Customer Reviews

Ile Aiye (The House of Life) - A Film by David Byrne

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I remember vaguely seeing this film on PBS back in the mid to late '80s when it first came out. Seeing it now, I obviously didn't remember much. This is a great, great documentary. You will learn about the religion of candomble, which is a blend of catholicism and African rituals in Bahia, Brazil. This was a big influence for David Byrne during the "Rei Momo" period(and probably continues to be). The rhythms and dances these people do are nothing short of the DNA of rock and roll. You will also learn more about what makes David Byrne tick. As an example, it suddenly makes perfect sense why he would choose Whitney Houston's "I just wanna dance with somebody" as a cover song in concert. Finally, I dare say, you'll learn about life.

To me, Kandomble represents one of the best ways to experience and share religious feeling - a spiritual path where the entire body celebrates through music, rhythm and trance. Clearly, Byrne has been hooked as well.

This DVD represents a collage of images, syncopations, sweaty bodies, images of saints and possessed old ladies, filmed and collated with affection and deep sympathy. At times I thought I glimpsed a sparseness in the spaces between the narrative and the image, a holding back from being swept from holding the camera into the dance frenzy, that sort of reminded me of Werner Herzog. Ile Aiye's narrative is removed out of the ordinary into a place which is neither here nor there. Some might attribute such an approach to lack of concern with craftsmanship, but Byrne pulls it off relatively well. This film makes me want to BE THERE, in Salvador de Bahia, moving together with those bodies that were designed to move and to worship, to celebrate the ecstasy of being filled with the force of life. The words themselves, Oshun, Yemaya, Exu, Xango, Omulu... dance away effortlessly from the tongue...

Well worth seeing.

There is some very good information in this film but it lacks chapters or scenes making it very difficult to locate that information on replay. It is also not really a documentary in the ordinary sense, falling somewhere between an Art Film and a compilation of shorts about various aspects of Brazilian religious beliefs. The visuals and music are interesting but often, as is the case with the first song, they run longer than your interest in the subject given the limited explanation provided. Chapter headings would also have given the viewer a better idea of how the parts relate to each other. I don't doubt that David Byrne was very well versed on this subject. Unfortunately, having that knowledge can make it harder to see the gaps in understanding experienced by a less well educated audience.

Maybe "Ile Aiye" is some kind of code for David Byrne took his camcorder to some of the most remote parts of South America and filmed lots of dancing, drum playing and trance like singing.

No Talking Heads, no David Byrne, no subtitles, no translation, no music you would even understand... You're on you own on this one and you'll find yourselves looking numerous times at your airline tickets saying "when does this jet depart so I can get the hell out of here?"

Unless the theme of this video is something you are ABSOLUTELY familiar with, don't waste your time or money.

You can save your money and watch programs like this on the "foreign culture channel".

I watched this once and yawned. I love David Byrne but this didn't do much for me.