Description: Documentary collaboration btw filmmaker Jem Cohen & band, covering 10 yr period fr. band's 1987 inception. mixture of various formats. Concert footage, studio sessions, practic e, touring, interviews, & audience mbr portraits.
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Rating: - A close, personal look at an amazing and important band
I must admit that I became a fan of Fugazi late in the band's career; perhaps a year or two before they released their last album "Argument." I actually listened to "13 Songs"--the first album I picked up--at least once a day for an entire year (and then some). And I was fortunate to see them in concert during their last national tour. It was perhaps for this reason that I wanted to know all about them, and immediately purchased Instrument when it was released on DVD.
Instrument is a terrific glimpse into the band's life on the road, in the studio, and of their personal lives. The interviews with the band are insightful, while the blurbs about the band (from various news clips) are entertaining as they try to categorize this band. I especially love the live performances shot on film (16mm) and the adoration shown by their fans. Vignettes featuring fans waiting to see Fugazi set to their music evokes ... Read More
Rating: - Fugazi vs. Audience
The most prominent thing I took away from this film and from my experiences seeing Fugazi several times in the early - mid 90s is how often the band found itself at odds with idiots in the audience and trying to struggle through a stop/start set.
Has there been any other band in history that was plagued with consistently playing to an audience that has no clue what the band is about?
Rating: - The Grateful Dead of Punk
Well, it starts out with good footage of a show in Washington state. They then hack off the end of the song they are performing. Everything in this film segways into something else. After a while it gets on your nerves. While this is going on Fugazi is trying to shove their left leaning politics down your throat. There is one scene where a woman in her 40's a guess dosen't know anything about Fugazi, but is at the show because she heard about them on NPR. Sheeesh. One scene that is interesting, is when some kid spits on Ian MacKaye and the kid is dragged from the audience by Ian, and is asked to apologize for his actions. The kid dosen't apologize and he is promtly booted from the show. This could have been a great dvd, unfortunately egos and so called art got in the way. HEY FUGAZI, shut up drink a beer and play the music that I like. Leave the politics to the corrupt politians.
Rating: - Hmmmmm
I realy want to give this 5 stars but......
First off this is supposed to be a documentary of Fugazi, who they are, what they do etc... and not a music video, the problem is it is neither.
While the live shots are great as are the interviews with some of the audience outside the shows (something that shows the great diversity of Fugazi's audience which I think is great) too much time is wasted on pointless shots (such as the shots of kids outside a show in New York that seems to last forever)shots of buildings (were they of significance to the band, the cameraman????) the crowd in D.C. The editor seemed to have not understood that while it is common to show crowd shots outside venues in music videos it is not common to show them for 5 to 10 minutes as it can lead to the viewer reaching for the fast forward button.
The interviews with Fugazi were good but too short (considering ... Read More
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- A close, personal look at an amazing and important band
- Fugazi vs. Audience
- The Grateful Dead of Punk
