Spirits in the Forest

Spirit in the forest is everything Anton Corbijn promised and more from taking us into the lives of the 5 fans and their journeys through life and Depeche Mode. Every Depeche Mode fan around the world can relate to some part of the story in someway. Visually the movie is typical Anton with every shot thought about through photographic eyes. The band continue to prove what a force Depeche Mode are late into there fifties, filling stadiums across the globe. Dave has developed into a master story teller on the stage with Martin and the rest of the guys providing the spine to what is Depeche Mode. This is a film for Depeche Mode fans a true reflection of all us and our love for Depeche Mode

Growing up with this band and basically living and breathing them as well as seeing them on many occasions on stage, behind the stage as well as touring after them to many different locations, meeting different cultures, the creativity of people and the whole cult around this band was something the movie just scratched at the surface. Unfortunately is the connection between the band (btw only seen on stage throughout the movie) - and fans very much disjointed in this movie. A meet and great, behind the scenes , maybe? Is it really necessary to tell us a fans live story. Where is the connection to the band? Am I really interested as a DM fan? Yes there have been a couple of short very good examples, worth mentioning the "Romanian king" or the Colombian DMK story, Not enough though. Where are the crazy collectors, the 'look a likes'., the fan stories that still create goosebumps due their similarities to your own...? And that's what this movie should have been all about.

November 21, 2019 may remain in history for several reasons. One of them is the fact that on this day, the premiere of the documentary 'Spirits in the Forest' took place simultaneously in many cities around the world, The event that inspired the film is the concert of the group Depeche Mode that took place in Berlin in 2017 as part of their Global Spirit Tour. The information provided by the event organizers indicates that these screenings are intended to be unique events with the public, so I can consider myself lucky because our local cinematheque was one of the locations where the documentary was screened. If indeed the public screenings will be limited, even for a while, this movie has a chance to become, at least for the Depeche Mode's enthusiastic fans audience, another item in the series of cult objects that support the band's fame, beyond its musical merits.

The film makers chose a structure different from that of other musical documentaries. They did not present the concert from start to end, and did not include behind the scenes information or expert comments about the musicians and their music. Instead they chose to focus on the lives of six fans of the band from six different places in the world - Mongolia, Colombia, United States, Romania, France and Germany - all coming to Berlin to see their idols. They went into their biographies and listened to testimonies about how Depeche Mode's music influenced their lives. One of the women had been suffering from cancer and the group's music accompanied her long and painful hours of treatment. The man in Colombia was separated from the two teenage children and part of their connection was to create music videos in which they played the band's music. The young woman from Mongolia had learned English using the texts of the group's songs. Of course it is only a sample, but it can also be a key to understanding why tens of thousands of spectators, sometimes coming from all over the world, gather in halls or stadiums to experience such events.

There is a risk that the fans of music documentaries and filmed concerts will be disappointed. For example, I'm not a fan of Depeche Mode, and I didn't find out much about the band in this movie. It seemed strange to me to subtitle the dialogues although all the interviewees spoke clear and impeccable English, but not the texts of the songs. The music of course eventually captivates and is well filmed, but it was not the focus. 'Spirits in the Forest' is a movie less about Depeche Mode and more about some of the fans of the group.

As a die hard fan up until Ultra I didn't expect much from their live performance but was pleasantly surprised and am very impressed with how much this band still gives. I found the fans' stories very moving and drove the story to feel more like a movie than just a concert film, beautifully shot by Anton Corbin. My friend who was more a casual fan before watching this absolutely loved it and is now an official Devotee

This movie really gets into the depths of the power of music and especially Depeche Mode. Most of us take for granted that we can listen to anything we want any time we want. The people chosen for this film sometimes had to get to extreme measures just to listen to the awesome music of DM. The stories told by the people in the movie really made this a lot better than "101", which I absolutely love. I saw this tour in Dallas and it took me right back to that night with the concert footage. The German crowd were amazing as well. The scenes with all their arms waving side to side above their heads was absolutely beautiful. Loved it....GO SEE IT!!