Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)

Directed by Alan Parker. Starring Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves, James Laurenson, and Eleanor David. UK, Color, 95 minutes.

The Wall tells the story of Pink Floyd (Bob Geldof), a rock star who has separated himself from the people he loves by building a "wall" around himself, which renders him unable to communicate with anyone. The story is told with the music of the band Pink Floyd - songs like "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" and "The Thin Ice" are about his childhood, while songs like "Don't Leave Me Now" and "Nobody Home" are about his isolation from the outside world. When his thoughts turn to escape, he finds that he is trapped inside of himself. Only when he puts himself on trial and finds the root of his problems will he ever be able to tear down the wall.

In 1978-1979, it was the beginning of the end for Pink Floyd. Roger Waters had completely taken over the band, and the other members all but gave up on writing their own material. The Wall album was released with all writing credit given to Roger Waters (with a small mention toward group member David Gilmour). As a result of this, The Wall is a very self-absorbed film, a film which reveals Roger Water's ego to be the size of a small planet.

But despite this, the film, and the album which preceded it, are minor masterpieces, with some absolutely stunning pieces of music (most of them co-written by Gilmour) and a rather interesting look at depression and insanity. "Comfortably Numb", featuring Gilmour's epic guitar solo, is made more touching and effective when paired with the imagery of the film. The final "Trial" sequence is a beautiful but insane look at the characters found throughout Pink's life.

And, with all this going on, Bob Geldof pulls off an amazing performance and provides the film with his own performances of two of Pink Floyd's songs. He was obviously physically challenged during filming - At one point he is completely covered in two-inch-thick pink sludge. And hey, there are naked cartoon breasts, too! Fun for everyone.

The film is mostly for fans, but casual filmsters might want to check out this ode to insanity as well. At least watch it for Bob Geldof's colossal freak-out scene. Classic!