The British film Pink Floyd – The Wall was published in 1982, and is
based on Pink Floyd’s 1979 album “The Wall”.
As a musical film directed by Alan Parker, the motion picture
incorporates both live-action and animated elements. Highly metaphorical and
rich with symbolic imagery, Pink Floyd has much influence from George Orwell’s
written works 1984 and Animal Farm.
The film is a stunning vision of self-destruction and one of the
most horrifying musicals of all time, full of anger and fury. It can be only
understand when we know precisely what was happening in Britain at that time.
In 1980’s, England suffered serious riots across many major cities. The biggest one, that happened in London was
Brixton uprising.
We see this violence portrayed in scenes during the song “Hey You”,
showing British police in riot gear facing off against a mob. Human blood
flowing to the gutter shows what totalitarian systems are heading for. Young
people are required to go through the school making them slaves without their
opinion.
The number of people out of work in Britain has risen above three
million for the first time since the 1930s. Argentina invades the Falkland
Islands and Argentina and the UK go to war over a small island thousands of miles
away.
The Wall is a fantasy about the future destruction caused by tyranny
and dictators like President Ronald Reagan, Thatcher, and Breshnev. It
criticises Margaret Thatcher’s government and her military response to the
crises and the Falklands War. President Ronald Reagan made a speech to members
of the British Parliament in which he predicts the downfall of Communism,
recalling the success of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the fight
against Nazi tyranny. The desires, hopes, and dreams of the people are
contrasted with the absurdities of nuclear threat and the Cold War.
The World was in struggle for freedom. Mankind is forced to change.
At the beginning of the movie, while the songs "Good Bye Blue Sky"
and "Empty Spaces" play, we see a white dove, symbol of freedom. The
dove is changing into the black eagle, and then into a bombardier plane that is
killing every sign of life. It symbolises a time of a high tensions between the
United States and Soviet Russia, which at that time dominated much of Eastern
Europe and was attempting to spread its Communist ideology into other
countries.
When Pinky is on his concert we can see his alter ego, (perhaps not
even him at all) dressed in Fascist uniform, with military security (without
voice, will, or own thought). We can look into his cold eyes, but we will not
find anything there. It has such a universal meaning even today, in many
totalitarian parts of the world where evil and the war are entertainment for
the masses. Pink Floyd – The Wall is a warning and a call for better world.
