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Reviewed by Colin Jacobson
Ryko, widescreen 1.85:1/16x9, languages: English DD 5.1 & Digital Stereo, subtitles: none, single side-single layer, 19 chapters, rated NR, 99 min., $29.95, street date 10/26/99. Supplements:
Palm Pictures is proud to present the DVD premiere of the groundbreaking Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathon Demme. The film has been re-mixed and re-mastered allowing the brilliance of the music and visuals to take full advantage of state-of-the-art technology. Song Tracks: 1. Psycho Killer 2. Heaven 3. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel 4. Found A Job 5. Slippery People 6. Burning Down The House 7. Life During Wartime 8. Making Flippy Floppy 9. Swamp 10. What A Day That Was 11. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) 12. Once In A Lifetime 13. Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club) 14. Girlfriend Is Better 15. Take Me To The River 16. Crosseyed And Painless
No matter how hard I tried, I never could develop much of an affinity for Talking Heads. They are one of those acts that I always felt I should like but just never really did; the most I felt was respect and mild enjoyment, but none of their albums lasted too long in my collection. At the request of a reader, I decided to give the DVD of the famed Heads concert film Stop Making Sense a whirl. I think I might have owned the soundtrack album at one point - I'm telling you, I've really given the Heads a lot of chances! - but I know that I never actually watched the movie itself, and this DVD seemed a good opportunity for me to once again try to get interested in their music. Though I don't want to overstate the case, I think SMS might finally have done it. Is it the greatest concert film of all-time? I don't feel that way - I doubt anything will ever surpass Prince's brilliant Sign O the Times - but this piece, directed by Jonathan Demme, makes a strong argument for the Heads' case; the film presents the band cleanly, effectively and evocatively. It does what every good concert movie should do: it makes me really wish I could see the show live. Even at their best, concert films can never replace or replicate the actual experience of a live performance. No matter how much of a hassle real shows can be - from traffic, to prices, to bad seats, to drunks who shout through quiet songs and spill beer on you - the event can't be beat. The best concert movies provide very enjoyable documents - and many of them sound better than the real thing - but the actual feeling of being there will always win. Personally, I've actually found that my favorite concert films are those for shows I didn't see. I never witnessed Prince's 1987 "Sign O the Times" tour, nor did I catch McCartney in 1976 (documented in Rockshow); I did see Bowie in 1983 (captured in Serious Moonlight, but I knew little about his music at that time, so when I saw the concert tape the following year, it really was a brand-new experience for me. Those are probably my three all-time favorite concert productions, and it's extremely likely that my lack of presence at the shows adds to my enjoyment; I can't compare the TV image to the real thing. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy films of concerts I did see, but it's a more frustrating experience for me just because I don't always agree with the director's selection of shots. Plenty of times when I watch a video for a concert I'd seen - and in the case of some of my favorite artists (such as Bowie, the Stones, U2, or Springsteen), I'd attended multiple shows on the tours in question - I'd feel irritated because I thought the focus went to the wrong place; I knew from personal experience that there was something else I'd rather see, and this lack in "interactivity" frustrated me. Such an occurrence obviously is less likely to occur during SMS, but it still happened on occasion; there were instances during which I felt Demme picked what appeared to be the wrong spot, or cut away from good action too quickly. However, these quibbles are minor, as SMS offers a very entertaining and well-produced look at the Heads' show circa 1983. As it happens, SMS would document the final tour of the band. They continued to release studio albums for a few years but never hit the road again. This caused a great deal of consternation among band members, a feud that essentially pitted head Head David Byrne against the other three (bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz, and keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison). Eventually, those three released an album and toured as "The Heads", an action that certainly cheesed off Byrne (and may have inspired legal wrangling, if I recall correctly). Since I'm not intimately familiar with the band, I don't know Byrne's reasons for not wanting to tour with Talking Heads after 1983; although it seems abundantly clear he was the hold-up, he nonetheless did plenty of solo touring in later years. However, on the strength of SMS, it might have been a good idea to stop where the band did, as this show seems so excellent that it would have been hard to top. I can't really relate highlights of the program, as the vast majority of the music works on a consistently strong level; the only clunker is "Genius of Love" from Tom Tom Club, which is also the most dated song in this collection. (TTC was an offshoot of the Heads; it was a more dance-oriented group led by Weymouth and Frantz, and they apparently performed this song mid-set so Byrne go change clothes.) Visually, the film remains appealing throughout the show; starting with his spastic dancing during "Psycho Killer" and continuing through the "lamp dance" of "Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)", his self-abuse during "Once In a Lifetime" and leading to the infamous "big suit" in "Girlfriend Is Better", Byrne stands out as a fascinating front man. Demme keeps the movie's focus where it belongs: on stage. Too many films become cluttered with audience shots or other footage, whether from interviews or wherever; SMS almost never leaves the stage and the performers themselves, which is appropriate, and it makes the experience much more compelling than it could have been. Demme also avoids the temptation to use extremely quick cuts between shots, something the concert