Kino Film Theater, Rotterdam [NL]
Thursday, 24th April 2025
Sony Music announced back in February of this year the newly restored version: Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, a revisiting the groundbreaking 1972 film directed by Adrian Maben would be returning to the cinema, now digitally remastered in 4K from the original 35mm footage and with enhanced audio mixed by Steven Wilson. The concert features Pink Floyd during this intimate concert performed without an audience and filmed over four days in October 1971. The accompanying film features rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of the band working on The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios in London. This is the director’s cut which ran approximately 1.5 hours and marks the fifth version – the original film by director Adrian Maben from 1972, the re-release from 1974, the DVD from 2002, and the Blu-ray from 2016.
Off to the Rotterdam’s cinema Kino where the first screening was to take place on 24th April. All these year later it still remains a strange collection of images, sometimes randomly edited one after another, or so it seems. The old Roman amphitheater in Pompeii, the Abbey Road studio and canteen, the Vesuvius volcano, mosaics and ruins of the old city, and not necessarily in that order. The images of the musicians walking along the edges of the volcanic crater even appears several times. Bare chested men with guitars and drums performing in the heat and dust in the ancient arena. With a wall of equipment behind them and a small crew of cameramen in front of them…
The funniest scenes come from the canteen/restaurant, probably in London. The conversations during lunch and the interviews with the individual members provide a sharp insight into the backgrounds and motivations of the band. For example, David Gilmour swears that drugs play no role in the creation of the albums, nooooo! This elicits a burst of laughter from the cinema audience, which otherwise remains silent. Roger Waters is called ‘Almighty God’ by someone and Nick Mason says with a straight face that ‘money plays no part in the band’. In addition, there are considerable discussions about production and music with a leading role for ‘Almighty God Waters’. Also funny are the images of Mademoiselle Nobs, the plaintively howling Russian wolfhound, with Gilmour’s bluesy harmonica playing. We see the four young, close friends, all in their mid-twenties, whining about apple pie without a crust. Comments like ‘No, we don’t argue that much anymore, these days we avoid certain subjects’ seems remarkable, and seem to have been forgotten with the passage of time.
The film of the performance in the arena at Pompeii focuses a lot of the footage of drummer Mason for some reason. In contrast, there is relatively little of Dave Gilmour on guitar in the picture, hardly any close-ups, although at least three cameramen are trained in on Gilmour’s lip… strange. Wright also comes off badly, but the shots of Waters playing the gong against a setting sun remain iconic. Musically, Echoes and One of these Days stand out.
Applause afterwards, rarely seen or heard in a cinema. The screening has been moved from the small nr 6 to the larger hall 1, the space is unfortunately not sold out. Many young people of 30/40 years remarkably enough, the band also seems to appeal to the younger generations, a good sign indeed. The painstaking work to get the colours and sound perfect pays off. Especially the soundtrack in the 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson is a real pleasure to listen to, alas no Dolby Atmos in the old theatre.
The film offers an interesting insight into a band on its way to world fame, the first contours of The Dark Side of the Moon are already visible and audible in the images of the studio sessions from 1972. Sound experiments with synthesizers and slide guitar can be seen in abundance, the psychedelic period has just ended and the band is trying to escape the (drug) image of the London underground scene. Definitely worth seeing, Pink Floyd on the big screen with a top-notch sound, an absolute must for fans of progressive rock music.
MUSICIANS
David Gilmour – Guitars, Vocals, Harmonica
Nick Mason – Drums, Percussion
Roger Waters – Bass Guitar, Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocals
Rick Wright – Keyboards, Synthesizers, Vocals
CREDITS
Director: Adrian Maben
Remastering: Lana Topham
Soundtrack: Steven Wilson
LINKS
Pink Floyd – Website | Facebook | YouTube | X | Instagram
