Customer Reviews

Laibach: A Film from Slovenia [VHS]

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"Regimes have fallen all across Europe and the Soviet Union. Only Laibach remain standing. A colossus of certainly in an era of chaos, Laibach's music, theatre and art keep burning the enduring values lost to communist and capitalist states East and West. But their vision of Utopia as the exact negative totalitarianism drew flak in ex-Yugoslavia, Europe and America and their challenging montages of totalitarian imagery and brute rock and disco rhythms aroused both anger and guilty pleasure. Paradoxically the Laibach issue seeded the democratic debates that led to the declaration of independent Slovenia, forcing their critics to revise the opinion of this most controversial group."

"Featuring rare live footage, promo clips, archive materials and interviews, 'Laibach: A Film from Slovenia', by Daniel Landin and Chris Bohn, documents the spread of the Laibach phenomenon. It investigates their beginnings after the death of Tito, the founding of the utopian arts organization Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) and their rehearsals of the collapse of the East. It interrogates Laibach's impact on the West, most specifically America, and their role in the newly aligned world. If everybody else seems to be capitulating to Coca-Cola culture, fortress Laibach shows there is another way."

NOTE: This DVD begins with a more complete version of 'A Film From Slovenia' than the earlier Mute Film VHS, this DVD having a couple of extra minutes of commentary and the complete 'Sympathy For The Devil' video. Best of all, the DVD audio and video are cleaner and more detailed than the VHS tape ever was. You get the Ljubljana TV interview of 1983, where the youthful Laibach are heard, "Not state, not party, not God, not the Devil. Happiness lies in total negation of one's identity ... deliberate rejection of personal tastes and beliefs. In depersonalisation, sacrifice. In identification with a higher system, the mass, collective ideology." After which, the TV interviewer declares Laibach's ideas as being 'dangerous' and 'horrifying'.

The 'Occupied Europe NATO Tour' portion of the DVD includes an additional hour of material, including more excellent live musical performances (1994-1995) history and commentary;

Songs include; 'N.A.T.O.', 'War', 'Final Countdown', 'In The Army Now', 'Dogs Of War', 'Alle Gegen Alle', 'National Reservation', '2525', 'Mars On River Drina', 'Wirtschaft Ist Tod (Economics Is Death)', 'Sympathy For The Devil', and 'Geburt Einer Nation'

I consider this excellent two-hour DVD a MUST OWN for Laibach fans, and a MUST SEE for alternative rockers unfamiliar with Laibach.

Half of this DVD is a live concert from the NATO tour. Laibach concerts are amazing spectacles, and it is great to see one recorded. However, the producer went way too far in using their iconic computer graphics - the band is so visually interesting that there is no need for this. Having seen them live in their recent WAT tour, I would also like to see a DVD of that.

The other half is 'Laibach: A Film from Slovenia'. This is one of the better documentaries I have ever seen. Particularly interesting is the interview of actual philosophers who provide great insights into Laibach and the NSK collective. I also enjoyed the interview with concertgoers in New York City - even when they don't understand what is going on, it is clear they have the impression that they experienced something multi-layered and mind blowing.

As great as Laibach's music is, audio alone is not enough to fully appreciate or understand the group. I hope that more DVDs are on the way.

To the western world, Laibach can seem, and come off as a little neo-millitant. I say,and use this term, only because to someone who has no experience with the group might see them as facists. When in fact they are the EXACT OPPOSITE! Don't let the khaki/officer cloths, or the millitant sounding horns lead you to a negative assumption of what they stand for. As westerners, we have a hard time relating to such pride. We are just over 200 years old in the States! We know nothing of struggles.

Laibach puts on an interesting display of their background, and Slovenia in this artsy, and obscure video. Iscem Slovene!

This two part DVD will absolutely blow you away ! First, the documentary on Laibach shows how a mere band of musicians can have a true and lasting effect on history itself. Laibach's influence in helping establish Slovenian independence is wonderfully captured for all posterity. Watching establishment forces trying to deal with them is hilarious. They just don't know what to do with them and nothing they try can stop Laibach or their vision as it is their "responsibility to be irresponsible". You are also able to gain insight into what Industrial Music is all about and why it is so relevant in today's world. The concert footage is superb and powerful. Laibach can turn old songs like Europe's "Final Countdown", Paul Revere and the Raiders's "Indian Reservation" and Zeger & Evans' "2525" into triumphant anthems of spectacular magnitude. Lead singer, Milan Fras, has such a charismatic and dynamic presence which is simply incredible. After viewing this DVD, you will come away with nothing but admiration for this band. Laibach has literally changed the course of history. How many bands can you say that about ?

This video is the best explanation of Laibach that you can find. They get to describe their work in their own words; you get a sense of their music and their drama.

You can also get a glimpse of Slovenian society, their take on all this. The truth about Laibach is always a bit polemical. You see (in the movie) the apparachiks of the Yugoslav state interviewing a very young Laibach, and them dismissing them as a dangerous, I don't know, CharlesMansonesque cult. Then, you see a Yugoslav intellectual deconstructing Laibach and revealing it as the anti-totalitarian critique that it is.

In the West, we have not had to live through socialist totalitarianism, although many of us are familiar with socialist utopianism. Laibach is the death knell of socialist utopianism.

Once you get over the shock value, Laibach is just great fun. This is a video to laugh over. I would not want to underemphasize the political and social significance of Laibach. And the irony-challenged should stay away. But this movie is as funny today as when it first came out some eight years ago.