Here's your spoiler: this documentary has very little to do with Depeche Mode.
They are supporting characters in a movie focused on their annoying teenage fans. Any insights on the band are few and far between. We see that Dave Gahan was showing some signs of trouble long before his heroin addiction days during "Songs of Faith of Devotion." He is short-tempered with one of the crew and he talks about getting into a physical fight with a cabbie. He describes this as a good thing because it's had been a while since he had a good fight. It would be interesting to get a bit more footage of the Gahan then. So...we watch Gahan play pinball while listening to Roxy Music and discussing how he is over-using steroid spray for his vocals. That's about it.
Martin and Fletch are seen buying music in a local music shop in the American South. The few interesting aspects are Fletch doing a phone interview accurately describing the band as Dave is the leading singer, Martin as the songwriter, Alan as the good musician, and that Fletch " just bums around." This dynamic would eventually lead to Alan leaving the band. More is revealed about the band in a sentence than in the other two hours of this movie.
Footage of Alan describing how the synths work during the show and create the DM experience is really interesting (although the director D. A. Pennebaker refers to this as a Spinal Tap moment on the DVD commentary years later). It's also very short.
We do see some great live performances but not enough. Also, don't get the DVD assuming you'll get the full concert. The full concert doesn't exist on film because according to Pennebaker, this was a documentary (of sorts) not a concert film.
The majority of the film is focused on the teenage fans who won a radio contest to follow the band on the road. Most of the film we are on a bus or various motels with these idiots. The girls get hit on by a few dudes at one of the motels. One guy insults Guns N' Roses by calling them Guns & Posers. And there is the saga of one guy catching his girlfriend cheating on him.
It's a precursor to MTV's The Real World. Perhaps we can blame Pennebaker for beginning the trend of reality tv. It's especially disappointing considering the fine work he did before and after this movie. I couldn't care less about these obnoxious little fans.
What we could have gotten was a movie really about Depeche Mode right before they achieved their pinnacle of superstardom with "Violator," and the fractured atmosphere of "Devotion." We aren't flies on the wall; we just get small snaps shots (we are closer to "flies on the windscreen").
You'll get a bit more insight with DVD commentary but no Alan. The band members are not speaking together. There's a problem if you have to wait 14 years after the initial release to get more information about the band in documentary's title.
Unless you like reality tv, the movie is just a wasted opportunity to record the history of an incredible band.
They are supporting characters in a movie focused on their annoying teenage fans. Any insights on the band are few and far between. We see that Dave Gahan was showing some signs of trouble long before his heroin addiction days during "Songs of Faith of Devotion." He is short-tempered with one of the crew and he talks about getting into a physical fight with a cabbie. He describes this as a good thing because it's had been a while since he had a good fight. It would be interesting to get a bit more footage of the Gahan then. So...we watch Gahan play pinball while listening to Roxy Music and discussing how he is over-using steroid spray for his vocals. That's about it.
Martin and Fletch are seen buying music in a local music shop in the American South. The few interesting aspects are Fletch doing a phone interview accurately describing the band as Dave is the leading singer, Martin as the songwriter, Alan as the good musician, and that Fletch " just bums around." This dynamic would eventually lead to Alan leaving the band. More is revealed about the band in a sentence than in the other two hours of this movie.
Footage of Alan describing how the synths work during the show and create the DM experience is really interesting (although the director D. A. Pennebaker refers to this as a Spinal Tap moment on the DVD commentary years later). It's also very short.
We do see some great live performances but not enough. Also, don't get the DVD assuming you'll get the full concert. The full concert doesn't exist on film because according to Pennebaker, this was a documentary (of sorts) not a concert film.
The majority of the film is focused on the teenage fans who won a radio contest to follow the band on the road. Most of the film we are on a bus or various motels with these idiots. The girls get hit on by a few dudes at one of the motels. One guy insults Guns N' Roses by calling them Guns & Posers. And there is the saga of one guy catching his girlfriend cheating on him.
It's a precursor to MTV's The Real World. Perhaps we can blame Pennebaker for beginning the trend of reality tv. It's especially disappointing considering the fine work he did before and after this movie. I couldn't care less about these obnoxious little fans.
What we could have gotten was a movie really about Depeche Mode right before they achieved their pinnacle of superstardom with "Violator," and the fractured atmosphere of "Devotion." We aren't flies on the wall; we just get small snaps shots (we are closer to "flies on the windscreen").
You'll get a bit more insight with DVD commentary but no Alan. The band members are not speaking together. There's a problem if you have to wait 14 years after the initial release to get more information about the band in documentary's title.
Unless you like reality tv, the movie is just a wasted opportunity to record the history of an incredible band.