Stop Making Sense

After getting my DVD player, this is one of the first discs I bought. I first saw this movie in the eighties as a fan of the music and was completely floored by a band at their peak. Since then, I've grown to appreciate good cinema as much as music, and I now look at Stop Making Sense from a slightly different perspective.

The movie stands up by any measure of cinematic quality - the direction, the photography, the lighting, the set design, the editing, the performances of the 'actors'. Everything is unquestionably good. A couple of illustrations -

During 'Once in a Lifetime', the camera holds on David Byrne, framing him from the waist up, and doesn't leave him until the very last moments of the song. His performance is absolutely enthralling. I've been trying to think of a movie where an actor holds one shot for so long, and I can't.

The photography and lighting during 'What a Day That Was' are beautiful. The stark white up-lighting reduces a large auditorium and stage to a claustrophobic collage of shadows. The effect is not unlike some scenes in Charles Laughton's 'Night of the Hunter'.

In contrast to some other views posted here, I think the Tom Tom Club's appearance adds a colourful punctuation to the flow of the movie.

The DVD is one of the very few I've come across where the commentary is worth listening to. It switches between all four band members plus Jonathan Demme, and the anecdotes are constantly interesting and often very funny. As a package, this is one of the most satisfying DVD's I own. All the extras are worthwhile and well presented, unlike most 'Special Editions' which are crammed full of junk you wouldn't normally give a second look.

It's a pity that, by its nature, Stop Making Sense will only ever appeal to a small audience, because it deserves to be revered by fans of cinema as well as music. The rock movie genre has only a handful of classics to its name, but Stop Making Sense is its Citizen Kane, its Exorcist, its Godfather, its Star Wars. It really is that good.

I just saw this movie tonight at the OKC Museum of Art for the first time in 30 years. It was even more fun than when I first saw it which may be because of the crowd I watched it with. The audience was comprised of a diverse mix of people ranging in age from teens to the 70s or 80s. The crowd had a blast throughout the film and cheered and applauded after each song with audience participation increasing as the film progressed. It felt like being at a live concert, so I can imagine what it must have been like to be at one of their live concerts in 1984. I found I was smiling throughout the film. A blast from the past and a blast all around.

From David Byrne's surreal, quirky, fun antics on stage to Tina Weymouth dancing as she played guitar and the camera shots of the Jonathan Demme film, the band and film crew get everything right to provide us with a perfect concert film that is not to be missed. See it on the biggest screen you can with surround sound if possible. I have long thought the soundtrack CD was one of the best ever produced, the concert film holds up just as well. "O-o-oh what a day that was!"

I saw this movie when it was released. In our town (Sarasota, Florida then) it was a midnight movie in the theater next to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'. I played in a band at the time and was a fan of the Talking Heads so I was stoked to see the film. A band-mate and I went opening night and were blown away. People were dancing in the aisles by about the third song. We went back the next night and several nights there after with our girlfriends and others and had a blast. Our friends weren't particularly fans of the talking heads but they loved the movie. Most of us though the first time through just watched in awe. and when you left after just watching it and absorbing it you were speechless (ar at best unintelligible) for about 20 minutes after. It truly was that kind of film. As said elsewhere after seeing it you wonder why no other concert films have even attempted to emulate "Stop Making Sense". I suppose they figured they would just look lame or they just didn't get it.(or maybe some of both). If you don't want to buy it at least rent it (then you WILL want to buy it). This is the concert film all the others want to be when they grow up.

This concert/movie is simply a brilliant collaboration of music and film. First off, you have the Talking Heads, perhaps one of the most creative and interesting bands in the history of music who put on a concert that is so imaginative that I still cannot believe it happened. Second, you have veteran Director Johnathan Demme who brings the darkness and creepiness that he used in such films as Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, to a concert with sort of a dark and creepy demeanor, i.e. David Byrne in general, the style of music, the dancing. I mean dark and creepy in a good way however. I cannot help to think that this movie is also a comedy. David Byrne's movements, the bass players dancing, the songs and just everything i get a kick out of. I have always been a big fan of the Talking Heads, but after seeing this movie, my love for them skyrockets. They are a unbelievable band with an imagination that rivals that of the likes of Shel Silverstein and the Cohen Brothers. I could literally go on and on about how brilliant this movie is. I think the next time i watch it, i may actually get up and dance. I only wish that I could have been at the actual show. I also cannot figure out what I like better, The Last Waltz or this. Shame on anybody who badmouths this movie or the band in general. See this and then see it again and again and again. 10/10

'Stop Making Sense' is more than simply a concert film. It is pure cinema. It engages all of the senses, it creates a mood, it establishes an atmosphere, it has narrative logic, and it jolts the viewer with electric energy. You can't sit still while watching this. You can't keep your head from bobbing, or your mouth from moving, if you know the words to the songs.

Twenty years later, the sound and image of Talking Heads still feels new, maybe even post-new. It's frightening to look at this film and then consider that all of the Talking Heads are now in their fifties, and David Byrne's hair is as white as Steve Martin's. Byrne's music has mellowed just as people mellow with age, and his fascinating career along with the direction it's taken is emblematic of the excitement that youth brings to an artist's work. To watch 'Stop Making Sense' is to be alive, and for someone who never had and probably never will have the opportunity to see Talking Heads live, and even for those who have, it is a blessing to have a film such as this to preserve the unmatched innovation and energy of this band. Watching David Byrne perform in this film is an awesome sight. Schwarzenegger and Stallone were never this thrilling.