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Arctics film looks stunning but fails to thrill



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Published Date: 10 October 2008
Warp Films – Sheffield film company responsible for Dead Man's Shoes, This is England and now, the Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo.
"It's Sheffield through and through," says Diarmid Scrimshaw, producer of the film.

The film documents the band at Manchester's Apollo theatre, playing a set that includes Fluorescent Adolescent, Still Take You Home, A Certain Romance and Fake Tales of San Francisco.

Warp Films made At the Apollo in association with Creativesheffield, a government initiative to support creative industries in Sheffield. "We wanted to make a live film," says Scrimshaw, "but without the support of Creativesheffield we absolutely couldn't have done it."

The production of the film was innovative but costly. Warp shot on 16mm film with five cameras. Digital prints were then made from the films, a process that Scrimshaw describes as a "new thing, this is one of the first films to use such high-resolution digital prints."

The efforts paid off – in terms of cinematography. Sitting in the Showroom for the film's world premiere, one could have been in the front row at the Apollo, only with a magnifying glass, such was the intimacy of the footage.

Shots of the band from behind the colossal amplifiers make cinematic reference to Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii. Likewise dramatic chiaroscuro is created by fuzzy balls of light dotted across the stage.

At several points the screen splits into two, projecting mirrored images of Turner, nodding to the 1969 Woodstock documentary's split-screen documentation. Long shots of each Arctic Monkey evoke the held shots in The Band's Last Waltz.

"Richard (Ayoade – director) must have watched 80 or 90 live films – I suspect there isn't one that has been released that he hasn't seen," says Scrimshaw.

But beyond the stunning camera shots, rich colours and artistic lighting, the content of the film leaves the viewer unsatisfied.

Unfortunately, Live at the Apollo never ventures beyond its title and thus the film drags on. Arctic Monkeys are an interesting band, but not that interesting.

Alex Turner's rare comments between songs are funny but overall the band's stage presence isn't sufficient for 76 minutes in a cinema.

The odd Roman ruin, naked hippie or even a band interview wouldn't have gone a miss.

Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo is on for one night only, Tuesday, at the Showroom.

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The full article contains 406 words and appears in Sheffield Telegraph newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 10 October 2008 7:26 AM
  • Source: Sheffield Telegraph
  • Location: SHEFFIELD, SOUTH YORKSHIRE
 
 

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