Film #4 Fall Semester This is Spinal Tap

When one hears the genre term "Mockumentary" it's hard not to immediately think of Rob Riener's cult classic This is Spinal Tap. From a modest throwaway sketch on the late night 70's rock show The Midnight Special, Actors Christopher Guest (formerly of National Lampoon's Lemmings), Michael McKean(known by fans of sitcoms as Lenny from Laverne and Shirley) and Harry Shearer (best known for his many voice overs on The Simpsons and SNL) built an engaging, almost too real look at a mock british heavy metal band in the waning years of their lifespan. The film establish the fusion comedy/documentary aesthetic by never locking the camera down, keeping the action and the comedy constantly moving and blurring in and out of focus. It keeps the audience tethered to reality while constantly nudging you in the ribs to get the laughs.

Promotional photo of mock band Spinal Tap

Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel

These go to 11

Performing Stonehenge

Christopher Guest and Rob Riener

It's the film's editing by Kent Beyda that also gives the film its brilliant staccato beat. He knows exactly where to cut on a line to always put the emphasis on the humor while never breaking from the film's stone faced earnestness.

But don't let the comedic resumes of the lead cast fool you. They played all their own instruments and wrote the group's classic library of songs including such gems as "Tonight, Im gonna rock you tonight," "Sex Farm Woman," "Hell-hole", "Rock N Roll Creation" and "Stonehenge".

Although Spinal Tap is not the first film to use the documentary format as a narrative platform (Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run did it decades before), It's not a hard to see that a great deal of today's sitcom shows (the Office, Modern Family, Trailer Park Boys to name a few) borrowed liberally from Tap's improvised style of mock-reality fused with satire. The difference is Tap's humor goes to 11.

_Paul Taglianetti

Links

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/09/29/351755933/question-of-the-week-whats-your-spinal-tap-moment
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/