Sensory Overload

squeezebox

score /10

Pink Floyd's best-selling double album is brought to the screen by maverick director Alan Parker as a visually stunning exercise in rock cinema.  Pink (Bob Geldof) is a burnt out rock star sitting silently in his hotel room awaiting the night's show.  On the verge of a mental break down, he gradually spirals into a drug-induced vortex of memories, premonitions and nightmares.  Parker's expressionistic visuals, Gerald Scarfe's surreal animation and Floyd's pounding music make for an extraordinary experience in sensory overload, and manage to overcome lyricist Roger Waters's often off-putting self-indulgence.  While never really becoming more than a feature length music video, it's still a great film and has developed a vigorous cult following.  Waters has a cameo as one of the witnesses in the wedding scene.  Nell Campbell (aka Little Nell, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Joanne Whalley appear briefly as groupies.  Seeing this at a midnight showing on the big screen with Dolby Stereo was one of the most astounding cinematic experiences I've ever had!

squeezebox 4 June 2003

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0195740/