Roger Waters: The Wall ***
Dirs: Roger Waters,
Sean Evans. With: Roger Waters, Dave Kilminster, Snowy White. 132 mins. Cert:
12A
Trust the Pink Floyd
mainstay to attempt something ambitious with his shot at one-night-only event
cinema. This document of Waters’ 2010-13 solo tour, co-directed by Sean Evans,
cuts its primo stadium spectacle with footage of the musician pottering around
Northern European battlefields, suggesting some History Channel remake of 20,000 Days on Earth. Amid the concert’s
logistical shock-and-awe – elaborate light show, replica Stukas et al. – one spies hints of naff:
synchro-clapping schoolkids for “Another Brick”, Waters duetting with his
younger self. Yet The Wall’s themes –
fear of State and Bomb alike – continue to resonate, and their off-kilter
framing here further reveals the extent to which Waters’ generation was shaped
by conflict. If – at two hours plus – it risks leaving bums uncomfortably numb,
such indulgence will presumably be no issue for seasoned prog-lovers; for
anyone else, it is, right through to its concluding collage, a concert movie
where the considerable pyrotechnics gathered never quite obscure the
fully-functioning conscience centre-stage.
Roger Waters: The Wall screens in selected cinemas on Tuesday 29.
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