REVIEW: HYPE! (1996)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
In the spirit of full disclosure, let me admit upfront that I am from the Beach Boys generation. Not only do I never listen to heavy metal, punk, or grunge music, I haven't listened to anything but classical for years. Given these facts I am one of the least likely people on this planet to be recommending a documentary about the grunge movement in Seattle. Nevertheless, this review will do precisely that.
First time director Doug Pray creates an accessible documentary film, HYPE!, about the birth of grunge in Seattle. It is an absolutely riveting film with broad appeal although given the subject, it may only be seen by a niche audience. If so, a lot of viewers are going to miss out on something well worth seeing.
"Seattle is currently to Rock n' Roll what Bethlehem was to Christianity" claims a magazine article shown as the film opens. To set the stage the picture starts by introducing people to the Northwestern United States. Retro graphic designer Art Chantry tells us, "The Northwest is where the term flying saucer was coined. The Northwest is the serial killer capital of the world. ... This is all part of what goes into the music. ... Everyone wants to come here and live that good yuppie lifestyle."
As the talking heads are speaking, deft editors Doug Pray and Joan Zapata intersperse video clips of the Northwest's majestic beauty and absolute squalor.
Once the background is laid, the groups are shown in performance, but this is most assuredly not a rock video. The clips are short and used to illustrate the points. Two things are immediately clear.
First, these groups have a blast playing their music together. Their shtick of hoping around like kangaroos and jumping into their instruments and into their audience as much from exuberance as showmanship.
As you watch them, their joy becomes quite infectious. This is a high energy, very upbeat show. If it has a single message, it might be that this music is pure unadulterated fun. Certainly the film is quite humorous and never pedantic.
Second, the groups are not all the stereotypes you may believe. If the word grunge makes you think of a bunch of white males with long unkempt hair and needle pitted arms, think again. The groups have people of both sexes and multiple races. Moreover, some of the members look more like nerds than rock stars. As Van Conner of Screaming Trees puts it, "We were the guys in high school who couldn't even talk to the pretty girls. We're nerds."
The show attempts to be a bit educational. One band member demonstrates how punk was transformed into grunge. This excerpt appears on the trailer so I've seen the clip fours times now, and I still can ascertain no difference which, I suppose, is the point. One of the rock producers gives advice to a new band to choose just five chords to play and never play more than three different ones in any one song. Grunge is minimalist music. It is the energy of its players that breathes life into it.
For a documentary, the camera work by Robert Bennett is surprising good. It says in the press kit that the film is done without "any narration or voice-over commentary." This is done so that there would be "no outside pundit." All of this gives the film a clarity that lets us eavesdrop without being noticed.
After the original Seattle bands, especially Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden, get worldwide recognition, other bands flock to Seattle until they number in the thousands. The working title of the film was THE FABULOUS SOUNDS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, but was changed to HYPE! when Pray realized what the media had turned the area's music scene into.
The band members got so disgusted with clueless reporters who show up wanting to get the scoop on the Seattle music scene that they start making up stories. The best appears as fact in a New York Times article that purports to give an up-to-date lexicon of grunge. Twenty-five year old Megan Jasper, a sales rep at Caroline Records in Seattle, just made up words along with their bogus definitions, and the Times took them as gospel and printed them so that the rest of their readers could speak fluent grunge.
Soon the commercial world discovers grunge too. Although the movement's costumes are low rent, the fashion designers see them as an opportunity to turn them into something to make big profits. We have scenes of grunge outfits displayed on the marbled floors of exclusive shopping emporiums.
Similarly, the rock music publishing world wanted to write about nothing but grunge. My favorite article they show is the one headlined: "Honey, I blew up the amp."
For a documentary that interviews three dozen people, it still manages to make all of them compelling. Somehow you feel you get to know all of them in a short amount of time. Many fictional films can't accomplish this with just a few stars. I ended up liking and caring about most of them. A fascinating group. Although I'd still never buy any of their records, I loved watching their antics as they performed, and I loved listening to them talk.
Record producer Martin Rushent sums it up best. He claims the purpose of grunge is to, "get rock back to its basics. Make a noise and play music your parents won't like."
HYPE! runs just 1:24. It was not rated at the time of the press screening, but I see no reason why it shouldn't get a PG rating. There is no sex, nudity, or violence. There may have been some bad language, but I didn't remember any. The film would be fine for anybody, but I am sure it would hold no interest for younger kids. The best documentaries, and this is one, take you into worlds you have never been or ever wanted to go and let you live there vicariously. I enjoyed my voyage into the world of grunge, and I think you would too so I am recommending the film and giving it ***.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: November 13, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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