Movies - Pink Floyd The Wall

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	Movies - Pink Floyd The Wall

Pink Floyd The Wall is a 1982 MGM film by British director Alan Parker based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. Though Waters initially considered himself for the lead role, the film ultimately starred Bob Geldof, whose character Pink was loosely based on the biographies of both Waters and former Pink Floyd vocalist and guitarist Syd Barrett, both of whom were founding members of the band. The film also stars Kevin McKeon as the young Pink, and includes brief appearances by Bob Hoskins and Joanne Whalley.

About the Movie

The film features music from the original Pink Floyd album, much of which was re-recorded by Roger Waters with different musicians and additional orchestration, some with minor lyrical and musical changes. Two songs not present on the album were included in the film, one of which ("When the Tigers Broke Free") was composed especially for the movie by Roger Waters, while the other ("What Shall We Do Now?") was originally recorded for the album but never released until the film version, although it had been performed in concert. The film is highly metaphorical and is rich in symbolic imagery and sound. It features virtually no dialogue and a non-linear storyline which is progressed entirely through Pink Floyd's lyrical music. Some consider it to be a long music video for the entire album.

The film is scattered throughout with fifteen minutes of elaborate animation sequences by the political cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who played a central role in developing the overall aesthetic of the production. The animation sequences include a bold and nightmarish vision of war, specifically of the German bombing campaign over England during World War II, set to the song "Goodbye Blue Sky".

Roger Waters has expressed dissatisfaction with the final product of the film, and is reported to have been philosophically at odds with director Alan Parker during filming, who himself walked out of the project on multiple occasions due to the conflict. In a 1988 interview on Australian radio, Waters said: "I was a bit disappointed with it in the end, because at the end of the day I felt no sympathy at all with the lead character... and I found it was so unremitting in its onslaught upon the senses, that... it didn't actually give me... as an audience, a chance to get involved with it." Despite Waters' dissatisfaction, the film is considered by many fans to be a worthy interpretation of Pink Floyd's album, and a powerful work of cinema in its own right.

Plot summary

Pink Floyd The Wall depicts the construction and ultimate demolition of a metaphorical wall. Though the film is highly interpretable, the wall itself clearly reflects a sense of isolation and alienation.

Pink, the tragic hero of the film, is depicted at various stages of physical and mental development. We first meet Pink as a young British boy growing up in the early 1950's. Young Pink is heavily affected by the death of his father in World War II and as a result develops a close relationship with his smothering, overprotective mother. As the years go on, he becomes a successful rock star in the United States, but remains in a state of mental disarray and disillusionment. Pink married in the late '60s (as evidenced by the clothing worn by the wedding party), but over the years, he and his wife grow further and further apart, with Pink concentrating on his music and his wife becoming involved with an anti-nuclear arms group. She eventually has an affair with the leader of the group while Pink is on tour.

After the affair, Pink begins his complete and utter mental downfall. He shaves off all his body hair, and sits inside the boundaries of the wall. Doctors are sent in and give Pink various painkillers and anti-depressants. The drugs cause Pink to hallucinate at his shows; he believes that he has become the leader of a violent, racist, hate group, bearing strong resemblances to modern neo-nazi gangs. His concerts have become rallies, with Pink hysterically pointing out minorities in the audience and encouraging his faithful to "put 'em up against The Wall."

In the final sequence, Pink goes before a bizarre kangaroo court trial, shown entirely in animation. This stage in Pink's life, is clearly a symbolic representation of his state of mind. Many people believe that the trial scene of the film bears a strong likeness to the climactical trial scene of Alice in Wonderland.

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Movies - Pink Floyd The Wall

About the Movie

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