This Is Spinal Tap (DVD)

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If this opening speech from the film isn’t enough, “This Is Spinal Tap” is the hilarious spoof rockumentary that follows filmmaker Marti DeBergi (Rob Reiner) with British band ‘Spinal Tap’ on their first tour of America in six years. We are introduced to the band, their manager and key entourage members. The heavy metal band consists of Lead Vocals/Guitarist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), whose ancestor ...
...how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.”

The writing for the film (done by Reiner, Guest, Shearer and McKean) is brilliantly woven and spun throughout each scene. Every scene has a moment for laughter, whether you laugh or not depends on you’re a) your grasp of humour and b) how much you are paying attention. There are major, hysterical set pieces: the ‘Stonehenge’ set for ... more

“Hello. My name is Marty DeBergi. I'm a filmmaker. I make a lot of commercials. That little dog that chases the covered wagon underneath the sink? That was mine. In 1966, I went down to Greenwich Village, New York City to a rock club called the Electric Banana. Don't look for it, it's not there anymore. But that night I heard a band that for me redefined the word "rock and roll". I remember being knocked out by their, their exuberance, their raw power - and their punctuality. That band was Britain's now-legendary Spinal Tap. Seventeen years and fifteen albums later, Spinal Tap is still going strong, and they've earned a distinguished place in rock history as one of England's loudest bands. So in the late fall of 1982 when I heard that Tap was releasing a new album called 'Smell the Glove', and was planning their first tour of the United States in almost 6 years to promote that album, well needless to say I jumped at the chance to make the documentary, the, if you will, "rockumentary" that you're about to see. I wanted to capture the, the sights, the sounds, the smells, of a hard-working rock band on the road. And I got that. But I got more, a lot more. But hey - enough of my yakkin'. Whaddaya say, let's boogie!”

If this opening speech from the film isn’t enough, “This Is Spinal Tap” is the hilarious spoof rockumentary that follows filmmaker Marti DeBergi (Rob Reiner) with British band ‘Spinal Tap’ on their first tour of America in six years. We are introduced to the band, their manager and key entourage members. The heavy metal band consists of Lead Vocals/Guitarist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), whose ancestor was the not so well known saint of quality footwear. There is Lead Guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), famed for his flamboyant solos – examples include riffing with one guitar whilst kicking the strings of another with his foot. Another includes using a violin as a guitar pick. Bizarre? I agree…

There is bassist, Derek Smalls, a hippie looking individual who hides a large vegetable down his trousers to fake the enormity of his er… endowment. We have Vic Savage (David Kaff) on keyboards, a strange little man indeed and we have drummer Mark Shrimpton (R.J Parnell) who as long as there's sex and drugs, can do without the rock and roll. There is band manager Ian Faith (Tony Hendra) whom traditionally takes a cricket bat with him on tour: “In the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is often… useful”.

The story of ‘Britain’s loudest rock bad’ takes them one disastrous tour of the USA with a seemingly endless wall of problems ranging from gig cancellations to not being able to locate the stage from a complex of basement corridors… There are also tensions and conflicts within the band, mainly between the band and band manager Ian Faith. There is no real plot development as such purely because the documentary style of the film doesn’t require one. The film focuses more on the band’s dealings with their manager, unsupportive promoters and record company bigwigs, groupies and relationships. The main relationship being the two creative influences Tufnel (Guest) and St. Hubbins (McKean). But “Spinal Tap” is not watched because of it’s high powered storyline…

Performances are fantastic throughout, but it wouldn’t exactly be fair to call them performances… the main group who stared and wrote the film (Guest, Shearer, McKean and Reiner) didn’t necessarily play their characters. They created the characters and therefore they portray their creation rather than play a character created by screenwriting hack. Even the minor performances excel to greatness due to the film’s unique style, showing humanity and making it funny at the same time.

“That’s just nit-picking, isn’t it?”

Each actor seems right for their assigned (or created) part, which begs the question: is ‘Spinal Tap’ a real band? Well the answer is no, but there may be some who may disagree and launch a fully-fledged argument supporting such ideal. Well… there’s the soundtrack album, which is by the way, quite, quite funny to listen to with all of Spinal Tap’s ‘hits’ including ‘Stonehenge’, ‘Big Bottom’ and the innuendo ridden ‘Sex Farm’. Genevieve Williams of Amazon.com calls it a “perfect party album” and I have to say that I agree and quite amusingly (for those who have seen the film and for those who haven’t will find out upon viewing) the album cover is plain black.

“It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.”

The writing for the film (done by Reiner, Guest, Shearer and McKean) is brilliantly woven and spun throughout each scene. Every scene has a moment for laughter, whether you laugh or not depends on you’re a) your grasp of humour and b) how much you are paying attention. There are major, hysterical set pieces: the ‘Stonehenge’ set for example and then there are more subtle funny moments where it relies on the dialogue and chemistry: the amplifier discussion is a classic example of such contradictory humour…

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marti DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marti DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marti DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marti DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marti DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [Pause] These go to eleven.

