Meeting People Is Easy

Meeting People Is Easy is a 1998 British documentary film by Grant Gee. It follows the British rock band Radiohead on their world tour following the success of their 1997 album OK Computer.[1] The film was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Film at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.

Meeting People Is Easy
VHS cover
Directed byGrant Gee
Produced byDilly Gent
Music byRadiohead
Edited byJerry Chater
Production
company
Distributed byParlophone (EMI)
Release date
30 November 1998 (1998-11-30) (UK, VHS)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Summary

Meeting People Is Easy covers the promotion and tour for Radiohead's third album, OK Computer. The tour began on 22 May 1997 in Barcelona, Spain, and ended 104 performances later in New York's Radio City Music Hall.[1] Most of the film comprises footage of the band working on music and performing (including a performance of "Karma Police" on Late Show with David Letterman) filming promotional material, and giving interviews. It includes footage of the filming of the "No Surprises" music video, the failed studio session for the song "Man of War",[2] and performances of unreleased songs including "Follow Me Around".[3] Journalist Alex Ross described the film as "a kind of counterstrike against the music press, recording scores of pointless interviews with dead-tired members of the band".[4]

Production

According to director Grant Gee, Radiohead sat in hotel suites for days giving interviews. To film each interview, Gee "[ran] around, leaving a microphone in one room, going and filming something in another".[3] He placed surveillance cameras in the band's dressing room, which Gee said foreshadowed the rise of reality television: "We were doing it in a slightly more arty way, but it's the same as Big Brother, what we were doing with that band, seeing them locked in their bubble. Radiohead Big Brother is what I think of that film in a way."[3]

Release

Meeting People Is Easy was released on VHS on 30 November 1998 in the United Kingdom. It was released on DVD on 12 June 2000. It was released in both formats on 18 May 1999 in the United States.

In subsequent years EMI and other record labels had released countless DVDs to promote pop and rock acts, as the format has become dominant over VHS in most parts of the world. In 1999, the film became the first DVD ever released by Radiohead's record label EMI/Parlophone/Capitol Records.

Several television channels broadcast Meeting People Is Easy after its release. In the UK, Channel 4 broadcast the film on 6 May 1999.[5] In the US, MTV broadcast a premiere of the film on 16 May 1999, and The Sundance Channel broadcast the documentary nine times during May 2000.[6]

Reception

Reception for Meeting People Is Easy was positive. The film received an average rating of 6.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, giving it 71% freshness.[7] Reviewer Jessica Brandt of theshrubbery.com gave 5 out of 5 stars.[8] Film critic Daniel Fletcher named Meeting People is Easy one of his ten favourite films.[9] Troy Patterson, a critic for Entertainment Weekly, gave the film a B+, calling it "an expressive mood piece creepy with cosmopolitan paranoia and bracingly somber bombast".[10] Bart Blasengame gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "Instead of taking the usual tour documentary approach and dwelling on individual concerts or behind-the-scenes banter between the band, Gee's film focuses on the absurdity of being an important rock band in the current musical landscape—the shallow marketing of the band, the endless stream of redundant interviews, the blinding photo shoots and awkward television appearances."[1] Kevin Archibald of IGN gave the film a rating of 8/10.

The film has sold over half a million copies on DVD/VHS.[11]

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the "Best Music Film" category at the 2000 Grammy Awards.[11][12]

References
  1. Blasengame, Bart. "It Ain't Easy Being..." music-critic.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  2. "19 Unreleased Radiohead Songs That Could Be on Their Next Album - The Pitch - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  3. Kim, Brandon. "Is "Meeting People" Still Easy?". Independent Film Channel. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  4. Ross, Alex (21 August 2001). "The Searchers: Radiohead's unquiet revolution". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  5. "RADIOHEAD MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY (1999)". BFI Film & TV Database. BFI. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  6. "Meeting People Is Easy on Sundance Channel". ateaseweb.com. 1 May 2000. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  7. "Radiohead: Meeting People Is Easy (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  8. Brandt, Jessica (June 1999). "Movie Review – Meeting People is Easy (A Radiohead Documentary)". theshrubbery.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  9. "THE TOP 10 PROJECT INDIVIDUAL LISTS". thecinematheque.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  10. Patterson, Troy (21 May 1999). "Video Review – Meeting People is Easy (1999)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  11. "Grant Gee – Director Profile". sheffdocfest.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  12. "Awards for Meeting People Is Easy". IMDb. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
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