Meeting People Is Easy

This highly cinematic documentary forces one to rethink the way s/he may think of life as a "rock star". Radiohead's unique stardom is portrayed in a dark and highly neurotic light. The pains of dealing with an incessant press, constant live performances, and travel around the nation bear down on these five men and produce tension that borders on nervous breakdown. When watching this film, the intense style transports this tension to the viewer, making it difficult to watch. But it adds insight to the band that has changed Rock music forever, and lets one understand better exactly what they are doing and going through. Well worth the headache and depression experienced afterwards. Meeting people is truly not easy.

"Meeting people is easy" is a pretty good documentary of Radiohead's OK Computer world tour. It abruptly begins with concerts (bits and pieces), photo shoots, behind the scenes and interviews with the media through Europe, USA, Japan, Australia and ends back the UK where you hear them recording music for their next 2 albums (Kid A and Amnesiac).

Its not really a coherent documentary, with scenes cutting back & forth and some arty stuff chucked in for the sake of it, but this DVD shows the media attention and coverage they received, all because of their highly regarded album OK Computer... they were the in band at the time.

From this the stress and tension builds up throughout the world tour and we clearly see them getting emotionally drained.

You get to hear them playing bits of new and unfinished music which would be later added onto there next 2 albums, but don't just expect live performances (as there is hardly any). They're a band that's not afraid to experiment with their music. Though this DVD is more about their experiences throughout the tour, then that of their music.

Some people might have found this boring but I actually quite enjoyed it. It would've been great to get some full length live performances than that of small snippets (though there is good full length performance at the end) but I found the media's attention towards Radiohead and how it was eating them up, very interesting indeed.

4.5/5

This is a wonderful thought provoking film. It is not easy to watch and it does not focus on gaining insight into the band in conventional ways. Instead you are more of a companion feeling the alienation and isolation that the band seems to be feeling. Because it deals with alienation in both its subject manner and how it is filmed it isn't easy to swallow. For that the film is much more affecting than other rockumentaries that merely focus on the glitz, glamour, and the roudy but slick production that goes into a major band. Perhaps people don't like to think about how all jobs have their downsides but I think the way Gee juxtaposes the sterility and monotony of the countless environments the band is faced with the human fatigue, frustration, and disconnect the band feels from the world and eachother is fascinating and affecting. The title itself sums up the film well with its ironic and perhaps sarcastic comment on the accessibility of artists with their audience. The film also offers a beautiful selection of very personal moments of the band doing their job and shows how deeply the band feels about their music, not in their talking about it, but in their playing, especially the moments outside of the concerts themselves. It shows both the pain that comes with the peculiar kind of hard work the band is faced with and the moments of happiness and excitement that are possible because of that hard work which makes it all worth it. The almost nightmare environment that the film conveys, for me, humanized these men who have been heralded by so many as music messiahs in an industry that keeps getting more slick and more scary. Stunning.

Grant Gee, following Radiohead around with cameras during their international tour to promote OK Computer, does not do much that has not already been done in like documentaries of popular musical artists. But what he does is remarkably involving, despite the fact that the audience will most likely be limited to fans of the group and people interested in non-fiction filmmaking. Meeting People Is Easy recaptures all the trappings of rock superstardom: fawning groupies, jealous journalists, relentless photo shoots, sterile airports, lonely hotel rooms, and above all, the horror of performing once exciting songs over and over, night after night. Gee's greatest strength, however, lies in the editing, as sound and vision constantly overlap and compete. Texts of many of the glowing (even raving) critical responses to OK Computer periodically scroll up or glide across the screen, making a not inconsiderable effort to explain how a galvanized media community can seemingly alter the destinies of a handful of young men who just enjoyed making music. The embrace, Gee seems to suggest, brings fame and fortune -- but also a unique kind of pressure that undeniably alters the world-view of the artists, thereby affecting all future recordings (lead singer Thom Yorke has a number of bitter musings on this very subject). At times self-indulgent, Meeting People Is Easy is more often engaging and hypnotic -- a film that reaches just a bit beyond its immediate milieu to explore a meaningful idea or two.

"Meeting People Is Easy" is an amazing, groundbreaking work. This is not merely a concert video, nor is it, consciously, a short film. It is a visually stunning, aurally exciting piece that twists your head around in wonderful ways.

Don't judge "Meeting People Is Easy" based on whether or not you like the Radiohead that you hear on the radio; nothing could be further from relevant when regarding this film. The concert footage, in conjunction with the searing visual pyrotechnics, brings to light the product of a band of rare quality, skill, and creativeness. Each bandmember is given a moment in the spotlight to show off their individual talents, and the process as a whole is, well, breathtaking.

Several people that I know, some Radiohead fans, some not, have attempted to watch the DVD but not been able to finish it. This, almost invariably, comes not from disinterest or disgust, but rather from the overwhelming emotional roller coaster the film progresses along. This can be an exhausting work to take in. If you feel ready to be challenged, however, and, (especially) if you love Radiohead, this DVD is absolutely essential.