Stop Making Sense (1984)

An innovative concert movie for the rock group The Talking Heads.

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers:

Jonathan Demme, Talking Heads

Stars:

David Byrne, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bernie Worrell	...	Keyboards
Alex Weir	...	Guitar and Vocals
Steven Scales	...	Percussion (as Steve Scales)
Lynn Mabry	...	Backing Vocals
Ednah Holt	...	Backing Vocals (as Edna Holt)
Tina Weymouth	...	Bass, Percussion and Vocals
Jerry Harrison	...	Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals
Chris Frantz	...	Drums and Vocals
David Byrne	...	Vocals and Guitar

Storyline

David Byrne walks onto the stage and does a solo "Psycho Killer." Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz join him for two more songs. The crew is busy, still setting up. Then, three more musicians and two back-up singers join the band. Everybody sings, plays, harmonizes, dances, and runs. They change instruments and clothes. Bryne appears in the Big Suit. The backdrop is often black, but sometimes it displays words, images, or children's drawings. The band cooks for 18 songs, the lyrics are clear, the house rocks. In this concert film, the Talking Heads hardly talk, don't stop, and always make sense.

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Plot Keywords:

song | band | suit | stage | musician | 

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Taglines:

Why stop making sense? Why a movie? Why a big suit? Where do the odd movements come from? What will the band do next?

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Stop making sense

Filming Locations:

Pantages Theater - 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,166, 21 October 1984, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,020,659

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,027,479

Company Credits

Production Co:

Talking Heads,Arnold Stiefel Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 100 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (1999 re-release) Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The footage was culled from several different shows. In order to minimize the amount of cameras in the frame, one show was all shot from one side of the stage, the next night was shot from the other side.

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Goofs

You can hear the bass of Tina Weymouth doing several slides in the last part of "Genius of Love" meanwhile she is showed dancing and not sliding.

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Quotes

Drums and Vocals: James Brown - James Brown!

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Connections

Spoofed in 'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Videos (1996)

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Soundtracks

Crosseyed and Painless
Written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Performed by Talking Heads

User Reviews

Great film making as well as great music

After getting my DVD player, this is one of the first discs I bought. I first saw this movie in the eighties as a fan of the music and was completely floored by a band at their peak. Since then, I've grown to appreciate good cinema as much as music, and I now look at Stop Making Sense from a slightly different perspective.

The movie stands up by any measure of cinematic quality - the direction, the photography, the lighting, the set design, the editing, the performances of the 'actors'. Everything is unquestionably good. A couple of illustrations -

During 'Once in a Lifetime', the camera holds on David Byrne, framing him from the waist up, and doesn't leave him until the very last moments of the song. His performance is absolutely enthralling. I've been trying to think of a movie where an actor holds one shot for so long, and I can't.

The photography and lighting during 'What a Day That Was' are beautiful. The stark white up-lighting reduces a large auditorium and stage to a claustrophobic collage of shadows. The effect is not unlike some scenes in Charles Laughton's 'Night of the Hunter'.

In contrast to some other views posted here, I think the Tom Tom Club's appearance adds a colourful punctuation to the flow of the movie.

The DVD is one of the very few I've come across where the commentary is worth listening to. It switches between all four band members plus Jonathan Demme, and the anecdotes are constantly interesting and often very funny. As a package, this is one of the most satisfying DVD's I own. All the extras are worthwhile and well presented, unlike most 'Special Editions' which are crammed full of junk you wouldn't normally give a second look.

It's a pity that, by its nature, Stop Making Sense will only ever appeal to a small audience, because it deserves to be revered by fans of cinema as well as music. The rock movie genre has only a handful of classics to its name, but Stop Making Sense is its Citizen Kane, its Exorcist, its Godfather, its Star Wars. It really is that good.