name, yes, hope it plays in your town.

Like so much in life, the incredible success story could never make it into a feature film, because it's too ridiculous to believe. But this was real, and amazing coincidences kept happening, time and time again, making a really wonderful fairy tale, that's all true.

I see a lot of movies, and as the film ended, I wanted to clap. If you have any chance of seeing this in a theater, don't miss the opportunity.

You'll be happy you went.