THE INDISPENSIBLES - #22: THIS IS SPINAL TAP
This Is Spinal Tap makes one very simple assumption and with that one assumption it sets up its stall and goes about methodically and slyly, destroying one pompous rock cliché and one sycophantic media trait after another. This assumption is that we ‘buy’ the band as real and the journey they are on as a real one.
Of course, as we all know, neither the band was real nor was the tour they were on but that didn’t, and doesn’t, prevent This Is Spinal Tap from becoming a satire that starts out strong and gets stronger (the ninety odd minutes of deleted scenes on the Collector’s Edition DVD only serve to show that there was not a duff moment in the entire endeavour, and that an entire second movie exists as a sort of Godfather Part II of Spinal Tap sequels just from what was left out!), quickly and subtly becoming one of the funniest, most intelligent, most original films ever made.
The faux-documentary format (don’t use the term “mockumentary” – Christopher Guest doesn’t like that; he’s not “mocking” anyone!) shown here is one that the cast members, most certainly, returned to the well on time and time again in the years since; sometimes to equally hysterical effect (check out Waiting For Guffman, a film that very nearly took this film’s position on this countdown).
This Is Spinal Tap is THE faux-documentary though; it pertains to be filmed during the death throes of a British rock band, the Spinal Tap of the title. The band is made up of Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), along with a whole host of disposable, self-combusting (don’t ask!) drummers. They’re in the middle of an American tour but it is not going well. They were once able to fill arenas, but now can’t fill so much as a church hall. Everyone knows this. No one is prepared to say it. Spinal Tap is an atrociously derivative, pretentious, semi-talented rock band that is only just hanging on in by the power of their own band member’s egos and ignorance.
But here’s the peach. Here’s the absolute stone-cold kicker – Spinal Tap are absolutely exactly like a fair percentage of the rock bands that were thrashing around America at the time of this film’s release. So much so that many bands saw the movies and thought they were looking in the mirror. Legend has it that Aerosmith saw this film, found it hysterical, made self-deprecating jokes about it being about “them” but then launched a thorough in-house investigation behind the scenes to find out who was leaking information about what they were like on tour.
The ‘documentary’ is narrated by its director, Marty DiBergi, played by Rob Reiner, who is also the director of This Is Spinal Tap. Or so ‘they’ say. Rumours continually reverberate that Reiner didn’t so much as ‘direct’ the film, as he did just assemble the footage that was captured. Many suggest – especially when you go on to encounter Christopher Guest’s ‘style’ in films like Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration – that the cast literally sorted themselves out, Reiner included, and then the director worked it all out in the edit. I’m not convinced.
What is unarguable though is that the movie is brilliant at telling its story through things that happen in the background and at the edges of the picture: By the end of the film, we know as much about the personalities and conflicts of the band members as if the movie had been straightforward narrative. The faux-documentary format never distracts, not for one second.
Reiner’s DiBergi – said to be a pastiche of Martin Scorsese and how he presented himself in his concert movie The Last Waltz - explains that he was first attracted to the band by its unusual loudness. This is later explained by Nigel Tufnel in the iconic moment when he shows the camera crew his amp – all amps go up to ten. His goes up to eleven. Why? “Coz it’s one louder!” DiBergi follows Spinal Tap on tour, he repeatedly asks profound questions that are only there to inspire deep, meaningless, babbled answers, and his cameras come to sit back and passively watch as the group comes unglued through a variety of obstacles and incidents that I do not want to list here.
And there’s the rub. No genuine, lengthy essay can be written about This Is Spinal Tap. To do that you could only end up, paragraph by paragraph, point by point, singling out every stellar joke, gag, comedic set-piece, zinger, cameo (Ooooh look – Bruno Kirby! Billy Crystal! Etc) and that – to spoil even a second of this film – is a crime in itself. All you can do is call the film out for what it is, leave your word out their to sink in and let the people experience the joy of this truly hilarious film for themselves.
This Is Spinal Tap needs to be experienced. It has to. It is without a doubt one of the five funniest movies ever made. The days of being able to experience it as if it was a ‘car crash’ “real” documentary are long over, admittedly, but experience it you must. Truthfully… Is there anyone out there who hasn’t though? You most certainly shouldn’t be on this site if that is the case.
Short and to the point: This Is Spinal Tap is an absolute comedy delight that very much defines the term “indispensible” in regard to the title of this column!
Related Posts:
- THE INDISPENSIBLES - #0: THE SET-UP
- THE INDISPENSIBLES - #19: TWELVE ANGRY MEN
- DVD Review (R1): FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
- THE INDISPENSIBLES - #17: SWINGERS
- THE INDISPENSIBLES - #11: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
8 Responses to “THE INDISPENSIBLES - #22: THIS IS SPINAL TAP”
Possibly the most quotable movie of all time. Definitely one of the greatest comedies. Such an amazing film. Was goign to say the only thign it was short was Fred Willard, but then remembered he was the colonel on the base. So the only thing it’s short is more Fred Willard!
I’ve been looking on the Google Trends site, new watchmen trailer is a hot subject at the moment!
That needs more Fred Willard too.
Willard obviously made an impression didn’t he? Coz Guest kept him around for WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, BEST IN SHOW, MIGHTY WIND and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION in which, bar the last one in which that whole movie belongs to Catherine O’Hara, he steals the whole movie each time!
Watch the deleted scenes on GUFFMAN where he is outside playing baseball in the garden with O’Hara and he is just wholloping the ball off into the stratosphere and sending her to pick it up, whilst giving a “sports commentary” on proceedings that starts to emulate the state of their marriage.
Funny, tragic, quite heartbreaking but beautifully performed by O’Hara and Willard and it reveals both of them are solid dramatic performers as well as hilarious comedians!
My little sister LOOOOOOOVES this movie. LOVES it to an insane degree. I liked it a lot, but sheesh, she LOVES Spinal Tap.
Tell her to stay away from the RETURN OF SPINAL TAP concert flick they did nearly a decade later, filmed at The Royal Albert Hall here in the UK.
VERY inferior!
However, your sister has GRRRRRREAT taste!
She loves Spinal Tap and Twilight… Boy that’s a tough one there.
She’s such an odd child.
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