Pink Floyd – The Wall

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***Pink Floyd – The Wall*** is a 1982 British musical film directed by Alan Parker, based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album *The Wall*. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. Bob Geldof plays rock star Pink, who, driven into insanity by the death of his father, constructs a physical and emotional wall to protect himself.

Like the album, the film is highly metaphorical, and symbolic imagery and sound are present most commonly. The film is mostly driven by music and features little dialogue from the characters. The film is best known for its imagery of mental isolation, drug use, war, fascism, dark or disturbing animated sequences, sexual situations, violence and gore. Despite its turbulent production and the creators voicing their discontent about the final product, the film received generally positive reviews and has an established cult following.

## Plot

Pink is a rock star, one of the many reasons which have left him depressed. At the beginning of the film, he appears motionless and expressionless, while remembering his father. ("When the Tigers Broke Free, Part 1") While Pink imagines a crowd of fans entering one of his concerts, but him receiving them in a fascist alter ego, a flashback reveals how his father was killed defending the Anzio beachhead during World War II, in Pink's infancy. ("In the Flesh?") The aftermath of the battle is seen ("The Thin Ice"), and thus, Pink's mother raises him alone, which affects Pink's childhood. ("Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1") A young Pink later discovers a scroll from "kind old King George" and other relics from his father's military service and death. ("When the Tigers Broke Free, Part 2") An animation depicts the war, showing that the death of the people was for nothing. ("Goodbye Blue Sky") Pink places a bullet on the track of an oncoming train within a tunnel, and the train that passes has children peering out of the windows wearing face masks.

At school, he is caught writing poems in class and is humiliated by the teacher who reads a poem from Pink's book (lyrics from the song "Money"). However, it is revealed that the bad treatment of the students is because of the unhappiness of the teacher's marriage. ("The Happiest Days of Our Lives") Pink imagines an oppressive school system in which children fall into a meat grinder. Pink then fantasizes about the children rising in rebellion and burning down the school, throwing the teacher onto a bonfire. ("Another Brick in The Wall, Part 2") As an adult now, Pink remembers his overprotective mother ("Mother"), and when he got married. After a phone call, Pink discovers that his wife is cheating on him, and another animation shows that every traumatic experience he has had is represented as a "brick" in the metaphorical wall he constructs around himself that divides him from all society. ("What Shall We Do Now?")

Pink then comes back to the hotel room with a groupie ("Young Lust"), only for her to annoy Pink to the point where he destroys the room in a fit of violence, scaring her away. ("One of My Turns") Depressed, he thinks about his wife, and feels trapped in his room. ("Don't Leave me Now") He then remembers every "brick" of his wall ("Another Brick in The Wall, Part 3"). His wall shown to be complete, and the film returns to the first scene. ("Goodbye Cruel World")

Now inside his wall, he does not leave his hotel room ("Is There Anybody Out There?"), and begins to lose his mind to metaphorical "worms". He shaves all his body hair, and watches *The Dam Busters* on television. ("Nobody Home") A flashback shows young Pink searching through trenches of the war ("Vera"), eventually finding himself as an adult. Young Pink runs in terror, and appears in a station, with the people demanding that the soldiers return home. ("Bring the Boys Back Home") Returning to the present, Pink's manager finds him in his hotel room, drugged and unresponsive. A paramedic injects him to enable him to perform. ("Comfortably Numb")

In this state, Pink dreams that he is a dictator and his concert is a fascist rally. ("In the Flesh") His followers proceed to attack people. ("Run Like Hell") He then holds a rally in suburban London, indicating his mind has taken over. ("Waiting for the Worms") The scene includes images of animated marching hammers that goose-step across ruins. Pink then stops hallucinating and screams "STOP!", deciding he no longer wants to be in the wall. He is then seen cowering in a bathroom stall, silently singing to himself as a security guard walks past him. ("Stop") In a climactic animated sequence, Pink, as a rag doll, is on trial for "showing feelings of an almost human nature", and his sentence is "to be exposed before his peers". His teacher and wife accuse him, while his mother tries to take him home. The judge gives the order to "tear down the wall!" ("The Trial") Following a prolonged silence, the wall is smashed as Pink can be heard screaming. Pink is never seen again after this. Several children are seen cleaning up a pile of debris, with a freeze-frame on one of the children emptying a Molotov cocktail, after which the film ends. ("Outside the Wall")

