This movie requires several viewings to appreciate. The first time I watched it, I thought it was pretentious crap, but then I watched it again and really savoured every moment. As others have noted, this moves beyond just a concert doc, or a "behind the scenes" look at a rock band, it is actually doing several things, primarily though it is chronicling the beginning of Thom's nervous breakdown he suffered right after this tour while working on Kid A. This movie is a lot about the media, about the absolute pummeling bands take from idiotic interviewers asking questions that are exhausting to answer over and over. I can't imagine what it's like to play such incredibly emotional music night after night and still function. And this movie shows that most of them couldn't function very well. Thom in particular.
I would say though, in Thom's case that his fretting and twitching does seem a little contrived, he often looks like he's behaving a certain way because he knows the camera is rolling. Often he strikes as a bit spoiled. However, if you are not in a very good place in your head and you are bombarded by all the attention that he was getting it can be a real "head f*ck" as Thom puts it. It seems very isolating for Thom, there is a good part where they show Colin milling about hobnobbing after a show, while Thom is backstage by himself. The old "lonely at the top" story. It seems that Thom is also wrestling with fame and money and exactly what that means, especially if you are a left wing type who despises all the trappings of the material world. Roger Waters, I'm sure, had the same personal crisis after Dark Side of the Moon, and Pink Floyd's next 3 albums are expressions of that.
The other part of this documentary is about the music of course, and there is some absolutely fantastic bits here, seen from different angles, so close to the band you could see into Thom's nostrils or very far back in the concession area of a huge concert hall. There is also a part I love of Phil Selway (a fantastic and underrated drummer) playing "Exit music for a film" from his standpoint. One night I watched Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii right before this one, and I'll be damned if there isn't a similar technique for the song "One of these Days" that focuses on Nick Mason.
And of course, the exit music for the film is "Exit music for a film". And it is absolutely unbelievable, and it's only a sound check.
If you are a Radiohead fan, rent this film, and watch it with a good sound system. I also recommend the "The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of all Time" from the W.A.S.T.E website.
I would say though, in Thom's case that his fretting and twitching does seem a little contrived, he often looks like he's behaving a certain way because he knows the camera is rolling. Often he strikes as a bit spoiled. However, if you are not in a very good place in your head and you are bombarded by all the attention that he was getting it can be a real "head f*ck" as Thom puts it. It seems very isolating for Thom, there is a good part where they show Colin milling about hobnobbing after a show, while Thom is backstage by himself. The old "lonely at the top" story. It seems that Thom is also wrestling with fame and money and exactly what that means, especially if you are a left wing type who despises all the trappings of the material world. Roger Waters, I'm sure, had the same personal crisis after Dark Side of the Moon, and Pink Floyd's next 3 albums are expressions of that.
The other part of this documentary is about the music of course, and there is some absolutely fantastic bits here, seen from different angles, so close to the band you could see into Thom's nostrils or very far back in the concession area of a huge concert hall. There is also a part I love of Phil Selway (a fantastic and underrated drummer) playing "Exit music for a film" from his standpoint. One night I watched Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii right before this one, and I'll be damned if there isn't a similar technique for the song "One of these Days" that focuses on Nick Mason.
And of course, the exit music for the film is "Exit music for a film". And it is absolutely unbelievable, and it's only a sound check.
If you are a Radiohead fan, rent this film, and watch it with a good sound system. I also recommend the "The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of all Time" from the W.A.S.T.E website.