Pink Floyd The Wall (film)

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 title role, the film ultimately starred Bob Geldof, whose character Pink was loosely based on the biographies of both Waters and 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 the band with additional orchestration, some with minor lyrical and musical changes. Two songs from the album were not included in the film ("The Show Must Go On" and "Hey You"), while 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. "Empty Spaces" was extended by two minutes in order to fit an animation sequence. 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.

Related Topics:
Orchestration - The Show Must Go On - Hey You - When the Tigers Broke Free - Roger Waters - What Shall We Do Now? - Empty Spaces - Metaphorical - Imagery - Sound - Dialogue - Non-linear - Storyline

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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".

Related Topics:
Animation - Political cartoonist - Illustrator - Gerald Scarfe - Nightmarish - War - German - England - World War II - Goodbye Blue Sky

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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." http://www.pinkfloydfan.net/t1463.html 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.

Related Topics:
1988 - Australian - Radio

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