[New post] Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984) Review
Connor Clarke posted: " Spoiler Warning: This discussion features no narrative spoilers. You can see it as more of an objective take on the quality of the text in question. ★★★★★ "Never for money. Always for love." It has only been a matter of five months since the fir"
Spoiler Warning: This discussion features no narrative spoilers. You can see it as more of an objective take on the quality of the text in question.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
"Never for money. Always for love."
It has only been a matter of five months since the first time I watched Stop Making Sense, and I have already come back to its magnetic magic. David Byrne's mystical avant-garde post-punk crew put together a setlist of seminal Talking Heads tracks, backed by some serious production value and an understanding group of cinematic heads behind the camera. It's a film that I can already see myself coming back for comfort, for the vibes, before a drink, after a drink; it's just 90 minutes of live music adrenaline.
This was an even better experience the second time around - potentially, or almost certainly, because I have since become a fan of Talking Heads. The difference was: instead of sitting there, experiencing these songs for the first time, I was singing along, bouncing up and down in my seat. It made for a much more involved and engaging time. It helps a great deal that some of the band's biggest hits such as This Must Be the Place and Once in a Lifetime sound identical to the record vocally but have these unique musical inflexions to mix it up. Everyone sounds and looks superb, from Chris Frantz's very 80s mullet to Tina Weymouth's simultaneous elite bass playing and synchronised dance numbers. Bryne similarly is frenetic for the entire gig, sweating out his own body weight with enchanting coordinated dance numbers, iconic suit jackets, and stunning vocals. It's just nothing but a good time.
Visually, I love the approach that director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth took. The easy approach would be to focus entirely on the frontman and lazily throw in some crowd footage in post-production; it's what most concert films consist of. Demme, and the entire Talking Heads crew, for that matter, have a great deal of respect for every member taking part in the gig. The background keyboard players get as many shots as the backup singers, who are just as involved in the dancing and spectacle as Byrne himself. There's a great variety of shots combining different members of the band with intelligent angle play, and with the changing background visuals and introduction of props, it never looks dull.
Stop Making Sense will probably remain as one of the best concert films to ever exist for hundreds of years beyond this point. The innovation is incredible; the general underground avant-garde sensibilities of the band at its centre and the quality of the tracks across the board mean it is unlikely to age poorly. I have a feeling that Stop Making Sense could even be more enjoyable the next time I eventually decide to put it on. I'll go to sleep tonight wondering how to answer Byrne's provocative questions:
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