The main part of End of innocence is an entertaining 2-hour+ documentary covering the history of Nightwish from back when they first got together till after the release of Century Child. It is a very honest look at the band through their ups and downs and it is obvious that the documentary has been put together with a loving touch. It is very well edited with a lot of care and little detail. Funny bits of descriptive text pop up on the screen and suddenly the picture freezes just to capture a band member looking silly.
Opening with a trip to Tuomas Holopainen's idyllic family island, it is from a small cabin on this island that the history of the band is told. This is edited together with clips of the band in the studio or on the road at that moment in time. The way this is put together works great and keeps the pace going for a full 135 minutes. After the first viewing I wanted to go right back and watch it again. There is so much to take in that I'm sure I missed some details the first time.
The funny moments of drunken fooling around are too many to count and right when I thought "Don't they do anything but get drunk and play?" the obvious answer came from the band members themselves.
The beauty of the documentary is that it doesn't take everything too seriously and this gives the revealing personal moments more impact. The last part of the documentary has some startling revelationz and moments of genuine honesty. When you get to the end you will feel like you know both the band, but especially the man behind the music Tuomas Holopainen much better. The documentary gives a glimpse into what makes him tick and create the music that is Nightwish.
Many great moments include footage from the first Nightwish show ever, naked bungy jumping, drunk people falling over, a look at various members "duties" on the stage and of course Tarja... One of my personal favorite moments is when the band goes to a Nightclub and I suddenly recognised the song on the speakers, it was Lordi's "Would You Love A Monsterman?", If you have read my
Wacken 2003 report you will know that I was laughing through most of their concert down there. Even funnier is the glimpse of Lordi opening a few Nightwish shows after that.
There are sooo many funny moments in the documentary that will have you laughing out loud. I won't go into further detail as you really have to discover them yourself. A great sense of irony is also pervading the whole documentary.
So all in all, a documentary that is both fun, serious and deep. Compelling indeed!
The extras include videos for
Over the hills and far away and
End of the world as well as an interview from Brazillian MTV, which is extremely short and seems to be cut of for some reason, but it is worth checking out just for Marco's definition of melodic Heavy Metal. hehe.
Included is also the last part of a concert at Rockefeller, Norway - July 4th 2003. Unfortunately the sound is suffering from a weird highpitched noise sometimes (Is it just me?), but otherwise this show is quite enjoyable. A highlight is the band (excluding Tarja) covering Wild child by W.A.S.P.
Last but not least we get a performance from Summerbreeze 2002. The production is excellent and the sound is thick and full. In fact the sound seems to be a little overproduced at times, especially the choir effect on Tarja's vocals during "End of all hope". This is annoying and takes a something away from the otherwise energy filled live feel. Overall a good concert with Slaying the dreamer being a definite highlight.
I got the limited edition which also contains a bonus CD with the six live tracks from Summerbreeze + The Kinslayer and Come Cover Me from the same concert.
Advertised on the back of the DVD as an extremely confusing photo gallery, I can only agree. This can get quite confusing, but in the good way.... The gallery is a huge maze of photos and you will probably take this tour several times before you've found them all. There are some very entertaining pictures to be found and if you find the way through the maze a special treat awaits you.
While the extras are good, the real juice of the DVD is the documentary and it is one of the best I have experienced. Essential for all Nightwish fans.
Rating: 8/10Written by
Steen Wednesday, November 19, 2003
