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Event
Rammstein Paris
Rammstein has long been in an über-league of its own when it comes to taking the live presentation of
rock music to new heights, both in terms of conception and execution.
Catching this excitement on film is an almost impossible task. All the senses are stimulated at live
events in a way that cant be replicated onscreen.
Jonas Åkerlunds extraordinary film RAMMSTEIN: PARIS is the closest anyone has ever come to
cracking this dilemma. His creative rendition of the all-new stage production the band delivered at
Paris Bercy in March 2012 takes the art form to a whole new level.
This fast-paced state-of-the-art concert film is a visual feast, a celebration of Rammstein live that is
both different to and in some ways better than being there and a definite contender for the best
concert film of all time.
ABOUT THE FILM
Catching the excitement of a spectacular concert on film is an almost impossible task. All the senses
are stimulated at live events in a way that cant be replicated onscreen.
Director Jonas Åkerlunds extraordinary film RAMMSTEIN: PARIS is the closest anyone has ever
come to cracking this dilemma. His creative rendition of the all-new stage production they delivered at
Paris Bercy in March 2012 takes the art form to a whole new level, capturing the rush and grandeur of
Rammstein live the way the band has always deserved.
The look this time is sweaty, grimy gothic veering off into Grand Guignol, a technical tour de force that
captivates you even before the music has started, as the titles flicker by like an electronic malfunction
to the sinister hisses and sighs of the industrial stage set. Steam and light pulsate to a dystopian beat,
a flaming torch parts the crowd, and the hooded band march ritualistically through the audience to the
stage via an elevated gantry, ratcheting-up the tension.
Anyone who can tease the crowd for this long is confident of delivering, and Rammstein do so in
spades. As the grinding lurch of Sonne mutates into Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen, fireballs
shoot skywards from the guitarists lapels, and soon Tills flaming hands are windmilling, smoke
seeping from his nose and mouth as he sings. In Feuer Frei! three of the musicians have fire shooting
out of their faces, the guitars burst into flames at the end of Du Riechst So Gut, and the boomeranging
fireworks Till shoots over the crowd during Du Hast have to be seen to be believed.
Weve all seen concert films edited so headache-inducingly fast that you cant see anything properly.
Åkerlunds genius here is his ability to cut the action at a breathless pace which leaves you feeling
exhilarated not disorientated. Like the car crash sequences in The Bourne Ultimatum, the variety of
camera angles and frenetic speed with which they assault you leaves you feeling not so much dazed
as, well like you are really there.
As they thrash though Asche Zu Asche, you realize that the lens through which were seeing
Rammstein has become a seventh band member. There are strange colors, textures, kaleidoscopic
visual effects, distressed overhead crowd shots that look like insects, hallucinatory dissolves of flailing
band members and unsettling flash frames like Tills intermittently satanic black eyes and forked
tongue, fanged creatures cavorting in the crowd and electric lightning striking Flakes keyboards like a
scene from Frankensteins laboratory. This is a new kind of concert film, the live experience enhanced
as no one in the hall would have seen it.
Most bands use the B stage at the other end of the hall for an acoustic interlude. Not Rammstein.
As Richard Kruspe unleashes ominous electro beats from a keyboard, the rest of the band are
whipped to the podium on their knees like groveling submissives by dressed-in-drag drummer
Christoph Schneider for a version of Bück Dich that raises the tempo to fire alarm levels, its explosive
conclusion echoing the version that got them arrested in America. But there is tenderness too, even a
moment when the band stands in silence on the B stage smiling at the audience surrounding them,
soaking up the love.
A concert film is never the same as being at a concert, but RAMMSTEIN: PARIS is the perfect fusion
of the bands extraordinary stage show with the film editors craft. It is a visual feast, a celebration of
Rammstein live that is both different to and in some ways better than being there and a definite
contender for the best concert film of all time.
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LocationDowntown Independent (View)
251 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
United States
Categories
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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