To me, the concepts of classics and concert films use to always sit in the same boat. In other words, you could openly question why a movie was a classic and why concert films should even exist. Even as a Talking Heads fan who’d never seen Stop Making Sense, I still wasn’t sure I was going to be converted to that latter concept after watching this landmark concert.
I was incredibly wrong to doubt the power of director Jonathan Demme's 1984 movie, and I'm now here to explain just how my mind was changed. Rereleased just in time to be a part of the 2023 movie release schedule, it's almost been 40 years since David Byrne & company shook the world with Stop Making Sense. And yet, it doesn't feel like a day's gone by since this upcoming A24 movie burst onto the scene.
My Opinion On Concert Films Before Stop Making Sense
In all honestly, the concept of a “concert film” made me sort of wince. Maybe I was just too used to televised events that switched back and forth between static camera angles, but watching a filmed concert on the big screen didn’t feel appealing. As much as I loved and grew up on the music of the Talking Heads, I found myself questioning how much I’d enjoy myself at my press screening.
Concerts, by nature, are things you really need to feel. Just ask any fan who’s been at a show on the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, which has literally moved the Earth in some venues. There’s an energy that can’t be faked, and is hard to replicate with a filmed medium. Stop Making Sense, directed by the late, great Jonathan Demme, did all of that and more; and it still holds up after almost 40 years for several reasons.
The Talking Heads Picture Is Gorgeously Remastered
Stop Making Sense is the movie that has been named as the “greatest concert movie ever.” So if this movie didn’t have a high enough bar to clear for me to love it, that raised those stakes so high. Well, consider me a believer, and the first reason for that believe is the fact that A24 has done a severely-loving 4K restoration on this electric experience.
Filmed over several nights in LA on the band’s tour to promote the album Speaking in Tongues, the Talking Heads’ seminal pop culture phenomenon is as clear as day. What’s better is the movie was released into a limited IMAX run before its wider theatrical release starting this weekend.
One of the best comments I heard during my screening was that David Byrne wearing the big suit in IMAX was like the impressively practical Trinity Test in Oppenheimer. It’s hard for me to even argue against that point, especially when band member Jerry Harrison's work on keeping the audio nice and tight cannot be oversold in any sense. Which leads into another key component to why Stop Making Sense still works.
Stop Making Sense Is Not Just A Filmed Concert, It’s Much More
Thank the musical gods that this live wire musical jamboree is not the static camera angle experience I came to associate with concert movies. Come to think of it, Stop Making Sense isn’t merely a “concert film” in my eyes; it’s so much more. That;s because of what it presents on top of a well-edited, well timed representation of a live performance.
Stop Making Sense is an equation that mixes the concept of a time capsule, a stage show and a motion picture into one stunning package. What starts as Davd Byrne playing a simple version of “Psycho Killer” slowly expands to include the rest of the Talking Heads’ core line up of Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and Jerry Harrison. Then it continues to unfurl to include the extended concert lineup of Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt, as well as Alex Weir, Bernie Worrell and Steve Scales into the mix.
Once everyone’s in play, Stop Making Sense kicks into a higher gear to become a rousing artistic movement. Good luck trying to stay still or not mouthing along the songs as they’re being performed, because it’s a tough thing to achieve. Social media has only confirmed this, as people have shared clips and stories about dance parties breaking out in screenings all over.
Jonathan Demme Wasn’t Just A Director, He Was A Fan
The other major pillar that makes Stop Making Sense something you really need to see for yourself is the creative teaming of director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth. Let me put it this way: the director of Silence of the Lambs and the man who shot Blade Runner teamed up to make this movie what it is in the visual sense. Which only feeds into the fact that Demme wasn’t just a director for hire, he was a fan.
During the TIFF Q&A that ran after my press screening event, it was recalled that Demme met with the band and was eager to make Stop Making Sense with them. This led to the helmer following the band on tour to scope out the show’s staging, as well as a fruitful partnership in the editing room with the Talking Heads themselves.
Between the band’s input and the instincts of Demme and editor Lisa Day, the love couldn’t have been stronger. What was brought to the stage those nights clicked for all involved, and it shows from frame one.
Almost 40 Years Later This Talking Heads Classic Is Still Bringing People To Theaters
The IMAX Live event I participated in for my press screening wasn’t just for members of the press, it was also a public ticketed event. With tickets being higher than usual for this presentation of Stop Making Sense, that sort of crowd was already impressive.
With a week of standard public IMAX screenings, and that TIFF screening added to the total, the movie has made $1.4 million, according to estimates from Deadline. The real kicker here is that the audience demographics presented in that writeup showed this surprising pattern:
Nearly 60% of the audience was under 35 — not alive when the movie came out — and more than half said it was their first time seeing the film.
I’ll admit, part of this appeal is probably the iconic David Byrne “big suit” memes that have prevailed throughout culture. Before gifs became another language, shows like Nickelodeon’s Doug were paying homage, and it only continued into the modern age with Documentary Now doing an entire episode spoofing Stop Making Sense. There’s definitely a cultural imprint to speak of when it comes to this movie.
But with David Byrne’s solo career continuing to impress, and his Broadway concert film American Utopia hitting HBO not too long ago, there was probably already a healthy built-in audience for this flick. You don’t need to be a diehard Talking Heads devotee to know the title Stop Making Sense, or to recall Byrne doing an impressive dance in his gigantic ensemble.
A restored re-release of a movie isn’t something new or novel, but when it sparks the reaction that this picture has, it’s something that needs to be taken seriously. In Deadline’s report, it's mentioned how Stop Making Sense is going to still be in some theaters as a weekend repertory title. With a whole bunch of friends and family that haven’t seen this beauty for themselves, I think I’m going to be seeing this movie at least a couple more times in the theater.
What I do know for certain is that Stop Making Sense has convinced me that in the right hands, concert films can rock as hard as the real thing. I’m emboldened to check out even more entries in the genre, and yes, I think I’ll even try that Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie on for size. The high of watching the Talking Heads on the big screen was that much of a buzz for me.
If you want to get in on the fun yourself, Stop Making Sense is now showing in theaters. While I think you should definitely go and see this one at the movies in any format possible, if you can find an IMAX showing, that’s the true way to fly with this one. Don’t wait, because while this sort of experience doesn’t come once in a lifetime, it’s not going to be around forever.