There are many other scenes of such ilk and they never get tiresome and they vary in topics. It really plays to the stereotyped ignorance that people may see heavy metal to be and their artists. Some people may perceive heavy metal artist to be fuelled by sex, drugs and many other elements that fit the bill and the cast and the writers of “This Is Spinal Tap” captures this expertly with each scene, ignoring the anecdotes of their limo driver, trying to publish a sexist and offensive cover, things like that. Having said that, the comedy is surprisingly intelligent. It’s not like slapstick when someone falls over and there’s obvious reason to laugh. In “This Is Spinal Tap”, the humour, dare I say it, is a little more intricate. Not that there isn’t obvious moments of humour and silliness, they still exist, but there are more laughs to be had if paid proper attention to the scenes. One major aspect to keep in mind whilst viewing is that ‘Spinal Tap’ used to be big and world famous, now they’re… well… washed up and residing in the ‘where are they now?’ file.

In a modern day communications world where there are more TV channels than actual shows, mostly clogged up with reality TV shows (ITV 1 seems to vomit out one every other month) and documentaries (which are at least educational) it’s quite a surprise that this little cult 80’s film, making fun of heavy metal still exists after a rapid developing twenty years of media. Whether or not it is dated is arguable down to the last aspect of it’s creation but one thing remains unanimously clear… it’s fecking hilarious. (Feck is my substitute for another word with similar spelling in my review writing. Feel free to use it anytime) The lyrics to their songs for example aren’t exactly poetry but amusing to listen to. Here’s the first little snippet from innuendo ridden; ‘Sex Farm’, you really have to read it to believe:

Let's rock and roll
Working on a sex farm
Trying to raise some hard love
Getting out my pitch fork
And poking your hay

Scratching in your henhouse
Sniffing at your feedbag
Slipping out your back door
I'm leaving my spray

Yes…

Director Rob Reiner (who plays documentary man, Matri DiBergi) uses the style of the film to his advantage, showing snippets of the USA tour instead of having to surrender to a full linear narrative of a story. Which might have worked but I think it would have suffered in two respects: 1) the humour of the film wouldn’t quite work if portrayed in standard Hollywood fashion, and b) the film would have been longer and that poses the risk of running out of new ideas. Done differently could have affected it’s status as a hailed cult movie. Although it would’ve brought a more diverse audience to it’s appeal, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as famous. Filmmakers bent in the mould of Hollywood have still yet to realise that you can’t make a cult film, films become cult films because the fans of it say so not those who made it. But like I said earlier, there is no traditional plot structure as such therefore as long as it has some relevance to depicting ‘Spinal Tap’ it can be used. Reiner keeps things happening, not lingering too long on one topic and moving on constantly blending various different types of scenes together to make a credible documentary (cough> mockumentary <cough) including interviewing, sets during gigs and scenes that capture the band on the road. You’d think it was a real documentary if you weren’t laughing you’re a$$ off so much.

A lot of the film’s stand out moments happen during the performances at various gigs. As I mentioned a minute ago the songs are hilarious and the costumes as well for that matter. The ‘disasters’ that occur, props not working or not being what they expected for example add to the hysterical giggling you may be faced with. All in all, a pleasant and fun experience making “This Is Spinal Tap” a lovely satire indeed. Poking fun at the rock and roll scene and the ignorance success can give people. Soundtrack, as I said is well… rock music mainly, as sung by the band. And although not lyrical genius, they are very funny to listen to with some being riddled with so much arrogant innuendo to make even “Sex And The City” blush, whilst other songs are just well… pointless. But that’s what makes the film funny. The songs were written by the band members/actors themselves (Christopher Guest and co.), further displaying their talents. All in all, a fantastic package of a film: endlessly quotable, infinitely funny.

BOTTOM LINE
“This Is Spinal Tap” is a rare and unique film watching experience, from the outset we expect something out of the ordinary and we get just that and more. Each scene spins its seeds of humour to the point where you just can’t hold back. Those who don’t enjoy/appreciate the heavy metal scene of that era may find it hard to get into but your knowledge of music doesn’t have to be of mass proportions to get a laugh out of this film. Of course, the films very style may not please everyone and it may seem a little dated but give it a try, you might like it. In short: one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen and I’m sure there are many out there who’d agree.

CERTIFICATE: 15
TIME APPROX: 80 minutes

CAUTION
Drug references
Sex references
Strong language

IF YOU LIKE THIS TRY
A Mighty Wind – the team return for another musical mockumentary in the form of a country/folk band trying to make a comeback.

DID YOU KNOW?
Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) is a renowned voice artist. Not only has he done voices for numerous computer games and the film “Small Soldiers”, you can also hear his talent in long running, animated sit-com “The Simpson’s” playing the likes of Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert and many others.

Here lies David St. Hubbins... and why not?

<DarkMark
 

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