30 November 2010

Scenes from the suburban wars



I always get excited about the 'storytelling' songs. They are so rare.
The song is 'Suburbs' by Arcade Fire, an indie rock band from Quebec. This is the title song from Arcade Fire's third album (Suburbs, 2010). Press here for lyrics.
The video, directed by Spike Jonze, is but a preview of 'Scenes From The Suburbs' - a short film yet to be released by Arcade Fire before the end of this year.
The story line is intriguing and it may very well be a SF peep into (not so distant) future of suburban wars. I'll reserve my comments until the full film is released.
Another project of Arcade Fire not to be missed is their interactive music video for 'We used to Wait' (another track from their Suburbs album, this one directed by Chris Milk). This video will enable you to bring your own personal childhood into the visuals of the film. Provided that you have not, like I, crawled from the place far beyond the seven oceans (still to be explored to full lenghts by Google Map). While there are other similar interactive projects online (notably 'Cuckoo' by Lissie, where the visuals change with the concrete weather at your current location: it will snow if you are watching from Moscow, but not if you are watching from San Francisco), they are more a gag than a tool and they rarely reach you on a more personal, emotional level.
On a separate note, I wish the previews of full feature movies were more like this one: a project that feels complete, stirs your interest, yet doesn't reveal the plot. Then again, why DON'T they ever make previews of full feature movies in the form of a music video anyway? It certainly beats the commercials format that prompts us to go and get popcorn and coke.

2 comments:

  1. LOL - just figured out that last bit on my own recently while trying to search for a certain street in Banja Luka on GMaps. Judging by them, there seems to be just a lot of brownish space in Banja Luka ... or Sarajevo, for that matter, same thing. And here and there a nameless line, eee ... street. Oh, sancta simplicitas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. So when is this short film coming out? will
    2. Will it be in theatres in the Netherlands?
    3. I agree with you that more movie trailers should be like music videos. That would be so much better. My sister (who is about to graduate with a media communications degree) says that the film industry is really suffering and that they have been produing stereotypical movies on purpose so they won't have to risk losing money. Maybe that's why Hollywood is so lacking in creativity. Thank goodness for independent film makers who actually make interesting and relevent movies!

    ReplyDelete