Our guest reviewer, Sharad Shanbhag, plays keyboard & guitar for the rock band The Beams.
I was 13 years old in December of 1983 when Stop Making Sense was filmed. I knew the Talking Heads existed, since “Once in a Lifetime”, “Psycho Killer”, “Life During Wartime” and “Burning Down the House” were in rotation on FM rock stations in the NY metro area where I grew up but wouldn’t say I was a fan in those days. So, I have no real memory of the film’s initial release in 1984.
Fast forward to 1989. By this time, I am a fan of the Talking Heads. Remain in Light remains a fixture on my turntable in my dorm room for weeks. I’m discovering the African influences on their music. And I finally watch Stop Making Sense on a rented VHS tape and, if memory serves me correctly, it gets screened at my college at some point. Looking back, I recall the film being absolutely entrancing while also wishing that I’d had the chance to see the band live.
The recent release of a new digital transfer of the film for its 40th anniversary allowed me to both go back in time as well as marvel at just how well the director, Jonathan Demme, captured a band in its prime. And what I hadn’t realized when I was younger was the sheer joy the band displayed in creating music. The core of the band – Byrne, Harrison, Frantz and Weymouth – are clearly immersed in their performance. And you see just how much fun they are having with their interactions with the musicians brought on their 1983 tour – percussionist Steve Scales, guitarist Alex Weir, vocalists Ednah Holt and Lynn Mabry, keyboard player Bernie Worrell. The group, having rehearsed and toured with the material for the better part of the year, is in top form.
You don’t see the audience that much, apart from some shots at the start and end of the film. The effect is that you, the viewer of the film, feel as though you are the audience (with a much better view of the onstage action than if you were in the venue in 1983). Perhaps it is a bit of the pandemic hangover, but I found myself experiencing the same regret at not having seen the band in person during their heyday. It highlighted the communal aspect of creating and experiencing a musical performance that cannot be underestimated. Stop Making Sense is as close as you’re going to get to seeing the Talking Heads live, and it is not much of a compromise. Go see it in a theater if you can. You might find yourself dancing in the aisles with other fans as you are caught up in the fun “onstage”.
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