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New Order: Live in Glasgow (Warner DVD)

Column: The Word on DVDs | Date Published: Thursday, 5 February 09 | | 3 years ago

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With the ongoing furore about New Order’s viability as band in 2009 (bassist Peter Hook has been declaring the pioneering Mancunian outfits demise since November 2006, shortly after the footage aired on the main feature here was shot), this may well end up as something of an epitaph - but is it a fitting one?

As it goes, not really. Shot at Glasgow’s Academy venue, it finds the band performing a greatest hits set – including four Joy Division numbers – in what can only be termed reduced circumstances. Sure, the crowd is at full capacity and sings along loudly to every word, but the Academy is simply too small a venue to readily accommodate the stadium indie sound that NO spent the best part of three decades creating, which leaves the video looking a little cheap and ragged around the edges - which surely wasn’t the intention of any of the parties involved.

Still, the music’s good, right? Well, yes, of course. And the dancier numbers of the bands oeuvre fare best in the intimate environs of the Academy; Bizarre Love Triangle in particular sounds impassioned and committed, whilst newer material like Krafty and Waiting for the Sirens Call also have a good go at showing younger acolytes how it’s done. Of the ‘classics’, let’s just say that years of performance seem to have taken their toll on the band’s enthusiasm for some, especially Bernard Sumner, who really looks like he’d rather be elsewhere - anywhere, actually - on the likes of Temptation and Blue Monday.

Indeed, this would appear to be the problem at the root of the New Order schism. In interview snippets which intersperse the live footage, Peter Hook bemoans the fact that the rest of the band don’t enjoy touring - or indeed playing the band’s rockier material - anymore, and there is a certain weariness in performance that won’t fail to dampen your enjoyment of the Glasgow set featured. Maybe a trip to the bonus disc, which features rare and unseen footage from throughout the band’s career, would be the better option, I thought. And I was right. Wait till this comes on the telly.

	Burn After Reading: (Universal Home Video) The simple fact of the matter is The Coen Brothers make superb films. Their ability to get out-of-character performances from a range of actors is unequalled. In this one, they get unique performances from Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Tilda Swinton. It’s all about Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), a former FBI agent who is writing his memoirs and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), who really wants a heap of plastic surgery. That’s about it, but the characters that revolve around them make this film a wild pastiche of spy movies with an eye on physical appearances and self-improvement. The Coen Brothers are so prolific they are bound to release films that don’t always appeal, and while there are criticisms that this one starts a bit slow, there are enough wonderful surprises and character work for any discerning film watcher to enjoy. With standout performances from all involved (particularly a Lothario George Clooney) this is a great film from my two favourite film-makers. The cameo role from the divine J.K Simmons as an FBI operative is delightful. So learn something from this one, or don’t. Either way, it’s a fucking hoot. In an ideal world every single movie will be produced, directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen.
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	The David Lynch Collection (Umbrella): There really is no point trying to figure out the work of David Lynch. Those seeking to decipher plot, interpret character motivation or narrative structure and imagery are inevitably doomed to failure. Confused, wordy, undergraduate-styled failure. Indeed, the man himself has made every effort to dissuade academic dissection, claiming he himself has no idea what’s really going on in his films. So, they’re actually not full of hysterical and frustrating red herrings – they’re simply very unusual stories direct from the inside of the brain cavity of a mild-mannered, well-dressed Montana native. And as a noted exponent of transcendental meditation this is perfectly sensible. Most people find 120 minutes of Lynch pretty difficult going, so imagine their joy in this 5 disc set - 450 minutes of head groaning insanity via the feature-length debut Eraserhead, short films (old and new), behind the scenes footage, errant musings, Lynch at work in his studios and a helluva lot more. But to be fair there are large tracts of a penlight camera observing Mr David sitting at his desk from below in silence, so clearly there is some sort of plot for the hardcore fan. Eraserhead is every bit as unusual as the eerie synopsis would indicate; but more importantly it confirms the emergence of a talented, committed and singular vision. What becomes obvious through this collection, though, is that Lynch is no smoke and mirrors charlatan: he truly believes in what he is creating, and the amazing thing is he is creating art that references, emulates and evolves from a diverse bunch – Goya, Man Ray, Rockwell, Rothko, Dali. It’s pretty hard to pin him down and that’s the beauty of his output. Even his straightest story, the, err… Straight Story left people scratching their heads. Sadly not included on here is Lynch’s anti-iPhone rant. Although easy to locate, it should be committed to celluloid for prosperity. We live in brutal, ugly, strange times, so it’s no real surprise that most times Lynch is the one making most sense.
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