Reviewer Reviews...Breton-Surrounded at the BFI

I was fortunate enough to be given tickets to go and see Breton's 'Surrounded' at the BFI for Christmas. Although I was extremely excited about the chance to see my favourite band, I was wary that the results of the visual/audio combination could be horrendously pretentious. However I should not have worried. The band began with The Commission, which combined Star Trek like images of satellites and space. The video definitely has a melancholy feel to it, which will carry on throughout the night. As an unknown man's satellite hurtles towards the earth, he watches images of childhood, and a voice says 'You'll never see anything this beautiful again in your life'.

The band were bolstered on the night by a string quartet, who played some of the music to the shorter films on their own. Highlights of the night included Pacemaker, which combined glamorous dancing with warehouses and water. And December, based on the film Red Road, which was sinister, in both music and film. I would describe the feeling I got when watching it as 'on edge', which was true for most of the screening.

Another highlight was Edward The Confessor, which was both political and interesting. The lyrics 'Take everything, your filthy hands can carry', may be seen as a link to the 2010 London Riots, and the film almost makes me think of 'Ill Manors', although the art collective beat Ben Drew to it, as Edward The Confessor appeared on YouTube in October 2011.

Lastly we were treated to Home Invasion, a new song and an interesting video. The video itself featured a depressed girl who attempted to hang herself and a boy, who didn't seem to know his place, who was planning an armed burglary of that girl's house. However, we sense both got happiness due to the way the boy rips off his balaclava on sight of her, and how both look into each others eyes at the short film's very end. It was as though two lost souls had found one another. That's my intereptation anyway.

Overall, I loved the show, and I will definately see Breton live again soon. It wasn't just the music, or the film, it was also a great experience. If you didn't go, some of the short films can be found on YouTube. Links Below

The Commission
December
Edward The Confessor