Sigur Rós: Heima (Dean DeBlois, 2007)

[flyonthewall2983]

Trailer.

I finished watching it this morning. It's a beautiful work that combines the music and the landscape in an almost interlinked fashion. Watching it I realized how much of their sound came from the part of Iceland that is within themselves, as artists and as people. Something both very insular and innocent at once, but also very grand and expansive as well.

It really goes beyond any expectations one tends to think of when it comes to "Rockumentaries". There is a scene where during an intimate acoustic performance, the cameras show the crowd in a different light than most concert films. People of all ages, from young children to older men and women, all looking transfixed by the music.

All in all, this is a really brilliant example of how a documentary can be a real piece of art in and of itself. It also has some of the best music I've ever heard this band do.

[Jack Phillips]

I concur with all of the above and will just add that an additional pleasure is the chance to see Amina/Amiina performing with SR.

[flyonthewall2983]

I forgot to mention that, but yes that was definitely a highlight as well. I hope they collaborate more in the future. It's definitely not just a rock band with a string quartet, they function as a unified musical entity.

[lacritfan]

If anyone gets the Sundance Channel it's showing this month :

Friday July 11 at 10PM (ET/PT)
Monday July 28 at 5:45PM (ET/PT)
Tuesday July 29 at 5AM (ET/PT)

[flyonthewall2983]

It's also On Demand, if you have Comcast (how I saw it).

[Antoine Doinel]

This has been sitting on my kevyip pile for a while so I threw it on last night after an aborted attempt to see Stevie Wonder. It was a wonderful film on the uniting power of music, but I wish we had learned more about the small towns they were visiting. It's a minor quibble though, as the reactions on the audiences' faces was more than enough. Unfortunately, the DVD transfer leaves a lot to be desired. The image is fairly soft at times and for a film that relies so heavily on the power of its imagery I do hope it's the high-def treatment at some point.

[flyonthewall2983]

The band has released a digital special edition, which includes the film and special features from the DVD plus 5 exclusive performances.

[flyonthewall2983]

This website is streaming the film for free, until Midnight in Iceland.

[flyonthewall2983]

The band said DeBlois is working on a Blu-ray in a recent reddit session.