Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)
August 6, 1982
IMAGES FLOOD 'PINK FLOYD: THE WALL'
By JANET MASLIN
Published: August 6, 1982
PINK FLOYD fans are going to find ''Pink Floyd: The Wall'' pretty cosmic; employing almost no dialogue, it uses fantasies, animation and assorted psychedelic froufrou to flesh out a rock album more enthusiastically than any film has since ''Tommy.''
This, I'm not sure I would have realized without having read the program notes by the director, Alan Parker, is the story of Pink, an English rock star who sits traumatized in his Los Angeles hotel room. The weight of the world is on his shoulders. He is sick of sex, drugs, fame and the other drawbacks of his style of life. He is weary and alienated and self-destructive.
So he daydreams about warfare, about his Mum, about the wife who left him, about facism and about -this part is animated, by Gerald Scarfe - flowers engaged in angry sexual congress. Each of the rotten things that has befallen him is, as the lyrics of the Pink Floyd song put it, ''one more brick in the wall.'' In addition to all the other repeating motifs, there are lots and lots of wall shots, you can be sure.
''Pink Floyd: The Wall,'' which was written by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and opens today at the Ziegfeld, might seem to be an odd film for Mr. Parker, having so little to do with his other films such as ''Midnight Express,'' ''Fame'' and ''Shoot the Moon.'' Actually, it's right up his alley. He is capable of startling imagery, which comes in handy here. And there are elements of self-pity and sensationalism to a film like ''Midnight Express,'' qualities that aren't out of place in illustrating poor Pink's plight. Mr. Parker has brought plenty of energy to this project, and he has done his resourceful best to make it an overpowering experience. However, not every viewer may care to be overpowered in quite this way.
''The Wall'' is a shameless all-out assault on the senses, rising to crescendos of grandiose fantasy. When Pink (Bob Geldof) thinks of battle (his father died in war), he imagines dozens of bleeding corpses and equates combat soldiers with fans charging into a concert. After he flies into a fit and wrecks his hotel room, he arranges the bits of records and drugs and smashed guitars in beautiful little patterns, as if this were a shrine. When he thinks of himself as the tender young Pink, it is with the greatest of reverence. When he envisions an all-powerful Pink, he sees himself as a Nazilike dictator.
Whatever can be done with this, Mr. Parker has done and then some. His ''The Wall'' is a good-looking film, and it has no shortage of nerve. When he puts an entire schoolchildren's choir on a conveyor belt leading into a meat grinder as they sing, ''We don't need no education,'' he is being nothing if not bold. These effects, while some are individually powerful, are dwarfed by the towering selfimportance of ''The Wall'' and by its lack of focus. Pink, who sits in a daze and occasionally rises to hurt himself, is a wordless figure and not a particularly involving one. But he is the only center the film has. The audience isn't given much reason to share his visions.
Unlike ''Tommy,'' ''The Wall'' doesn't have the jokey, selfdeflating side that might have been helpful. It's serious through and through. Mr. Parker occasionally reprises some of his handsomest images, as if these were coming attractions for an equally attentiongetting but less overbearing film. Alas, that isn't true.
Brick by Brick
PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, directed by Alan Parker; screenplay by Roger Waters; director of photography, Peter Biziou; Gerald Scarfe, designer and director of animation; edited by Gerry Hambling; music produced by Roger Waters, David Gilmour and James Guthrie; sound editor, Eddy Joseph; music editor, Brian Lintern. Released through the M-G-M/U.A. En- tertainment Company. At the Ziegfeld. Running time: 95 minutes. This film is rated R.
Pink . . . . . Bob Geldof
Pink's Mother . . . . . Christine Hargreaves
Pink's Father . . . . . James Laurenson
Pink's Wife . . . . . Eleanor David
Young Pink . . . . . Kevin McKeon
Rock-and-Roll Manager . . . . . Bob Hoskins
Little Pink . . . . . David Bingham
American Groupie . . . . . Jenny Wright
Teacher . . . . . Alex McAvoy
English Doctor . . . . . Ellis Dale
Lover . . . . . James Hazeldine
Playground Father . . . . . Ray Mort
Teacher's Wife . . . . . Marjorie Mason
American Doctor . . . . . Robert Bridges
Hotel Manager . . . . . Michael Ensign
Spanish Maid . . . . . Marie Passarelli
Security Guard . . . . . Winston Rose
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