The Road to Greatness The Bends was Radiohead’s breakthrough album. After the success of Creep, but faded debut, they almost began to be spoken of as a "one-hit group". Even then, imbued with hatred for his most popular song, Thom York and his comrades set themselves the goal of releasing a LP that will amaze everyone. It turned out: The Bends did its predecessor in all respects, forcing critics to speak in a low voice about the originality and interesting sound of the group. But they were just flowers. The material for the documentary was the events of the second half of 1997, when the missing stars from the sky Oxford instantly turned into the best rock band on Earth. This is the release of OK Computer.
One of the main associations with Radiohead music is depression. This is definitely not the case when the musicians themselves are in one universe, but sing about another (although people tend to exaggerate guesses about their emotional state). In our time, at zero and even at takeoff, the band members had no rainbow over their heads. Director Grant Guy felt it and went with Radiohead on tour, determined to capture the moment. The film is a collection of video clips in which touring musicians do ordinary things. There are no classic monologues in front of the camera and answers to banal questions. There are several interviews, but the camera in them is like a third extra. An overseer who captures the most interesting. Something you can't put into words.
It would seem that what else is needed from life? World recognition is there, awards are there, money is there, demand in all parts of the globe and cloudless prospects are also there. However, in a rare moment of the film, a smile can be seen on the faces of the band members. They're all worried, each about their own. Such sudden popularity came as a big surprise to them, to say the least. There are different scenes in the memory, for example, when Tom began to reflect on the fact that “now we will change, we will never be the same.” Colin once said, “I used to love people, but now I hate them.” It's complicated, sorry...
A peculiar symbol of the film are the jingles, short radio chops, which all members of the gang just shook. In different languages, in different countries... Tom doesn't have time to finish the jingle, and he comes out: "God, I'm such an asshole, I messed it up again ... the words had to be changed." In the eyes of musicians, timidity is read even during the presentation of gold records in honor of the platinum status of the album. It seems that Johnny will not hold back now and will blurt out: "Oh, come on, what platinum... can we go already?" The wild popularity was a big blow to them. However, they were able to win the battle with show business, although the efforts spent on this can not reflect any documentary tape.
There are many artistic experiments in the film. The camera follows on the heels of the musicians not as if breathing in their backs, but is always somewhere on the side, carefully watching what is happening. At the same time, when no one from the quintet is in the frame, we are shown all sorts of highways, roads and stations that Radiohead visited around the world, as well as scraps of articles from newspapers and magazines under the background recordings of airwaves with music and more. Grant Guy plays with light and effects like Thom York with the souls of the audience.
For the entire timeline, not a single song was completely sounded, except for a couple of live performances (even they were shot deliberately aliasedly), so it is better to listen to the album first, and then start watching. You could say it’s not just about Radiohead, it’s about any band that’s become popular all too suddenly. Remaining yourself in the face of constantly changing seats and million-dollar contracts is a challenge. Accept it or you will always be the middle man.