Product Details

• Actors: Fugazi
• Directors: Jem Cohen
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Dischord
• DVD Release Date: November 12, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000ZDQID0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,887 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind The Scenes With Fugazi, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fugazi: Instrument [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Well, I know I've been curious. I've wanted to look behind the Fugazi curtain to hear and see what goes on when the band writes, tours and records. Fugazi's new Instrument video and soundtrack CD provide an all-access pass to the inner workings of one of today's premier bands.

I ordered both from Dischord and watched the video (a few times, I'm not ashamed to admit) before listening to the soundtrack CD, and I think that's the way to do it. The documentary, shot nonstop by Jem Cohen on tours, in the studio and at rehearsals, shows the members of Fugazi doing what they do best: making music and going to all of the places it takes them. There are several laugh out loud parts -- a well-meaning fan who incorrectly recalls Ian's days in Black Flag, while mispronouncing his name, Guy plotting the death of a Hollywood legend, Joe's futile attempt to tell everyone about his Iggy Pop dream, Brendan rigging a motel showerhead with Dial soap, a slick MuchMusic correspondent who enthusiastically mangles their lyrics...It's a feel-good flicka that leaves me wishing that Guy had a dance studio I could sign up for.

The Instrument soundtrack includes demos of songs that haven't evolved into regular album tracks and raw working 'drafts' of now-familiar songs, some of which are included in the documentary's music bed. A dream come true for any Fugazi fan.

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How Special Of You, Jem, June 19, 2000

By 

Michael (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fugazi: Instrument [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I love this movie...and I hate this movie. Some of it, particularly the early concert material, thrills me more than just about any rock footage, ever. As a collector of punk/hardcore video (Pistols, Clash, Iggy Pop, Minor Threat, X, Circle Jerks, Big Black, Sonic Youth...) I don't give such praise lightly.

Fugazi are equally powerful in the interview segments, where they come off as more intelligent, passionate and witty than on their records. Everything this band is about is represented (in some form or other) in this film, and I'm stunned by Cohen's skill and concision in portraying them so vividly in just two hours. To watch it repeatedly is to fall in love with Fugazi.

Somehow these highlights only make my frustration with the film worse. Some stretches are infected with the dreaded "Rattle and Hum" disease: "casual" interviews more boring than disarming, a confusing chronology, and some unspeakably artsy b & w footage of blurry buildings, slow-motion jamming without live sound, and dazed concertgoers. This stuff would be forgivable from a freshman film-school angle if it didn't seem to necessitate butchering some great band performances.

Because Fugazi are basically about music, especially live music. And my main objection is that this movie, for all its wit and integrity, gives no sense of what Fugazi were like in concert. No song is shown from beginning to end; they are all interrupted, disemboweled, or shown at varying speeds with average studio jams dubbed over them. Think about it--a stage performance is a pure presentation of thought and emotion that needs no reinterpretation. Quite often you wonder at the arrogance of a film-maker who imposes his artistic vision over that of the band. Or, to be plain, you get bloody pissed when a great song is cut off or drowned out to suit the Auteur's self-indulgence.

So, people, if you want to live the genius of the live Fugazi, try to catch them while they're still around. For all its power this film makes me sad, both because a no-bs style would've been much more exciting, and because the Fugazi show I saw in 1988 had little of the dynamite contained in its best moments.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting documentary for a landmark band, February 11, 2004

By 

E. Bartoszak "Media Geek" (murrell's inlet, sc United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Instrument - Ten Years with the Band Fugazi (DVD)

I'm not going to explain Fugazi to you, if you're reading this you probably already love them. So, on to the DVD. It's a documentary, by Jem Cohen, who collaborated with the band since 1987. You get plenty of live footage, studio stuff, outtakes, touring moments, and a mass of interviews that NAIL exactly what Fugazi is all about. Well, worth this Fugazi fan's money, and well worth yours too. I can't say that about many other bands.