A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the screening of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii in Montreal, in its newly restored version. We've just found that there has been a little more to this than we were initially aware of!
Yesterday evening saw the world premiere of some newly discovered additional interview footage with the band, which will be screened again on Monday afternoon (October 14th), at 1pm at the Excentris Fellini, 3536 boulevard St-Laurent in Montreal. Tickets for the showing in two day's time of the 60 minute Le festin des huîtres (Chit Chat with Oysters) can be booked through Nouveaucinema.ca.
"Chit Chat with Oysters is the opposite of Live at Pompeii," summarised director Adrian Maben to the La Presse newspaper. "I shot these pictures with a camera light, just as if it is a family film. We see how the group worked. There are a lot of great, and trivial, conversations. On food. About friendship. On how to avoid conflict in a group. We find a group with a lot of humour. This is the hidden face of Pink Floyd."
On the official website, Adrian talks about the new footage: "In December 1971, Pink Floyd met at the small Europa Sonore studio in Paris to work on the multi track mix of “Live in Pompeii” previously recorded by Charles B. Raucher. Sound effects were added to the original tapes. David Gilmour and Richard Wright overdubbed their voices for Echoes, part I and II. Roger Waters and Nick Mason remained in the control room. In the middle of the day, the roadie Chris Adamson was sent to buy a few dozen oysters and beers at the nearby Brasserie Lorraine. During an improvised lunch the four members of the band answered questions about their music and the schemes they had devised to avoid infighting. They poked fun at the director and at themselves. Their hilarious, off-the-cuff, chit chat was unique because in those days the Floyd rarely talked about themselves to the media. This 16mm black and white film is an authentic portrait of the group as they were a few months before the release of the first version of Live at Pompeii. It’s a miracle that the recently rediscovered rushes are still undamaged. They have never been seen before with the exception of a ten minute sequence previously used for The Director’s Cut. The images were restored and edited with the help and support of the Cinémathèque française."
Our thanks to those who wrote in about this, and in particular to Christophe Ducournau, John McHugh, and Frederic Dufour. If we hear of future screenings, or other opportunities to see this footage, we will of course let you know...
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