## Cast

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* Bob Geldof as Pink
	+ Kevin McKeon as Young Pink
	+ David Bingham as Little Pink
* Christine Hargreaves as Pink's mother
* Eleanor David as Pink's wife
* Alex McAvoy as Teacher
* Bob Hoskins as Rock manager
* Michael Ensign as Hotel manager
* James Laurenson as Pink's father
* Jenny Wright as American groupie
* Margery Mason as Teacher's wife
* Ellis Dale as English doctor
* James Hazeldine as Lover
* Ray Mort as Playground father
* Robert Bridges as American doctor
* Joanne Whalley, Nell Campbell, Emma Longfellow, and Lorna Barton as Groupies
* Philip Davis and Gary Olsen as Roadies

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### Concept

In the mid-1970s, as Pink Floyd gained mainstream fame, songwriter Roger Waters began feeling increasingly alienated from their audiences:

> Audiences at those vast concerts are there for an excitement which, I think, has to do with the love of success. When a band or a person becomes an idol, it can have to do with the success that that person manifests, not the quality of work he produces. You don't become a fanatic because somebody's work is good, you become a fanatic to be touched vicariously by their glamour and fame. Stars—film stars, rock 'n' roll stars—represent, in myth anyway, the life as we'd all like to live it. They seem at the very centre of life. And that's why audiences still spend large sums of money at concerts where they are a long, long way from the stage, where they are often very uncomfortable, and where the sound is often very bad.
>
>

Waters was also dismayed by the "executive approach", which was only about success, not even attempting to get acquainted with the actual persons of whom the band was composed (addressed in an earlier song from *Wish You Were Here*, "Have a Cigar"). The concept of the wall, along with the decision to name the lead character "Pink", partly grew out of that approach, combined with the issue of the growing alienation between the band and their fans. This symbolised a new era for rock bands, as Pink Floyd "explored (... ) the hard realities of 'being where we are'", echoing ideas of alienation described by existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre.

### Development

 File:Pinkfloydhammers.jpg
Even before the original Pink Floyd album was recorded, the intention was to make a film from it. The original plan was for the film to be live footage from the album's tour, together with Scarfe's animation and extra scenes, and for Waters himself to star. EMI did not intend to make the film, as they did not understand the concept.

Director Alan Parker, a Pink Floyd fan, asked EMI whether *The Wall* could be adapted to film. EMI suggested that Parker talk to Waters, who had asked Parker to direct the film. Parker instead suggested that he produce it and give the directing task to Gerald Scarfe and Michael Seresin, a cinematographer. Waters began work on the film's screenplay after studying scriptwriting books. He and Scarfe produced a special-edition book containing the screenplay and art to pitch the project to investors. While the book depicted Waters in the role of Pink, after screen tests, he was removed from the starring role and replaced with new wave musician and frontman of the Boomtown Rats, Bob Geldof. In *Behind the Wall*, both Waters and Geldof later admitted to a story during casting where Geldof and his manager took a taxi to an airport, and Geldof's manager pitched the role to the singer, who continued to reject the offer and express his contempt for the project throughout the fare, unaware that the taxi driver was Waters' brother, who told Waters about Geldof's opinion.

Since Waters was no longer in the starring role, it no longer made sense for the feature to include Pink Floyd footage, so the live film aspect was dropped. The footage culled from the five *Wall* concerts at Earl's Court from 13–17 June 1981 that were held specifically for filming was deemed unusable also for technical reasons as the fast Panavision lenses needed for the low light levels turned out to have insufficient resolution for the movie screen. Complex parts such as "Hey You" still had not been properly shot by the end of the live shows. Parker convinced Waters and Scarfe that the concert footage was too theatrical and that it would jar with the animation and stage live action. After the concert footage was dropped, Seresin left the project and Parker became sole director.

