Marie Phillips
At a certain point during the premiere of the new Sigur Ros concert movie, Inni, I started thinking about all the great work that I’ve slept through in my life: both parts of the two-part stage adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, Shoah (I KNOW - sorry about that), Capote, the other film about Capote, Kirsten Hirsch performing her memoirs, these are just a few from the last few years that I really wish I could remember beyond a tiny bit at the beginning and a tiny bit at the end. So WHY LORD WHY was I incapable of catching a snooze through this tidal wave of tedium?
To my right, friend checking watch. To my left, friend making paper aeroplanes. To my far left, cousin planning out his date that weekend to the nth detail. Me, wondering if anyone would notice if I switched my phone back on and did some sudoku.
I’m actually a fan of Sigur Ros, their singer Jonsi’s solo material, and their respective live shows, which have always seemed to be to be festivals of light, colour and transcendence. Why, then, did this film appear to be an early Joy Division outtake filmed in the style of the Blair Witch Project? Why choose to bleed it of all colour? Why ignore the band’s signature light shows and animations in favour of endless close-ups of their famously uncharismatic countenances? And film it, I kid you not, through the bottom of a salad bowl?
There are some clues in the bfi’s own programme notes.
“Inni leaves room to all the beautiful images that come to our minds when we listen to their music”
is their quote from director Vincent Morisset. In other words: NOTHING TO LOOK AT.
By almost entirely removing awareness of the crowd and any sense of space, Morisset brings you closer than ever to the players
the notes continue, or in other words: NO ATMOSPHERE WHATSOEVER. Just close-ups of Jonsi’s ear.
The film… draws for the most part on the darker end of the band’s material…
In other words: DIRGE.
…much at odds with the popular misconception of the band as purveyors of instant emotional heft…
DIRGE. DIRGE. EMOTIONLESS DIRGE. And then, from an allegedly positive review which the programme notes reproduce in full:
…captured on a rough, high-contrast monochrome HD that almost encourages one to take the film in through closed eyes.
DIRGE THAT IS BETTER WITH YOUR EYES SHUT.
So, to the Q&A.
TV presenter Colin Murray welcomed the band and filmmaker on stage with the promise that, having got them pissed in the dressing room beforehand, there was at least a fighting chance that they might deign to answer the questions, by no means a given with Sigur Ros. Then, as his opening salvo:
“The woman next to me slept through the whole thing.”
Then perhaps, realising his mistake:
“Don’t worry, she didn’t look bored.”
OF COURSE SHE WASN’T BORED, SHE WAS ASLEEP, LUCKY COW. Inexplicably the band decided they weren’t that chatty after all. Murray actually did sterling work, if, as I suspect, he though the film was as tedious as I did. Reassuring them that
“if people thought it was shit, nobody will tell you to your face”
was a particularly nice touch.
Who knows where questioning might have led if we hadn’t - in a long-awaited moment of actual drama - been evacuated after the auditorium appeared to catch fire? It later transpired that some kids had let off fireworks next to the air vents, filling the room with toxic clouds. Kids who had seen the film? Kids who had been paid by Sigur Ros to get them out of the interview? As they said,
“We’re only here because our manager thinks London is the centre of the universe”.
They certainly seemed keen to leave, despite Murray’s insistence:
“We’ve waited three years for this, now sit the fuck down and answer the questions.”
But of course, this is only my point of view. I went to Twitter for an alternative version and found this:
omfg ‘Inni’ was beautiful. Sigur Ros are a fucking flaw free group of individuals & seeing them live would be a religious experience for me.
So if you really want, you can watch the film and make your own mind up. But take along an Ambien, just in case. Meanwhile I’ll be sticking with the real live shows, and to listening to the albums with my eyes shut.
