On Aug. 17, indie production company A24 announced that Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads concert film, “Stop Making Sense,” would return to theaters newly restored in IMAX on Sept. 22 and to theaters everywhere on Sept. 29. The remastering comes exactly 40 years after the band’s four-night stint at the Hollywood Pantages Theater, and it reinvigorates the uniqueness and seminality of Talking Heads.
Demme filmed Talking Heads, new wave music pioneers and one of the most influential bands of the late 70s and 80s, during their 1983 performances. The documentary Demme crafted, “Stop Making Sense,” has since been considered a cult classic and one of the greatest concert films of all time.
The film opens with just lead singer David Byrne onstage in an iconic gray suit — though not as iconic as the one he dons later in the film — an acoustic guitar and a boombox. He says to the audience, “Hi, I’ve got a tape I want to play,” and he goes into the 1977 classic “Psycho Killer.” His dynamic heel tapping, energized guitar strums and tripping over himself as he walks around make for quite the stage presence.
It is not until the sixth song that every band member takes the stage. Talking Heads layer each musician’s entrance one by one. Bassist Tina Weymouth is the first to join Byrne onstage for a rendition of “Heaven,” then drummer (and husband to Weymouth) Chris Frantz takes the stage for “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel.” Keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison follows, and then backup singers Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt and percussionist Steven Scales join the original four for “Slippery People.”
It is not until “Burning Down the House,” their newest hit at the time, that keyboardist Bernie Worrell and guitarist Alex Weir round out the band onstage. Byrne has lost his gray suit jacket at this point in the set, and he and everyone else are bursting with vibrancy and enthusiasm.
While still riding the high of “Burning Down the House,” the band moves into “Life During Wartime,” in which Byrne, Weir, Weymouth, Mabry and Holt run in place as if it is the only way to communicate their exuberant energy to the audience. Byrne also runs laps around the stage, and every single person in the band radiates pure joy.
My personal favorite performance is their recitation of “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).” The backdrop of the set changes to projections of bookshelves and various other images, and Byrne turns on a lamp, giving the stage a cozy, nostalgic feeling. They channel all their energy into the beauty and wonder that the song warrants.
Despite the utter excellence of the film, it might be best known for the giant gray suit that Byrne wears towards the end of the set. In a video from 1983 where Byrne interviews himself, he says, “I wanted my head to appear smaller, and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger. Because music is very physical, and often the body understands it before the head.”
The whole film exemplifies organized chaos. Everything each individual does seems so random, yet so calculated. Everyone is all over the place while simultaneously being so in sync. How can you rehearse that? Or, how do you not practice that and just let it happen? A really good band can probably do the latter like it’s nobody’s business, and that just might be Talking Heads’ M.O. here.
There is something so special about seeing something like this in a theater, especially in IMAX — theaters known for providing the best picture and sound quality and the largest screen. IMAX allows audiences to feel fully immersed in a film, as the screen is so large that it even occupies your peripheral vision.
“Stop Making Sense” in IMAX sets a high bar not just for concert films, but the entire moviegoing experience. Seeing all these energetic people play their music with such passion and heart makes for an incredible 84 minutes.