### Filming

 File:Pink Floyd Their Mortal Remains - 2017-10-13 - Andy Mabbett - 57 (cropped).jpg
Parker, Waters and Scarfe frequently clashed during production, and Parker described the filming as "one of the most miserable experiences of my creative life." Scarfe declared that he would drive to Pinewood Studios carrying a bottle of Jack Daniel's, because "I had to have a slug before I went in the morning, because I knew what was coming up, and I knew I had to fortify myself in some way." Waters said that filming was "a very unnerving and unpleasant experience".

During production, while filming the destruction of a hotel room, Geldof suffered a cut to his hand as he pulled away the Venetian blinds. The footage remains in the film. It was discovered while filming the pool scenes that Geldof did not know how to swim. Interiors were shot at Pinewood Studios, and it was suggested that they suspend Geldof in Christopher Reeve's clear cast used for the *Superman* flying sequences, but his frame was too small by comparison; it was then decided to make a smaller rig that was a more acceptable fit, and he lay on his back. In Nicholas Schaffner's book *Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey* (1991) it is claimed that the body cast from the film *Supergirl* (1984) was actually used instead.

The war scenes were shot on Saunton Sands in North Devon, which was also featured on the cover of Pink Floyd's *A Momentary Lapse of Reason* six years later.

## Release

The film was shown out of competition during the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

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The film's official premiere was at the Empire, Leicester Square in London, on 14 July 1982. It was attended by Waters and fellow Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Nick Mason, but not Richard Wright, who was no longer a member of the band. It was also attended by various celebrities including Geldof, Scarfe, Paula Yates, Pete Townshend, Sting, Roger Taylor, James Hunt, Lulu and Andy Summers.

### Box office and critical reception

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The film opened with a limited release on 6 August 1982 and entered at No. 28 of the US box office charts despite only playing in one theatre on its first weekend, grossing over $68,000, a rare feat even by today's standards. The film then spent just over a month below the top 20 while still in the top 30. The film later expanded to over 600 theatres on 10 September, achieving No. 3 at the box office charts, below *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*, and *An Officer and a Gentleman*. The film eventually earned $22 million before closing in early 1983.

The film received generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes currently ranks the film with a critics' review rating of 69% (based on 26 reviews). The critical consensus reads "Pink Floyd's expression of generational angst is given striking visual form *The Wall*, although this ambitious feature's narrative struggles to marry its provocative images and psychedelic soundtrack into a compelling whole."

Reviewing *The Wall* on their television programme *At the Movies* in 1982, film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film "two thumbs up". Ebert described *The Wall* as "a stunning vision of self-destruction" and "one of the most horrifying musicals of all time ... but the movie is effective. The music is strong and true, the images are like sledge hammers, and for once, the rock and roll hero isn't just a spoiled narcissist, but a real, suffering image of all the despair of this nuclear age. This is a real good movie." Siskel was more reserved in his judgement, stating that he felt that the film's imagery was too repetitive. However, he admitted that the "central image" of the fascist rally sequence "will stay with me for an awful long time." In February 2010, Roger Ebert added *The Wall* to his list of "Great Movies," describing the film as "without question the best of all serious fiction films devoted to rock. Seeing it now in more timid times, it looks more daring than it did in 1982, when I saw it at Cannes ... It's disquieting and depressing and very good." It was chosen for the opening night of Ebertfest 2010.

Danny Peary wrote that the "picture is unrelentingly downbeat and at times repulsive ... but I don't find it unwatchable – which is more than I could say if Ken Russell had directed this. The cinematography by Peter Biziou is extremely impressive and a few of the individual scenes have undeniable power." It earned two British Academy Awards: Best Sound for James Guthrie, Eddy Joseph, Clive Winter, Graham Hartstone and Nicholas Le Messurier, and Best Original Song for Waters.

