MovieChat Forums > Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972) Discussion > filming at pompeii

filming at pompeii

posted 17 years ago by dougy-mcintosh
11 replies | jump to latest

Well i happen to think echoes is one of the greatest songs composed in the 20th century - or ever for that matter. im not such a massive massive fan that i love all there stuff, but certain songs of floyds just connect with me, i also love HEY YOU! from the wall, such a clever clever song.

what i also love about this dvd is just the fact someone made a choice to film in the amphitheatre at pompeii - a place where 2000 years previously, people were fighting to the death against each other, against wild animals - i mean there has been blood spilt on that ground. and 2 millenia later a rock group came back and sang such awesomley mind blowing music about the evolution of life (echoes) i love that contrast!

ive been to pompeii and stood in the amphitheatre so thats another reason why i love this dvd, to see the shots of the ground and the entrance/exit tunnels sends a shiver down my spine,and its so timeless - i visited pompeii summer 2006, and it looked exactly the same as october 1971/2 (when floyd were there)which probably looked exactly the same as when pompeii was alive thousands of years ago.

i think thats great that there not just playing in some music venue that will come and go, there playing where people lived and died, and spanning across 2000 years of human life, and even in 2000 years from now people will watch the dvd and visit the amphitheatre.

if i had to have one complaint though, i wish they had shown more footage of the ruins, i mean if the original version of this lasts 60 minutes, if you line up all the pompeii shots its probably about 30 seconds of material. i know floyd are the stars BUT afterall pompeii is one of the most magical and mysterious places on earth today, id like to have seen more slpicing of the ruins with the music. the band and crew probably had a couple of days to explore around the city, more of it should have found its way into the final version (i know the directors cut ads a few shots, but its still not enough)

but as i say,i only know this because ive seen the city and it is an awesomee xperience.

if youve not been then go, and stand where the gladiators died and where floyd played all those years ago.

[–] ross-noble-1 17 years ago

I`d fuucking love to go.

[–] dougy-mcintosh 17 years ago

well do it, i got a cheap flight from england to rome, then a hotel in naples for ten days, and took in pompeii which is just a short train ride away from naples. seriously me and my girlfriend went to naples for 9 days in a hotel, with 2 return flights and the whole thing cost us less than £500.

i think i flew with easy jet, and booked the hotel through expedia.com.

got a train from rome to naples central, and theres a part of the station that has the route down to pompeii and past vesuivius. belive me its awesome!

its the silence that gets you more than anything, the place just "feels" alive even though its been dead for 2000 years , theres definitely a force/presence there. it was such a great place to film.

if your interested in some digital photos drop me a line and ill try and pull out the pompeii ones.

[email protected]

[–] cornchowder 17 years ago

the most amazing thing i found in the ampitheater... was the acoustics! you could hear whispers from the OTHER side of the ampitheater. i can not even describe what it was like to experience something like that. it was unbelievable. you could hear the clicks of cameras as if you were standing right NEXT to them.

[–] RiversEnd 17 years ago

DM, I think your analysis is dead on! Your so lucky to have seen the pompei! I did think the pompei scenes were powerful against the floyd music! Yes, to few, but still poweful!

Where the Rivers End in Virginia!

[–] stripe_tie 17 years ago

I personally feel that the most powerful scenes on the dvd and the most powerful sight during filming had to be Richard Wright's magical beard. He looked sooooo awesome with that beard, although he looked his coolest around 1968 with that awesome hat he liked to wear.

[–] ebm83 16 years ago

I just went to Pompeii yesterday. It was full of tourists even on Christmas Eve (particularly at the Forum and the Villa of the Mysteries), so I can only imagine how overrun it must be during the summer. In fact, the tourism aspect is the only downside of the site, which is so amazing and overwhelming that it didn't bother me much.

I actually had "Echoes" in my head for much of my visit. It seemed to suit the mood fairly well. I love the long shot that zooms in on them as the song opens.

[–] yodro 16 years ago

I would LOVE to visit Pompeii if it was completely isolated. It's still great to go now but there were simply too many tourists there when I went :(

[–] ebm83 16 years ago

Pompeii is by the far the most touristed ancient site in Italy. I would recommend going to Ostia Antica (just outside of Rome). It is a similarly well-preserved ancient city but without the tourist hordes and on-site restaurant. Hadrian's Villa (also very near Rome) is another place where you're much more likely to get vast areas of ruins to yourself.

[–] lilalexD 16 years ago

I agree with DM's comments. I'd also like to add that one of my favorite aspects of the film is seeing how small the production was.

Nowadays, when a band performs and its filmed, its such a big production.. with several cameras and crew shooting every aspect of it (I think Floyd fell into the trap during The Wall Tour)... also editing wise, since MTV changed how we view music, all you see is heavy editing... no more lingering shots, everything is cut as if the editor has ADD.

I don't think anyone captures live performances as well as they did back in the late 60s / early 70s... now its all about the 3 second rule. 1, 2, 3, cut, 1,2, 3, cut.

[–] pfr_77 15 years ago

So *beep* true... Most dvds these days are a pain to watch. Iron Maiden's Rock in Rio, for example, has no shot that lasts longer than two seconds. No *beep* it's ridiculous.

[–] bigdbc 11 years ago

I'm going 1st week in November 2013. Bringing a Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii poster with me for pictures lol. I cannot wait to see the ruins and their uniqueness.