DELUXE BOX Set (4×Vinyl/2CD/Blu-Ray)
RAMMSTEIN: PARIS – the DELUXE BOX EDITION, 128 mins concert experience,
directed by Jonas Åkerlund, 4 exclusive coloured (blue) 180gr vinyl records,
2CD plus Blu-Ray
Catching the excitement of a spectacular concert on film is an almost
impossible task. All the senses are stimulated at live events in a way that
can't be replicated onscreen.
Director Jonas Åkerlund's extraordinary film RAMMSTEIN: PARIS is the
closest anyone has ever come to cracking this dilemma. His creative rendition of
the all-new stage production they delivered at Paris Bercy in March 2012 takes
the art form to a whole new level, capturing the rush and grandeur of Rammstein
live the way the band has always deserved.
The look this time is sweaty, grimy gothic veering off into Grand Guignol, a
technical tour de force that captivates you even before the music has started,
as the titles flicker by like an electronic malfunction to the sinister hisses
and sighs of the industrial stage set. Steam and light pulsate to a dystopian
beat, a flaming torch parts the crowd, and the hooded band march ritualistically
through the audience to the stage via an elevated gantry, ratcheting-up the
tension.
Anyone who can tease the crowd for this long is confident of delivering, and
Rammstein do so in spades. As the grinding lurch of ‘Sonne’ mutates into
‘Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen’, fireballs shoot skywards from the
guitarists' lapels, and soon Till's flaming hands are windmilling, smoke
seeping from his nose and mouth as he sings. In ‘Feuer Frei!’ three of the
musicians have fire shooting out of their faces, the guitars burst into flames
at the end of ‘Du Riechst So Gut’, and the boomeranging fireworks Till
shoots over the crowd during ‘Du Hast’ have to be seen to be believed.
We've all seen concert films edited so headache-inducingly fast that you
can't see anything properly. Åkerlund's genius here is his ability to cut the
action at a breathless pace which leaves you feeling exhilarated not
disorientated. Like the car crash sequences in The Bourne Ultimatum, the variety
of camera angles and frenetic speed with which they assault you leaves you
feeling not so much dazed as, well – like you are really there.
As they thrash though ‘Asche Zu Asche’, you realize that the lens through
which we're seeing Rammstein has become a seventh band member. There are strange
colors, textures, kaleidoscopic visual effects, distressed overhead crowd shots
that look like insects, hallucinatory dissolves of flailing band members and
unsettling flash frames like Till's intermittently satanic black eyes and
forked tongue, fanged creatures cavorting in the crowd and electric lightning
striking Flake's keyboards like a scene from Frankenstein's laboratory. This
is a new kind of concert film, the live experience enhanced – as no one in
the hall would have seen it.
Most bands use the B stage at the other end of the hall for an acoustic
interlude. Not Rammstein. As Richard Kruspe unleashes ominous electro beats from
a keyboard, the rest of the band are whipped to the podium on their knees like
groveling submissives by dressed-in-drag drummer Christoph Schneider for a
version of ‘Bück Dich’ that raises the tempo to fire alarm levels, its
explosive conclusion echoing the version that got them arrested in America. But
there is tenderness too, even a moment when the band stands in silence on the B
stage smiling at the audience surrounding them, soaking up the love.
A concert film is never the same as being at a concert, but RAMMSTEIN: PARIS
is the perfect fusion of the band's extraordinary stage show with the film
editor's craft. It is a visual feast, a celebration of Rammstein live that is
both different to and in some ways better than being there – and a definite
contender for the best concert film of all time.
- VINYL-BOX (PAL)
- Box Set, Lift Off Lid Box, Format 325×325mm, 4× 180gr Blue Vinyl (2×
Gatefold), 2CD+Blu-Ray