Waters said of the film: "I found it was so unremitting in its onslaught upon the senses, that it didn't give me, anyway, as an audience, a chance to get involved with it," although he had nothing but praise for Geldof's performance. Gilmour stated (on the "In the Studio with Redbeard" episodes of *The Wall*, *A Momentary Lapse of Reason* and *On an Island*) that the conflict between him and Waters started with the making of the film. Gilmour also stated on the documentary *Behind The Wall* (which was aired on the BBC in the UK and VH1 in the US) that "the movie was the less successful telling of *The Wall* story as opposed to the album and concert versions."

Although the symbol of the crossed hammers used in the film was not related to any real group, it was adopted by white supremacist group the Hammerskins in the late 1980s.

### Themes and analysis

It has been suggested that the protagonist stands in some way for Waters. Beyond the obvious parallel of them both being rock stars, Waters lost his father while he was an infant and had marital problems, divorcing several times.
It has also been suggested that Pink represents former lead singer, writer and founding member Syd Barrett, both in his appearance as well as in several incidents and anecdotes related to Barrett's descent from pop stardom due to his struggles with mental illness and self-medicating with drugs. One seemingly blatant reference is Pink's detachment from the world as he locks himself away in his room before a show and shaves himself down while suffering a mental break. During a mental breakdown, Barrett shaved his head and face before showing up to a band rehearsal (after already having been removed from the band). However, Bob Geldof, who plays Pink in the film, refused to shave his head for this part of the performance. Another influence was the declining state of pianist, Richard Wright, who was allegedly struggling with cocaine addiction at the time. This is referenced in the song Nobody Home: *Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains*.

Romero and Cabo place the Nazism and imperialism related symbols in the context of Margaret Thatcher's government and British foreign policy especially concerning the Falklands issue.

### Awards

 BAFTA Awards | Best Original Song

## Documentary

A documentary was produced about the making of *Pink Floyd – The Wall* entitled *The Other Side of the Wall* that includes interviews with Parker, Scarfe, and clips of Waters; it originally aired on MTV in 1982. A second documentary about the film was produced in 1999 entitled *Retrospective: Looking Back at The Wall* that includes interviews with Waters, Parker, Scarfe, and other members of the film's production team. Both are featured on *The Wall* DVD as extras.

## General information

### Artist

Pink Floyd

The film soundtrack contains most songs from the album, albeit with several changes, as well as additional material (see table below).

The only songs from the album not used in the film are "Hey You" and "The Show Must Go On". "Hey You" was deleted as Waters and Parker felt the footage was too repetitive (eighty percent of the footage appears in montage sequences elsewhere) but a workprint version of the scene is included as a bonus feature on the DVD release.

A soundtrack album from Columbia Records was listed in the film's end credits, but only a single containing "When the Tigers Broke Free" and the rerecorded "Bring the Boys Back Home" were released. "When the Tigers Broke Free" later became a bonus track on the 1983 album *The Final Cut*. Guitarist David Gilmour dismissed the album as a collection of songs that had been rejected for *The Wall* project, but were being recycled. The song, in the edit used for the single, also appears on the 2001 compilation album *Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd*.

In addition to the above, Vera Lynn's rendition of "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" was used as background music during the opening scenes.

