Roger Waters: The Wall [DVD] [2015]

What’s not to love about this class The Wall. Absolutely brilliant.

I consider myself a well-informed fan of Pink Floyd, and particularly Roger Waters and David Gilmour: I've got and really liked all Waters' audio stuff, particularly the CDs. Too, I very much enjoyed his concert from Berlin, because it was a concert, not a somewhat misplaced homage to his father and grandfather interspersed with a few tunes and images of French fans having a good time.In passing, such a family hommage might be a better subject of a BBC documentary, with, say, a bit of Waters' music as background, it could then be seen, understood and felt in that somewhat sombre context.However, as a Waters' concert this isn't much cop: OK, OK, the subtitle on the cover says it's a film, but one can well be forgiven for thinking that something with large letters claiming "Roger Waters The Wall" is more than likely another Floydish "Wall" concert, but no, it starts off with a ride in a Bentley and, well, meanders somewhat morbidly through a bit of France and a beach in Italy, all the while filming Waters either driving himself, his brother or his family all chatting away somewhat meaninglessly.As I say, as a hommage to the man's ancestors it might've been better in another format, because what we get is a very poor patchwork of bits of music sown together with visits to a concert venue. As a music fan I wanted all the music to flow, it doesn't.As a musical performance I found it somewhat unsatisfying: I only hope the CD is better, because I bought the two at the same time.The film's dialogue sometimes bordered on the plainly weird, but I guess as a sort of fly-on-the-wall documentary of sorts we have to take these musings for what they are, throwaway comments from people not working to a script. You get just about anything when this is done live to camera, and here you get a real muddle of thoughts and ideas, many of which had nothing to do with the subject matter or the voyage of ancestral discovery.In the end we're presented with a rather odd spotty mention of people who've died in conflicts down the years, and we're left with a feeling that this is more an anti-war, anti-establishment rant about the loss of life rather then a family tribute or a musical feast. Like the idea of a trip down memory lane, anti-war protests, which are mostly aimed at stay-at-home politicians, have their place, I'm not sure we needed to be spoon fed such dollops as were presented in this film's subplot.I'm disappointed, because I wanted a much more joined up concert, not all this stopping and starting and bar side reflections of this or that: musically, sadly, this doesn't much work for me.

A few quid for the DVD was too cheap to ignore and I enjoyed watching it, but I was mostly wanting it to listen to while having a video playing in the background. The downside is if you think that the DVD version will only have reduced video quality (SD) vs Blu-ray (HD). However, there are two audio tracks on the DVD: 5.1 channels and stereo both AC3 (Dolby Digital) at 448kbps. Compare this to the DVD of [Pink Floyd's] The Wall which also includes LPCM stereo at 1536kbps.I haven't got the Blu-ray version but would hope that the audio tracks are at a higher quality and should probably have bought that. But the DVD was excellent value and worth it for casual viewing and most probably perfectly good for most people.

It's a little unexpected as it's not just raw concert footage. It's intertwined with Rogers personal journey to his dad's grave. In places this is dark, but on others as he travels with family and friends it's very funny with some good stories. Especially where his and his friends memories differ! It sets an interesting tone, at times confirming his miserabilism, but also his passion and intelligence , which of course underpins his writing and works. His humour is often dark, ironic or sardonic. One imagines Roger has never laughed at slapstick!The concert footage is awesome and I'm unsure if it's all from one or an amalgam, not that it matters that much ultimately. only one part seems missing which was the O2 'I'm Spartacus' introduction, something which was goosebump inducing then and still is now. The single Gilmour appearance on Comfortably Numb isn't here either, apparently on some mega expensive other variant set. So yuo have to settle for Kilminster and Snowy White. Tough huh?I think I would have enjoyed a concert only option for those late drunken nights when this stuff hits the emotions harder, but all in all it's still atmospheric, moody and above all a musical treat.

All in all this an excellent presentation and a welcome reminder of just how good the actual live experience was. The sound and video is excellent on the BluRay version. Watching the time-lapse video of the setups for two venues made me realise how much effort went into the BluRay release - many of the behind-the-wall shots were done at a special setup in the days before the audience were let in.The close ups in front of the wall as well as the long shots remind one of just how complex the video projection was (I remember counting six clusters of projectors when I saw it in Stockholm, could have been more) and how essential it was for the whole The Wall experience.The sections with Roger Waters plus his friends and family who accompany him on his journey to visit the memorial at Anzio to those who died there in the war are sensitively done and thankfully are inserted in a way that almost (but not quite) avoids breaking up the concert flow.Recommended.