Pink Floyd The Wall

Revisiting Alan Parker's 1982 film PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, the animated sequences by Gerald Scarfe pop as the most triumphant moments, a perfect match for one of Pink Floyd's most iconic albums.

Scarfe captures the darkness and violence of the tale, building off the rest of the film, which stands solidly today as a depressing but creative effort by Roger Waters and director Parker (Evita, Angel Heart, Midnight Express).

Looking at the film 40+ years after its release, it lives on as a cultural artifact of its era, a feature-length music video that would have been just at home on MTV at the time of its release, sans the blood and nudity on display, of course.

The story can be interpreted as desired, but most commonly, it's described as the inner brain musings of depressed rock star Pink (Bob Geldof) as he slips into madness. The film flows freely between his secluded state, locked in a hotel room alone, old memories of his WWII Father, over comforting Mother and the groupie who last wondered into his room.

As his mental state dives, we're pulled into Scarfe's brilliant animations that flow into Pink risen to a Nazi-like cult leader, exhorting his followers as flames lick around him and restless, passionate & hungry crowds grow more angry.

Those looking for a tight, easy to comprehend narrative will be left befuddled. Pink's trip from lonely little war torn boy to Hitler like fascist is all over the map, but Parker delivers compelling visuals at every turn.

But let's be honest, we're all here for the music and on the front, the film wows.

Some of Pink Floyd's greatest tunes blast forward including "Mother", "Another Brick in the Wall", "In the Flesh", "The Thin Ice" and "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" are superb. 'Run Like Hell" has always been a favorite.

The finale, "The Trial" is a compelling mix of animation, live action and generational rock.

Some of Pink's journey is hard to watch. His use of a straight razor to remove his chest and his casual trim of a few unintentioned bits has always grossed me out. I never knew nipples were quite THAT expendable. Geldof has shared stories of hating doing that scene, and also how much he hated being in that blood filled pool as a non-swimmer.

I was fortunate enough to see Roger Waters live in his "Roger Waters: The Wall" tour, an experience that far exceeded the film for me. The classic tunes in a pounding concert setting, a full-size wall that spanned the entire stage and a 30' tall headmaster yelling about how you "can't have your pudding if you don't eat your meat" is hard to follow.

But the film adaption still holds up.

It's very dark, relentlessly depressing but for me, it's the best film adaption of a rock opera from that era. Ken Russell's "Tommy" is just plain stupid (and I'm a big fan of Russell's relentless excess) supporting Parker's genius in staying closer to the source material.

It struck me watching it this time around that there are NO concert scenes in the film and only small snippets of characters actually singing the classic Floyd songs portrayed. More proof that it's indeed a music video and not a musical.

Even though there are mentions in the film's end credits about a movie soundtrack being available, that never happened. Audiences either just went back to the double album they already owned, or bought it after seeing the film.

It was the best selling double album of all time at 30 million+ copies and counting.

After the film's release, Waters, Parker and Scarfe all described making the film as one of the most miserable experiences of their lives. Whatever hell they went through making it created some melodic, dark alchemy on screen as PINK FLOYD: THE WALL sings its way to a solid B.

During the 15 minutes of Scarfe's animated sequences, it soars to an A+.