From the very first moment Canadian indie band Arcade Fire announced they were teaming up with Spike Jonze – director of such incredible films as Where the Wild Things Are and Her – to create a movie that would ship with the deluxe edition of their 2011 album, The Suburbs, fans brimmed with anticipation.
Scenes from the Suburbs, a short film accompanied and inspired by the tracks from the record, yet with its own theme of fading friendship, did not let them down.
https://vimeo.com/36170225
The story focuses on the fractious relationship between Kyle and Winter, two young boys on the precipice of adulthood. Jonze’s direction makes every interaction between the pair – who are usually accompanied by Winter’s girlfriend, Zoe – feel organic and engaging.
It reminds me very much of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, if not for the touch of Red Dawn that comes in the form of soldiers who patrol each suburb as if they are a war zone. This could have ended up as a heavy-handed metaphor for the powers that force to divide the boys at the end of summer, but here it works well.
Director of Photography Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty, Let Me In) sets the scene perfectly, but it’s Arcade Fire’s music that really ties Scenes from the Suburbs together. Few short films are fortunate enough to feature such a grand soundtrack, but Jonze never lets that fact interfere with all the other elements. Its use never feels forced or overbearing, which is a testament to the brilliant minds of all the artists involved.
You can watch the full film above, or on Vimeo.