The Spectacle That Is ‘The Wall’ [DVD Review]

Roger Waters’ newest film documents his epic tour in spectacular fashion.

Let’s start with what we do know about Roger Waters The Wall:  it’s a visual spectacle.  It’s a film that encompasses Roger Waters concerts during his 2010-2013 tour in which he and his crew played The Wall in its entirety.  It’s about three quarters concert film and one quarter documentary.  Every scene is accompanied by music.

Beyond that, Roger Waters The Wall transcends definitions.  Is it a concert film?  A documentary?  A performance?  A performance about a performance?

So let’s break it down.

The standard features of a documentary aren’t there, at least in the forms and methods we associated with documentary films.   There are no sit-down interviews.   All information is delivered through informal conversations.  There is no verite camera work:  All the cameras are obviously staged.  And beautifully so.

You start to get the feeling that everything is staged: The shots, the show, life.  And that’s ok.  The cameras are in the perfect place; the perfect moment.  The stops of the car, perfectly placed in the frame; the placement of Roger; everything is situated.   And so are you.

Director of Photography Brett Turnbull has completed a masterpiece.   And while clearly done with structure and finesse and an incredible amount of planning (there’s no way he could capture the car and driving featured in the film without planting cameras), you’re along for the ride.

That ride includes, at moments, brushes with other genres. The film starts like an action flick: a gunshot and a car’s brake’s screeching pierce the audio tracks.  If you didn’t know any better, you would think you were watching Batman (if it weren’t for the corresponding cheers of a concert crowd).  

A crowd, by the way, that is surprisingly young.   The crowd at The Wall is easily 20 years longer than expected.  They include girls with braces and teenagers nearly falling over with excitement.  If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought this was Lollapalooza.  

And while they sing along and say “We don’t need no education,” they may only be right in one regard:  they clearly got the right kind of rock education. Kudos to their parents on their children’s education of rockdom.

In one moment, Roger Waters plays an older version of himself, singing, during his show.  The original moment was captured on film in 1980 at Earls Court, and was then played again at The Wall during Waters’ tour and is displayed yet again documentary.  It was a reply over years, twice now.  In many ways, this documentary is exactly that:  A dressed up, visual spectacle treatment of songs already played and experienced, with all the same messages of the original performance.

Will this film gain new fans?  Probably not.  But no matter your previous knowledge or affiliation with Pink Floyd, you walk away with an appreciation for the music and the spectacle.  Some people may love the stories better (punctuated with the cello) and some may love the performance better (punctuated with bass).  But they should be taken in tandem, as Roger Waters intended.

The film is now available on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital HD.