Synopsis
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
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Cast
- David ByrneSelf - Vocals, Guitar
- Chris FrantzSelf - Drums, Vocals
- Jerry HarrisonSelf - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
- Tina WeymouthSelf - Bass, Percussion, Vocals
- Ednah HoltSelf - Backing Vocals
- Lynn MabrySelf - Backing Vocals
- Steven ScalesSelf - Percussion
- Alex WeirSelf - Guitar, Vocals
- Bernie WorrellSelf - Keyboards
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
By common consensus, Stop Making Sense is the best concert film ever made. - 100
San Francisco Chronicle
Has there ever been a live concert film as vibrant or as brilliantly realized? I don't think so. [Review of re-release] - 100
San Francisco Examiner
Part aerobics workout, part self-styled dreamscape, Sense is a hyperactive piece of performance art that begins as the stripped-down dress rehearsal of a garage band and builds into a mighty, exhausting spectacle that shakes as much ass as it kicks. [Review of re-release] - 90
The New York Times
Mr. Demme has captured both the look and the spirit of this live performance with a daring and precision that match the group's own. - 90
Time
It could as well be called Best Thing of Undetermined Species. - 90
Salon
Stop Making Sense is so beautifully choreographed that in some ways it's more like theater than a rock show. [Review of re-release] - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
Starting with Mick Jagger, rock concerts have become, for the performers, as much sporting events as musical and theatrical performances. Stop Making Sense understands that with great exuberance. - 80
Chicago Reader
It's 88 minutes of solid, inventive music, filmed in a straightforward manner that neither deifies the performers nor encourages an illusory intimacy, but presents the musicians simply as people doing their job and enjoying it.