film producers often do to create a sense of artificial excitement; Demme knew the on-stage action provided enough stimulation that it didn't need gimmicks. The Heads aren't for everyone, as many will be turned off by various components of the music. Probably most will dislike Byrne's stilted and awkward voice, which certainly lacks any form of technical strengths. Like the vocal capabilities of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix before him, Byrne's singing likely has inspired many folks to take to the microphone; his voice inspires others to think, "If he can get up there and sound like that, I can, too!" From a technical standpoint, Byrne does have a terrible voice, but that seems absolutely irrelevant. For one, technical quality is an insanely overrated consideration. Look at all of the singers who have fantastic voices: for every one of them who creates good music (like k.d. lang), there are scores of others who record only tripe (Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion). I absolutely loathe that school of thinking that values the singer's - or the guitar player's, or the drummer's, or whoever's - natural talents over the material itself; that's what leads to worthless junk like the "music" created by axe slingers who think the best guitar solos are those with the most notes played the fastest. I'll take a technically-flawed singer with character in his or her voice any day. No matter what you think of it, Byrne's voice definitely has character, and it fits the songs perfectly. I find it virtually impossible to imagine any Heads songs as sung by anyone other than Byrne. I'm sure someone has covered them and attempted other styles, but that has to be tough since the tunes are so intimately matched to Byrne's eccentric manner of singing. A more accomplished vocalist might have made the songs more superficially appealing, but they'd work much less well. Stop Making Sense will never be my favorite concert film just because I'll never like the Talking Heads anywhere near as much as some other artists; it doesn't matter how well-constructed a concert movie may be if you don't like the band. Nonetheless, SMS has definitely provoked me to take a stronger interest in Talking Heads, and that would certainly appear to be a sign that it's an awfully good film. Stop Making Sense appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Although it's a bland-looking presentation, the DVD seems to accurately replicate the original material and it betrays few obvious flaws. Sharpness is a concern some of the time. Close-ups and relatively near shots seem appropriately crisp and well-defined, but many images that widen the stage appear rather soft and dull; full band shots come across worst of all, but many others that aren't as far away also look overly hazy. It's not a frequent problem, as most of the shots are close enough to stay sharp, but I did find it to be a distraction. At least the general softness means that I witnessed no moiré effects or jagged edges, and I also saw no evidence of artifacts from the anamorphic downconversion on my 4X3 TV. The print itself largely appears clean, but flaws crop up from time to time. I observed mild speckling on occasion, plus a few scratches and a hair or two. I couldn't see any evidence of grain. SMS is a largely monochromatic film; although some colored lighting is used, the majority of it seems to offer variations on white and the performers' clothes are also largely black, white or gray in nature. As such, there aren't a whole lot of colors to evaluate, but what we observe seems fine; when colored lights appear, they show no signs of bleeding or noise, and the presentation looks tight. Since blacks dominate, I'd like to say that the black levels are outstanding, but while they seem good, they're no better than that. The dark tones looked nicely deep and were perfectly adequate, but I couldn't help but wish they were just a bit more intense. Shadow detail seemed similarly good but not terrific; I was able to make out everything I needed to see, but the lack of solid intensity in the blacks made them seem a bit mushier than I'd like. Most of the problems I witnessed did appear to result from the limitations of the source; after all, I doubt there was much of a budget for this project, so the film stock doesn't seem to be the best. Nonetheless, SMS offers a generally good image than transmits the material effectively. Much better is the film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Actually, SMS features two separate DD 5.1 tracks, a "Feature Film" production and a "Studio Mix". I flipped between the two but greatly preferred the "Feature Film" audio. The "Studio Mix" seemed very erratic; at times it presented a full-bodied sound but for the most part it appeared overly bright and it lacked low end. Honestly, I found the excessive treble of this version to make it nearly unlistenable at times; the "SM" presents a more active surround track than does the "FF" version, but the unnaturally sharp sound often makes it an unpleasant listening experience. The "FF" mix seems more consistently satisfying. The soundfield is nicely localized in the front, with all instruments and vocals spreading effectively across the forward channels. This localization is somewhat inconsistent in that sounds don't always appear where they should; sometimes a performer will be on the left but the instrument will come from the right. However, this was a minor quibble because it occurs only rarely, and it prevents the mix from becoming a confusing hodge-podge of alternating sounds. Early on, it looks like the track will try to always present the audio in relation to where it should appear on screen; during the third song - "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel" - the image starts with a focus on drummer Chris Frantz and rotates around him. While this happens, we hear his drums, Byrne and the other instruments move as well to reflect their placement in relation to Frantz. This is a neat effect but it would have gotten old very quickly; the frequent shifts in perspective would have become annoying. I prefer the occasional misplaced instrument as long as the whole coheres nicely, which it does. As I earlier alluded, the surrounds on the "Feature Film" mix aren't as active as they are during the "Studio Mix", but they