![]() The violence of the imagery, the final "Trial", and the psychic attack of the final montage of disturbing images (masked children put into a meat grinder, cartoon teachers becoming hammers, neo-Nazis on a rampage) as the scene fades into a blank grey wall, are grand, satirical, operatic "Theater of Cruelty" in a cinematic framework. Pinks degeneration is the degeneration of Everyman, confronted by a world that is (still) spinning increasingly out of control, away from the light, further behind the wall of its own nihilistic will toward self-obliteration. The film of the Wall begins and ends with scenes of oppression by authoritarian figures (police men, skinheads, teachers, etc.)It is almost as if the entire sub textual content of the film is drawing a parallel between the internal alienation of a single individual and the social and global alienation that fostered the cruelties of World War 2, the holocaust, ad infinitum. But, all in all, that is besides the point. Funny then, that it should be driven by the music of a major rock and roll band. The film serves less as a study of one celebrity individual, instead serving as a cinematic indictment of all of our worst aspects as human beings: cruelty, brutality, insanity, herd mentality, fascism-all the most negative traits of twentieth century man are splashed upon the movie screen, as if the Director was asking the audience "Why?" This is a film in rebellion against the status quo. It seems as if director Parker took the initial idea of Pink Floyd's album and ran away with it. Pink being a rock star is almost incidental to the real message of the film. Surprisingly, the reason it is so good has little to do with a rock star having a mental breakdown. I recently rented and re-watched Pink Floyd The Wall for the 200th time, and I had forgotten, over the years, why this is my favorite movie. ![]()
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March 2023
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