Not just a live film then. How was this going to work?
Happily, it works very well indeed. I saw it at the Odeon in Glasgow last night and then I'm seeing it again at the Glasgow IMAX. I thought that I may as well treat this like a tour and see them when they are in town. Fernando Frias has captured the spirit of the gigs on the last tour pefectly. Ok, some of the songs are edited and (insert name of your favourite song) isn't shown, but that's not the point of this film. I'm not hugely informed about Mexican culture generally but the film's explanation of it in the context of its approach to death is fascinating and it compliments Depeche Mode's music perfectly. Some of the filming techniques are fairly experimental, especially for a concert film, but Frias pulls it off and the whole package makes for an extremely rewarding watch.
Ultimately, I was there and you will be there because of Depeche Mode and they are rightly the stars of this film. Dave's on-stage persona seen close up like this rather than from ten miles away in a stadium is outstanding. Massively over the top at all times, he struts around, does that odd chicken walk thing, pretends he's playing the piano very badly, spits an unusal number of times and generally owns the entire stadium. Martin, a man who obviously has an ear for a tune and is undisputably a musical genius, hops around displaying no sense of rhythm whatsoever, dancing like a drunk toddler holding a guitar. These are the things you don't generally see a lot of at the gigs. They both seem to be having the time of their lives however. Good for them.
The film handles World In My Eyes and the Fletch tribute perfectly. Martin and Dave appear in offstage mode before the song to add an edge to it and the crowd display pictures of Andy as the song plays. His death still doesn't seem real and that section of the film has the same emotional power that section of the concerts did. The other tracks are great and, unlike on the quite terrible Live Spirits, they sound superb. Stripped for example sounds huge. Wagging Tongue, a real highlight of the live shows, also sounds incredible. It's great seeing everyone going mad for the big songs towards the end too. I was doing the Never Let Me Down Again arm wave in the cinema last night albeit in very subtle form. It's very hard not to.
It's not perfect however. I would have liked to have heard more from the Mexican fans who seem to be as hardcore a part of the Depeche fanbase as anyone else. There are some comments at the start but it's pretty limited. I think more from the fans would have added more to the film albeit the non concert parts of the film do work very well.
Ultimately, Depeche Mode: M is hugely enjoyable and a great reminder of what was a great tour. The forthcoming Depeche Mode - Memento Mori: Mexico City will give us the full show (albeit culled from the three nights) on film to fill in the missing songs and that helps Depeche Mode: M work as a standalone film about Depeche Mode as opposed to just a Depeche Mode concert film.