provide a satisfyingly engulfing experience nonetheless. Some specific instrumentation and vocals appear from the rears, but for the most part they simply provide an ambient reinforcement of the main track; not much specific action occurs back there, but I was always keenly aware that the surrounds were boosting the music, and they added a nice dimension to the mix. The quality of the audio seems consistently excellent. Some 5.1 remixes can come across as harsh or tinny, but not this one; I think you'd be hard-pressed to differentiate this track from the original CD of SMS. Clarity seems excellent, and the instruments and vocals always appear wonderfully natural and vibrant. Bass response could possibly be just a little deeper - I've always been a bass fiend! - but appears consistently rich and taut. Overall, the "Feature Film" mix of Stop Making Sense provides a fine listening experience. Rykodisc have provided a few solid supplements with this DVD. Of most interest is the running audio commentary from the four band members and director Demme. Despite the most fervent hopes of fans, the Heads didn't all sit down together and reminisce about the good old days; each member of the band - and Demme as well - was recorded separately and the results were edited together for this piece. Overall, the commentary provides a pretty nice compendium of information about the songs, the movie and the show. Not surprisingly, Demme and Byrne dominate the proceedings, but not to an extreme; we hear a fair amount from each of the other three as well. The track includes a pretty high number of gaps during which no one speaks, but I found these less annoying than usual since I could hear the music; that made those "breaks" pass rather pleasantly. Not that I really understand how there could still be so many gaps, since we have five different commentators, and that's the worst part about this track; with so many different perspectives, we should get a lot more information than we find. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the commentary and found it to offer a nice complement to the film. I'd dearly love to see more concert productions with commentaries from the bands, and I hope that perhaps this will start a trend. The DVD includes three songs excised from the theatrical version of the film: "Cities" and "Big Business/I Zimbra". These appear immediately after the end of the movie proper. The image is fullframe and is a step down from the preceding material; I didn't think it looked tremendous worse, but there's clearly a degradation of picture there. It seems blander, muddier and softer, though I still thought it was fully watchable. The music continues to sound great, with some fine 5.1 audio available for these tunes as well. The addition of these songs is a nice treat, especially since they sound so good. The oddest - but possibly most interesting - supplement is a roughly four-minute "self-interview" from David Byrne. Through the wonders of video technology, Byrne asks himself a variety of banal questions, to which he provides a number of banal answers (which often consist of "I'll tell you later"). Interviewer Byrne appears in a variety of costumes - including a woman and a black man - and interviewee Dave seems amusingly awkward and nervous. It's odd and it's a trip - I've watched it three times and I still find it bizarrely amusing. One other unusual extra is a series of storyboards and notes from Byrne. He planned out the show rather carefully, it appears, and used these sketches and jottings to create the concert. We see the storyboard at the top of the frame with corresponding images from the film on the button; a click of a button on your remote replaces the film still with Byrne's notes. It's not an extra that can appear on many concert DVDs - although many big-budget shows are clearly well-planned and choreographed, they remain in the distinct minority - and it's a very cool thing to see here. The "Big Suit" section offers text details on that most famous of Byrne costumes; it's a good little primer that tells us more about Byrne's thought process. More text appears in the "Discography" section - which provides a simple one-screen listing of the band's albums and the years in which they were released - and in the "Biographies" area. The latter gives us fairly basic but good listings for the four band members and for Demme. More video material can be found as well. The theatrical trailer was the one that went out for the movie's fifteenth anniversary in 1999, but from the looks of it, I think it's the same one used for the film's original release, just with a "fifteenth anniversary" notice tacked onto the start. The "Montage" section works much like the trailer; it's a conglomeration of different parts of the movie smashed together into this roughly two-minute clip. It's moderately interesting, though not great. Some additional DVD promos appear in the "Hyperactive" area. This gives us ads for "Dancehall Queen", "Ghost in the Shell" and "Baaba Maal Live at the Royal Festival Hall". Oddly, we also get an anti-drug public service message from Public Enemy's Chuck D. Why is this here? Darned if I know! Finally, the DVD's booklet features some brief notes that document the creation of the disc. For example, we learn what the remixers intended with the two different 5.1 tracks, and we also hear some basics about the recording of the audio commentary. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have been able to mention the DVD's booklet; I initially rented SMS from Netflix, and they don't forward such materials with their discs. However, I so enjoyed SMS that a few days after I watched the rental DVD, I went out and bought a copy of my own. If that isn't a strong recommendation, I don't know what is. Stop Making Sense provides a very entertaining and well-structured look at a Talking Heads concert, and the film has rightfully earned its status as a classic of the genre. The DVD features a decent though somewhat flawed picture but offers a terrific Dolby Digital sound mix and some good supplements as well. I may never become much of a Talking Heads fan, but I really liked SMS; it would make a terrific addition to anyone's collection.
Current as of 6/3/2000 Yahoo! Talking Heads--A directory of related Talking Heads websites.
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