Have you heard? 2023 was the year concert films saved the cinema – or at least increased it movie theater. Normally it would be difficult to find enough notable entries to warrant a year-end concert film ranking, but that’s not the case this year. This year the concert film reigned supreme. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé avoided Hollywood and worked directly with theaters to distribute their respective box office hits. Culture-changing global superstar BTS managed to make a splash in theaters despite taking a group hiatus throughout 2023. And Hollywood indie darling A24 re-released “1984.” Stop making sensewhich is generally considered one of the best concert films any times.
As with any ranking, it is important to set criteria. This is based not on the quality of the recorded performance, but on the unique virtues of the concert film as, well, a film. Honestly, there aren’t any bad Films on this list – it was truly a good year for concert-oriented filmmaking – but there were some examples that were more cinematically ambitious than others. In a year of concert films, let’s talk about which films did something special with the format.
5. BTS: Coming soon
Where to see: Prime Video
It pains me to put my beloved BTS so low on this list, but remember, all five of these concert films are pretty good. As a card-carrying member of BTS ARMY, BTS: Coming soon — a filmed version of the K-pop sensation’s final performance before the group took a break for military service — was the concert film I personally watched the most in 2023. leaded by Veteran K-pop concert film director Oh Yoon-dong, BTS: Coming soon doesn’t do anything special when translating it into the film, except for the point-and-shoot. Still, the theatrical release gave fans an excuse to dress up and change the batteries ARMY Bomband shout the text “Cipher Part 3” with other fans. There’s nothing wrong with these ambitions!
BTS: Coming soon Had it not been for the film’s decision to cut the concert’s “ments,” the artists’ final remarks at K-pop concerts, and place them elsewhere, it might have moved further up the list. Ments are one of the many unique aspects of attending a K-pop concert, and – especially given the importance of this performance – it would have been nice to see these speeches in their entirety. Presumably the decision was made for running time, but the montage of commentary made for a jarring change in editorial style that didn’t quite fit the straightforward, feel-you-were-there structure of the rest of the film. (This film also loses points because it omits the hard-working cameraman who put his body at risk
4. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Where to see: Digital rent/purchase on Amazon, Appleand Vudu
How BTS: Coming soon, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is another straightforward concert film that aims to recreate the experience of a stop on the pop star’s ongoing, record-breaking world tour. But not how BTS: Coming soon, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour draws from three separate shows, giving director Sam Wrench more material to draw from. It was also filmed state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, allowing for a more dynamic recording of the performance. The viewer is, so to speak inside at Swift’s pop culture party of a show.
As 2023 comes to a close, Swift’s The Eras Tour — a three-hour-plus show chronicling the first 17 years of Swift’s career — is well on its way to becoming something the highest-grossing tour of all time. It’s not just a good show; It’s representative of a cultural shift in the way people define themselves as fans. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour gave a glimpse of what such a community might look like, both for those already part of it and for those who might be curious.
3. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Where to see: theatre
Part concert film, part behind-the-scenes documentary, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé showcases Beyoncé’s power not only as a performer but also as a director. Queen Bey wrote, produced and directed the cinematic experience, which provides an inside look at putting together and executing her massive Renaissance world tour.
Unlike most of the other concert films on the list, Renaissance drew from many different stops on their 56-show tour, providing a more ambitious, comprehensive picture of the tour as a whole. Not only does the viewer get a front row seat to some of Beyoncé’s carefully choreographed numbers, including one in which she flies through the air on the back of a giant silver horse. We also hear Beyoncé’s reflections on aging, motherhood, capitalism’s rather effective efforts to turn us into machines, how our hometowns shape us, and the construct of time. We also dive deep into the rich history of ball culture
If that sounds like a lot to accomplish in a concert film, it is. However, as a filmmaker and performer, Beyoncé manages to tie everything together into a cohesive whole by using the story of her show as a backbone. We keep coming back to it, a reminder not only of the beautiful art that people can create together in this flawed, frustrating world, but also that art cannot be separated from the process that creates it and us.
2. Stop making sense
Where to see: theatre
In a recent interview with CBS Sunday MorningTalking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth described the structure of Stop making sense, which immortalized the post-punk band’s 1983 performance at the Hollywood Pantages Theater as follows: “It’s the story of love. It’s really. It starts with a person, an individual, alone in this world, and then a community builds around them.” Is there a broader working definition of live music performance than this? Is there a film that captures this feeling better than Stop making sensewho pioneered some of the concert filming techniques used by others on this list?
This year, A24 released a re-release of the Jonathan Demme film, which was a huge hit when it was first released in 1984 and is still a hit 40 years later. It’s a snapshot of a band at their creative peak, finding euphoric joy in their music and sharing that joy with their audience. From the weird, wonderful moves of frontman David Byrne (sometimes in an absurdly large business suit) to the glances the performers exchanged on stage to the cleverness in the construction of the performance, it’s incredible the artistic intensity of this particular one euphoric moment in space and time appears preserved on celluloid. Luckily for preservationists, Demme and the talking heads Pioneer in the use of digital audio also in this type of filmmaking.
The fusion of three Hollywood performances, captured in Stop making sense would be part of the Talking Heads’ final tour as a group. They took a break in 1988 and “officially” separated in 1991. Whatever happened, it was chaotic, and the four members—Byrne and Weymouth, as well as drummer Chris Frantz and keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison—are, more or less, even less estranged as a group. Prior to this film’s promotion, the Talking Heads had not appeared together in public since their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 somehow awkward. This meta-context makes the experience of watching possible Stop making sense even more valuable in 2023, especially on the big screen.
1. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus
Where to see: theatre
Ryuichi Sakamoto died on March 28, 2023. In his 71 years, the Japanese composer and world-famous piano soloist was, among other things, Pioneer of electronic music through his work with the Yellow Magic Orchestra and an Oscar-winning composer who, among other things, wrote the soundtracks for films The last emperor And The revenant. He has inspired and/or collaborated with countless artists, including David Byrne, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop and BTS rapper Suga introduced Sakamoto on his 2023 album.
Sakamoto was not only an amazingly accomplished and influential musician, but also a ballplayer. He didn’t just compile a playlist with 33 tracks He took part in the filming of one of his last performances, which was to be played at his funeral and was posthumously released in cinema form by his filmmaker son Neo Sora. The result is opusan unflinchingly graceful portrayal of one man’s connection to music and performance.
opus is boldly simple in structure: Sakamoto sits alone at a Yamaha grand piano in the NHK studio in Tokyo and plays 20 pieces from his long career, including fan favorites “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.” There is no context and no audience in the studio. There is only Sakamoto and his piano. Shot in crisp black and white, opus is unhurried in exploring his topic. Over the course of 100 minutes, we linger on shots of Sakamoto’s hands and face, shots of the instrument’s strings, hammers and keys, and wondering how well they know each other and work together. The studio’s artificial lighting deliberately moves the space, the entire world of this film, from morning to evening.
Sakamoto’s health condition only allowed him to make the film Record a few pieces per day – and even that reportedly took a lot out of him. There are moments, intentionally captured in the final cut, where Sakamoto screws up and starts over – a messy, sublime part of any artistic process. In the film, the artist runs out of time to perform. He has By the time we see the film, we have already run out of time to perform it. But opus refuses to worry about the inevitability of death, even as it influences so much of what we see and feel on screen. opus knows that art like Sakamoto’s remains. What a gift it is.
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