Björk: Biophilia Live, 2014
Directed by Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland
SYNOPSIS:
Icelandic artist, Björk, performs songs from her eighth album with evocative visuals provided by designers from around the world.
Icelandic warbler Björk presents her eighth studio album Biophilia as a live performance on film, showing off her enigmatic and evocative visions and style. David Attenborough opens the proceedings with a voiceover accompanying BBC documentary-style footage of the Earth, informing us that Björk: Biophilia Live is the coming together of music, nature and science, before Björk herself takes to the stage to do her live show. It is true that music, nature and science are on display on the video monitors above her head, but it would be hard to argue that they “combine” – and it would be even harder to argue that we needed to see it. You see, Björk: Biophilia Live may be a great live experience, but it makes for a lousy movie.
It should be made aware from the get go that this reviewer is not a fan of Björk’s music and, as such, will not be commenting on her audio offerings (horrible as they are). With that said, this reviewer is a fan of music and live performances from artists, particularly those who are looking to incorporate the visual medium into their art. But Björk: Biophilia Live is not a movie like This Is It or Katy Perry: Part of Me because Björk: Biophilia Live is just a filmed performance from one of her shows, and there is nothing on screen that says: this needs to be a film and people need to see it.
This Is It showed us what a spectacle of a show Michael Jackson would have put on and Katy Perry: Part of Me gives us an insight into the backstage shenanigans while presenting some of Perry’s live performances. Both examples highlight the necessity for a movie, something that would offer more than just a concert by an artist. They are both films, they both contain stories, progression and – above all – a point. Björk: Biophilia Live on the other hand is an utterly pointless viewing experience as there is nothing here to see unless you are a fan of Björk and – more importantly – a fan of her album Biophilia. If you don’t like her or the album, then you will find Björk: Biophilia Live a worthless and excruciatingly boring experience.
The colours and lights are very pretty and Björk herself is very talented, but the visuals on the TV screens do not compliment the music and vice versa. They just so happen to be on the screen at same time. And with no connection between the music, the natural footage and the TV screens displaying them, there is no “combination” of music, nature and science. So, again, what is the point of this as a movie? Especially one shown at one of the largest movie festivals in the world. If you’re a fan of Björk then you may enjoy yourself, but this very limited audience are the only people who can find a modicum of interest or intrigue from Björk: Biophilia Live. And even then, it’s probably better to see it live and in person rather than on a theatre screen. It’s a completely worthless, pointless, grating and annoying film and it boggles the mind that it has gotten this far to a point where people are sitting in actual cinemas watching it on an actual big screen.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published September 30, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
