1983 launch disk Speaking in Tongues from the group talking heads This was a complete upheaval on the global music scene. Undoubtedly one of the best albums of the 80s, according to the magazine’s critics rolling stoneDavid Fricke, the album erased the fine line that separated them art white pop deep funk black. In his article, Fricke praised the hybrid nature and a certain electric freshness that the album continues to retain almost intact after so long.
The reviewer also noted that this new music by the band led by David Byrne manages to effortlessly escape the pretensions that usually characterize the music of that time, and does so with a relaxed attitude and offering incredible music for dancing. The last line of the article reads: “A new model for listening to the great albums of the future at parties.”
He was right about that, it’s clear that the album was probably played at thousands and thousands of parties around the world over the course of several decades. It was an absolute success. your song Burning the House provided the group with its only opportunity Top It peaked at number 10 on the US pop chart (reaching 9), and over time the album and song established Talking Heads as a musical group, if they weren’t already. cult group.
He was partly responsible for all of this. Stop Being Meaningful (1983), film directed by then-young director Jonathan Demme (After which years would he issue an invoice? The silence of the lambs) and now, after acquiring distribution rights, almighty production company A24 will re-release it in theaters and IMAX with a restored and remastered copy to celebrate the 40th anniversary.
The birth of “the best concert movie in history”
as it is said This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century One of the best biographies ever written about the New York band, by David Bowman In 1983, Jonathan Demme was making his first major film. Girls on the warpath, a big-budget film (it included star of the moment Goldie Hawn, for example), but was too small for the director’s artistic ambitions. Demme deeply hated that movie and wanted to make another one, perhaps smaller but much funnier.
The American director had always loved music and had seen Talking Heads perform in Hollywood earlier that year. The concert seemed incredible to him. He found Byrne’s stage presence impressive and thought perhaps this might be a good idea. Film of one of his concerts.
The project also fit the band’s interests perfectly: They were in their prime, and a film of their concerts would allow them to grow even bigger and take their shows to places they couldn’t physically do. Besides, David really liked it. Melvin and HowardA movie Demme directed a few years ago, everything went well after we met to discuss the project.
With Stop Being Meaningful, Demme intended to follow in the footsteps of other earlier musical films. The Last Waltz by Martin Scorsese or Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young and do the best with a direct and honest approach concert movie It conveys to the audience all the energy of attending a Talking Heads performance.
Why should we see the public?
The idea is that the concert is sort of group retrospectiveOperating since 1975, at first it was just David Byrne appearing on a stage completely naked, and gradually he was joined by musicians and instruments, ending with a kind of final explosion. First song selected psycho killerThe band’s first hit was a 1977 song. They also played their big songs. hit of that moment, Burning the HouseJust some songs by David Byrne, along with various songs from the Heads drummer and bassist’s side project, Tom Tom Club.
For your registration actually four concerts were filmed He said the band performed at the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard at Christmas 1983, and it was decided that the film crew would focus on a particular aspect of the concert each night.
First day of public registration. The team deployed massive light arcs to illuminate the more than 2,800 people filling the facility. It was really strange to see the huge stalls constantly illuminated, as described in the book. Both for the viewer himself and especially musicians who couldn’t concentrate and gave perhaps the worst concert in Heads history.
When Demme saw the result of the recording the next day, he saw that it was a complete disaster. But after that shock Initially, the director thought that perhaps what happened was just a fluke. He took this as a sign that he had to remove the audience from the final scene: He would focus on the scene.
In fact, he argued that showing it to the public was the equivalent of canned laughter in sitcoms. Seeing people having a good time on screen was like showing the audience that they too should be having a good time at that moment. something too much immature and said that he did not respect the maturity of the people.
The rest of the night was spent recording close-ups of Byrne, one of the band members, and finally long shots of the scene.
‘Big Team’ show
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the concert was when Byrne took the stage to sing the song. Girlfriend Is Better with Big SuitIt’s an absurdly large costume, inspired in part by Japanese Noh theater, that has become iconic not only of the film, but also of Byrne.
In an interview with the magazine time The artist recalled in 2014 how the idea came about: “I was in Japan between tours and was researching traditional Japanese theater: Kabuki, Noh, Bunraku, and at the same time I was thinking about what to wear to our next concert. type. Then a fashion designer friend of mine (Jurgen Lehl) said to me in his typically ironic tone: ‘Well, David, everything is bigger on stage.’ “He was talking about gestures and stuff, but I applied the idea to a businessman’s suit.”
Later, in an interview included on the concert DVD, the artist added: “I wanted my head to look smaller, and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger because music is very physical and often the body makes it bigger. “It understands before the head.”
Premiere and impact
The premiere was held San Francisco International Film Festival on April 24, 1984, It was a real party. As things got more heated, many in the audience rose from their seats and began dancing and jumping in front of the screen. The chaos was so great that the jumps of the audience literally shook the building. So much so that the manager of the venue panicked and was about to stop the show and demand that everyone return to their seats. Eventually someone managed to calm him down, perhaps Demme himself according to the book.
The world’s reaction was the same. The film was almost unanimously considered by critics to be one of the best musical films in history., describes it as overwhelming, fascinating, or brilliant. Also in our country, where the critic Ángel Fernández-Santos was impressed by his staging and his ability to show a simple action like a musical concert a priori and give it a strange depth. “Babbling Video clip the current situation and the absence of a shocking encounter between the channels pierced by rock ritual and musical cinema […] In this modest film, he finds a sign of a path leading from the expected to the unexpected; behind ease, complexity; to the fiction behind the document; Behind a claustrophobic confinement, towards the serene explosion of freedom.”
Even today the movie has 100% approval. rotten tomatoesWith an average score of 9 out of 10 and a consensus review that reads: “Stop Being Meaningful “Jonathan Demme captures the energetic, unpredictable live performance of Talking Heads’ pivotal era in all its glory and visual acuity.”
Now, thanks to A24, viewers will once again have the opportunity to watch a unique work in 2023.It will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11. There will also be a question-answer session with the band members who will reunite after their separation in 2002. Jonathan Demme passed away in 2017.
Although there is no confirmed release date in Spain, The world premiere in cinemas will be on September 25. In IMAX and traditional theaters on the 28th.