Bodysong (DVD)

Bodysong is a multimedia project comprising a film and a website. The film is a compilation of clips, taken from a vast range of archive footage of cinema and television from the last 100 years, all of which relate to various aspects of the human condition (the website provides the stories behind each of these clips). Many of the clips are slowed down, which both allows us to dwell on each image for longer and creates an immersive, hypnotic effect.

Aside from a few snippets of dialogue towards the end, the images are silent, and the film's only audible voice is the music by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. A post-rock score with classical, free-jazz and BBC Radiophonic influences, Greenwood's work adds another compelling dimension to the film, a parallel narrative that only occasionally feels a little heavy-handed. It's certainly miles ahead of Philip Glass's bludgeoning score to the overrated Koyaanisqatsi (1983), an earlier film which took a vaguely similar stylistic approach to Bodysong, but whose thesis was far less subtly presented.

Bodysong is ambitious but personal; both technically accomplished and emotionally rewarding. It begins delicately with sperm advancing on an egg, before it leaps into startling scenes of childbirth. From there, it documents the process of growth, mostly through home videos of toddlers and teens. Next, sex is portrayed through a montage of old pornographic films, accompanied lightheartedly by a hybrid of cocktail-jazz pastiche and noise rock on the soundtrack. The film becomes more sober when it switches its focus from sex to violence. By including ubiquitous war footage in the film, director Pummell acknowledges that the ability to commit acts of unspeakable brutality is every bit as much a part of the human condition as eating.

Made in 2002, Bodysong has been given a DVD release before, but this reissue from the BFI is available in two versions. The so-called 'Standard' edition - nonetheless impressive compared to your typical package - comes with a 32-page booklet, containing brief but excellent essays from esteemed writers including critic and BFI programmer Geoff Andrew, and the 'Cyberpunk' pioneer, science-fiction author Willam Gibson. There's also a few words from Pummell himself, and a couple of crew biographies, along with a whole host of stills from the film. The extras on the disc are good too - two of Pummell's fascinating early short films, along with an interview in which he explains the genesis and development of the project.

Apparently the 'Limited Collector's Edition' features an expanded 200-page book which contains more stills, along with information on the archive footage used in the film. I haven't seen this edition in the flesh, so I'm not fully qualified to comment, but I'm always a bit sceptical about these 'Special Edition' packages, as spending the additional money isn't often worth the little extra you're getting. And let's face it, it's a DVD, it's not going to become all that much more valuable a collector's item as time goes on. Since, in this case, the standard edition is so good anyway, not plumping for the glitzier package doesn't seem like a big deal.

Overall Verdict: A great DVD release of a startling look at being human.

Special Features:
Two early shorts by Simon Pummell: Blinded by Light (2000) and How Long is a Minute? (2001)
Interview with Simon Pummell
Theatrical trailer
Commentary on the score by Jonny Greenwood and Simon Pummell

Reviewer: Tom René