INNI Review

Founder and Editor; Toronto, Canada (@AnarchistTodd)
INNI Review
Since the release of the landmark album Ágætis byrjun in 1999 Iceland's Sigur Ros have won a legion of loyal fans around the globe. Haunting, ethereal melodies rub up against walls of barely restrained noise all of it undergirding lead singer Jonsi's impossible falsetto delivering lyrics that often have no literal meaning whatsoever. The goal was to create music that listeners could place their own feelings and emotions into. The result was a band that had seemingly arrived from another planet, from another world. There is something fey about Sigur Ros, some touch of wild magic.

And with their second performance film, Inni, and in the form of that film's director Vincent Morisset the band has found the perfect visual match to their distinct sound. Filmed over two nights in 2008 but not released until now - with the band on an indefinite hiatus - there is the distinct possibility that Inni may be their swan song. If so, they are going out on a good note.

Shot from a multitude of cameras seemingly hidden in every available vantage point on the stage and the visuals processed to give a grainy, high contrast black and white look Inni looks like nothing so much as a case of classic German Expressionism on acid or a sure sign that Morisset has been praying at the church of Guy Maddin. The pictures look to be some sort of lost artefact, always grainy, always on the edge of shifting out of focus with Jonsi in his feathered military style coat and drummer Orri Pall Dyrason in a hand made foil crown feeling as though they could have stepped straight out of the pages of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Morisset keeps the focus squarely on the band and the performance, stepping away only briefly between songs to cut in vintage interview and performance footage to provide just a hint of context before coming back to the main performance. Audio quality is stellar, the recording and mix rivaling any of the band's studio work.

Clearly a film made by a fan for other fans Inni succeeds fully. Though it will be available shortly on DVD it is very definitely a film best appreciated on the big screen, something made much easier by the current tour of arthouses around the world. Inni begins a five day run at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto on October 28th while other dates around the world can be found here.
Screen Anarchy logo
Do you feel this content is inappropriate or infringes upon your rights? Click here to report it, or see our DMCA policy.

More about Inni

Around the Internet