![]() During a stadium-show performance of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” several of the group’s many members line up at the front of the stage to rock out. But their stage personae are similarly overwrought, and songs such as “Surf City Eastern Block” (which has Butler assuming an alter ego) maintain a distance between listeners and the band. Morisset captures some barn-burning performances the selections from “Funeral” prove the album’s destined to last, and even the “Neon Bible” tracks tempt audiences into forgiving the album’s thematic and lyrical heavy-handedness. They did so because of the music, and when “Miroir Noir” sticks to tunes, it shines. After Arcade Fire’s debut release, “Funeral,” appeared in 2004, music bloggerati instantly elevated the group to the indie pantheon. That’s not entirely the film’s fault it’s also the band’s. But for the most part, unless you really know the band members coming in, they remain mostly anonymous, faceless. His wife, multi-instrumentalist Régine Chassagne, gets some face time too-during which she never seems quite hinged, exactly. Butler comes off as, alternately, a revival preacher and wild-eyed revolutionary either way, he exudes a scary amount of solemn zeal. Maybe it’s the old observer effect, but the viewer never gets a glimpse behind the band’s indie cutesy-pie veneer, and it always seems like the band members are performing scripted roles. Yet the band members never let their guard down-they’re always performing, even during candid moments, sprinting up and down hotel hallways, putting on both literal and figurative masks. The final scene’s a nod to online indie concert series Black Cab Sessions, and many scenes capture the band members in the middle of rehearsals and downtime, in hopes of emulating the free-wheeling performances captured by Paris-based La Blogotheque’s Take-Away Shows. “Miroir Noir” often adopts a vérité approach. Morisset, who helped shape the viral marketing blitz for “Neon Bible,” struggles stylistically. But while it hastens to assure fans that the band hasn’t really changed, the movie’s many ambiguities frustrate that impulse. The film is padded with fan testimonials, recorded on a hotline set up before the release of “Neon Bible” these constitute a self-deprecating acknowledgement of the erstwhile indie darling’s mainstream windfall. “Miroir Noir,” Vincent Morisset’s new Arcade Fire concert film, combines scenes of the band’s performances and offstage antics with bits of found footage. It’s a perfect moment except, the scene ends what amounts to a 70-minute advertisement for Arcade Fire. Even as he laments the cultural deadening of that old-time American religion-namely, consumerism-one of its emblems pops up, neon-bright, just through his cab’s window. “I don’t want to live in America no more.” Right on cue, the cab stops for a red light right next to a Best Buy store, and its glowing sign floats in space next to Butler’s countenance. “I don’t want the salesman knocking at my door,” Butler intones. He’s singing the lyrics to “Windowsill,” which, like so many of the other tracks off 2007’s “Neon Bible,” strike a world-weary tone. It will be the best $5-14 you can spend this week.It’s night, and Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler sits alone in the backseat (appropriate!) of a moving taxi. It will cost you between $5.99 and $13.99, depending on which format you download. If you like what you see, you can download the movie from and watch the whole thing. Here's a selection of my favourite parts from the film. The many intimate moments in this film makes you feel like you are with the band, whether the quirky scene in the elevator or at their concerts where you just want to jump up and down and sing/dance along to some of the tracks. I cannot gush enough about the Vincent Moon and now I admire him even more. I love that shot so much, if it was framed and on a wall, I’d take it home with me. The cinematography is gorgeous, my heart almost skipped a beat when I saw the shot above in the movie. You are thrown straight into the band’s music and their interaction amongst themselves – which is the real dialogue they are having with us, the viewer. It doesn’t contain any actual dialogue between the band members and the viewer, so there’s nothing like the band explaining what they do, what this song means, etc. It follows the band during rehearsals, concerts and many random moments in various locations. It is a beautiful film, on so many levels. Miroir Noir, a music documentary about Arcade Fire was screened at the closing night of Mahmovies winter season on 17th Feb.
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