Vincent Moon has fast become one of the most authoritative music filmmakers in recent years; the breadth and scope of his subjects spread far and wide through the alternative music world, either via the vast number of artists he has worked with through his Take Away Shows published on La Blogothèque or his feature films that include Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible and Efterklang’s An Island. Here, Moon teams up with Mogwai, a band long-associated with brooding, malevolent and often blistering live shows, to present a film that captures them at their greatest – on stage.
Shot in Brooklyn in 2009, it catches the band on the back of The Hawk Is Howling. The film is shot in glorious black and white, briefly interspersed with shots of the band travelling in the city all of which meld seamlessly into them on stage. The cinematography is intense and frequently claustrophobic - capturing the band, the instruments and the audience as penetratingly as is humanly possible. The pace of the film is largely dictated by the songs being performed; the slow, concentrated, ruminating moments in the music are matched by still, unhurried, incredibly close-up shots of the band, their audience and instruments. As the songs build and the inevitable explosions detonate, the camera work and editing take a mainline hit and burst into a frenzied and manic state - such is the speed of the cuts of the performance they are almost fit-inducing, appearing like a series of intense lights, when in fact it's the hyperactive clashing of the black and white caused from the editing pace.
The film is relatively brief, coming in at under an hour and stretching to only eight songs. However, within those eight songs the breadth of Mogwai’s talents are aptly captured and stretched. Moon must have undeniably been a nuisance on stage, his incessant close-ups and relentless movements no doubt restricting the natural movement of the group, yet it doesn’t show in this finished product. There is still a natural flow and seemingly unaware quality to the performance - Moon is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Mogwai don’t need cameras in front of them to display and capture the sheer brutality and intensity of their music, they have mastered that on their own, yet Moon manages to create a film that moulds and manoeuvres around the bands pre-existing sonic template and as a result the two are largely complimentary of one another.