Pavements

Pavements is an unusual work. Described by its writer/director as a “semiotic experience” this four-pronged look at the rock band, Pavement, will most likely appeal to die-hard fans of the group or those who enjoy quasi-Avant Garde art and experimental film. This is something that would not look out of place coming from the Warhol factory.  How much you get from the film will depend on how much you can invest in what is going on and that is likely going to rest almost entirely on whether or not you are able go just let this happen. With that, being a fan of the band or at least not minding the music, which is ever present, is key to one surviving this work.

This is not a film you go to looking for detailed history or a thesis. While the director states, up front, that this is “the world’s most important and influential band”-apparently, Alex Ross Perry has never heard of pretty much any other band-you come away knowing almost nothing about them. You may wish that while the noise is the point, they would just turn the volume down so you could concentrate on some of the interviews. Instead, what you get is noise that would make the Grinch’s heart shrink once more.

You have here a shoot with the band preparing for a reunion concert, a gallery shows, a fake awards-biopic and an off-Broadway musical. Each of these is shown in stages, from preparation to debut, and none is very compelling. By trying to do everything, the film fails to do anything. Ambition only works when the reach and grasp are there. This is not even a bold misfire. It is simply a failure. Which is a shame, because Perry has much talent and the story of a band that was indeed very influential and popular, albeit for a limited time and in a very particular way, is worthy of documentation.

It is not just the lack of focus, which is an issue here, but the complete lack of context and the whiplash one gets first trying to sort out what they are watching. It is perhaps a result of the subject that the film is nearly drama free-they switched drummers at one point, but it was not a huge scandal-and Stephen Malkmus, the band’s leader, is a very calm guy, based on what is seen here. Aside from an incident in which they flipped off fans that flung mud at them during a concert, the band was indeed essentially drama free. When they ended things the first time, it was because they were tired of grinding it out. In a way, this is refreshing, yet it does not make for compelling work in and of itself. It is therefore up to the director to do something to give us insight, which does not happen, and to keep our interest. What transpires is four different films, as mentioned, yet none is developed enough to keep your attention or be worthy of the over two hour run time.

The film must be given credit for what it tries to do and how it avoids convention-which is a very punk and rock thing to do-yet a little more traditional structure could have gone a long way toward illuminating and engaging. There will be moments you will be uncertain which section you are watching and that is a problem. In other concert films, and other works about final or reunion events, clarity is key. While this is presented as a feature rather than a bug, what could have been an extraordinary look at a very ordinary band, fails to ignite because it cannot get out of its own way.

PAVEMENTS IS NOW PLAYING IN LIMITED THEATERS