24 THE WALL (1982)

ROGER WATER'S NIGHTMARE ON FILM

On 14 July, 1982, a select audience of London cinemagoers emerged reeling from the premiere of Alan Parker's The Wall. What did it all mean? It meant whatever you wanted it to. What did Bob Geldof's rock star Pink represent? He represented whatever you wanted him to. A quarter of a century later, it still doesn't pay to think about The Wall too hard. Bar the recurring theme of human alienation, Parker's interpretation of Pink Floyd's 1979 album (with a script by Floyd visionary Roger Waters) is as illogical as an acid trip and - thanks to the nightmarish animation sequences of Gerald Scarfe-as disturbing as any Manga cartoon. As a sensory experience, it's also as powerful as a sledgehammer, although, ironically, that's why bassist Roger Waters felt it failed. "I found it was so unremitting in its onslaught on the senses," he noted in 1988, "that it didn't give me, as an audience, a chance to get involved with it."

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