What is hidden behind some of the most legendary album covers? This is already a question with exciting potential. The documentary Squaring the Circleby Dutch director Anton Corbijn, offers several answers on this subject, but he doubles this work with a portrait of the English studio Hipgnosis, the cornerstone of a whole section of musical design in the 1970s.
Anton Corbijn knows the art of talking about music, he who has worked on films on Joy Division and Depeche Mode, in addition to having directed the music video for Heart-Shaped Box of Nirvana, among other things. He is therefore in his element with this documentary on the Hipgnosis box, created by bubbling creators Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell.
Hipgnosis? The film quickly camps the importance of the studio to hook us. The two artists have worked extensively on the visuals of groups and artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, 10 CC, Wings and other monsters of British rock. As long as we are sensitive to this music, we can’t wait to discover more. It was Syd Barrett who accidentally came up with the name of the studio? It is still not nothing.
With the exception of the color presentation of the covers, Anton Corbijn opted for black and white in his documentary. Maybe it’s a nod to the cover of The Dark Side of the Moonby Pink Floyd, one of the masterpieces of Storm and Po. This is a choice that can be defended, even if the textures and the saturation of the shades of black vary according to the interviews.
These interviews are at the center of the work. The pillar of the film remains the testimony of Powell – Storm died in 2013 -, who carries the story on his shoulders, a story that dwells on fifteen key covers of the studio, which shone from 1968 until the beginning of the 1960s. 1980. But we can hear in particular Roger Waters and David Gilmour, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, as well as Noel Gallagher. We’ve seen worse skewer of guests.
And these musicians have the grace to shine the spotlight on the two men behind Hipgnosis. Thanks to their anecdotes, we discover a passionate, demanding, super daring, free pair – and whose fees are very high. Each time we come back to some of the artistic choices that led to the covers, most of the time with photos and archive videos.
Overall, the chronological and repetitive approach of Squaring the Circle can be boring, but the works are so significant in the history of music that we cling to the end.
In an era where sleeves measure a few millimeters on phone screens, it remains very relevant to point out that these square sleeves that cover round discs are works of art in their own right.