Chart positions

## References

1. ↑ *PINK FLOYD - THE WALL* (AA). *British Board of Film Classification* (23 June 1982). Retrieved on August 16, 2015.
2. ↑ BRITISH PRODUCTION 1981
Moses, Antoinette. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 51, Iss. 4, (Fall 1982): 258.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Box Office Information for *Pink Floyd – The Wall*. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
4. ↑ Curtis, James M. (1987). *Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954–1984*. Popular Press, page 283. ISBN 0-87972-369-6.
5. ↑ Reisch, George A. (2007). *Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful With That Axiom, Eugene!*. Open Court Publishing Company, page 76–77. ISBN 978-0-8126-9636-3. Retrieved on 10 July 2013.
6. ↑ Reisch, George A. (2009). *Radiohead and philosophy*. Open Court Publishing Company, page 60. ISBN 978-0-8126-9700-1. Retrieved on 10 July 2013.
7. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas. *Saucerful of Secrets*. Dell Publishing, page 225.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 J.C. Maçek III (5 September 2012). The Cinematic Experience of Roger Waters' 'The Wall Live'. *PopMatters*.
9. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas. *Saucerful of Secrets*. Dell Publishing, page 244.
10. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas. *Saucerful of Secrets*. Dell Publishing, page 244–245.
11. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas. *Saucerful of Secrets*. Dell Publishing, page 245–246.
12. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas. *Saucerful of Secrets*. Dell Publishing, page 246.
13. ↑ Pink Floyd's The Wall, page 83
14. ↑ Pink Floyd's The Wall, page 105
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Pink Floyd's The Wall, page 118
16. ↑ Interview: Gerald Scarfe. Floydian Slip (5–7 November 2010). Retrieved on June 22, 2016.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Pink Floyd's The Wall, page 129
18. ↑ Geldof, Bob. *Is That It?*. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
19. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas (1991). *Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey*. Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57608-2.
20. ↑ Storm Thorgerson and Peter Curzon. *Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd*. page 102. Template:ISBN.
21. ↑ Festival de Cannes – From 16 to 27 may 2012. Festival-cannes.com. Retrieved on January 7, 2012.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Mabbett, Andy (2010). *Pink Floyd – The Music and the Mystery*. London: Omnibus. ISBN 978-1-84938-370-7.
23. ↑  (1994) *Pink Floyd: the Visual Documentary*, [Updated ed.], London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4109-2.
24. ↑ "Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)", *Chicago Sun-Times*.
25. ↑ Danny Peary, *Guide for the Film Fanatic* (Simon & Schuster, 1986) p.331
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Past Winners and Nominees – Film – Awards. BAFTA. Retrieved on December 26, 2010.
27. ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters **archiveurl** and **archivedate** must be both specified or both omittedThe Hammerskin Nation. *Extremism in America*. Anti-Defamation League (2002). Archived from the original on August 18, 2004.
28. ↑ Roger Waters: Another crack in the wall | The Sunday Times. Retrieved on December 25, 2015.
29. ↑ Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "Pigs on the Wing", *Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey*, New, London: Helter Skelter, page 219. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
30. ↑ Romero, Jorge Sacido; Cabo, Luis Miguel Varela (December 2006). "Roger Waters' Poetry of the Absent Father: British Identity in Pink Floyd's "The Wall"". *Atlantis* **28** (2): 45–58. Template:Citation/identifier.
31. ↑ Pink Floyd's The Wall, page 128
32. ↑ 32.00 32.01 32.02 32.03 32.04 32.05 32.06 32.07 32.08 32.09 32.10 32.11 32.12 Bench, Jeff (2004). *Pink Floyd's The Wall*. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Reynolds and Hearn, page 107–110p. ISBN 1-903111-82-X.
33. ↑ Marty Yawnick (28 June 2016). Is There Anybody Out There? - Hear David Gilmour's version. The Wall Complete. Retrieved on July 5, 2017.
34. ↑ *Pink Floyd: The Wall* (1980 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England, Template:ISBN [USA Template:ISBN])
35. ↑ *Pink Floyd: The Final Cut* (1983 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England.)
36. ↑ Mabbett, Andy (1995). *The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd*. London: Omnibus, page 150p. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
37. ↑  (2015) *The Films of Alan Parker, 1976–2003*. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co, page 106. ISBN 978-0786497256.

## External links

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* *Pink Floyd – The Wall* at the Internet Movie Database
* Template:Mojo title
* Template:Rotten-tomatoes
* A Complete Analysis of *Pink Floyd – The Wall* by Bret Urick
* Original screenplay by Roger Waters

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