Inside Bjork (2003)

Great Björk documentary

This is a must have DVD for all Björk fans! From early childhood photos to music clips from her early bands to interviews with Björk herself, it is quite unlike any of the other Björk DVD's. You'll also love all the clips with Iceland in the background, especially at the Glacier Lagoon. Seeing Björk practise "the Anchor Song" in Icelandic accompanying herself on a church organ is worth the price alone! December 8, 2007

Interesting but SHORT AND INCOMPLETE

There's more to Bjork's life than this! Comeon! A bit over 50 minutes worth of material, and this is it? I was quite disappointed. Especially after watching the Beatles Anthology (something like 8 hours long). I know that Bjork is not the BEatles and the Beatles aren't Bjork, but 50 minutes?! It could have been a nice 2 hour dingy, with a bit more about her life, her kids, her lover, her work with the sugarcubes, etc. It sucked. August 6, 2007

AWESOME!!!

This is the most (only?) comprehensive video I've seen of Bjork where she actually comments on her music and life. Very interesting! Stories behind all the songs and videos. Her views on just about everything. A MUST HAVE for any Bjork fan! Besides, she's so damn hot! :) November 3, 2006

Inside The Mastermind Of Björk

Of all the Bjork DVD's I own, I find "Inside Bjork" to be one of the most endearing. I love documentaries that go through all the facts and figures about a particular artists' career, and this one is no exception. My only complaint is that it is a little too short, but I suppose you get what you pay for and it's better than nothing! A lot of the work Bjork puts out is incredibly art-based, leading me to raise the question of whether something is a piece of art from her perspective (and the reaction she is intending to receive from her audience) or whether it is simply just a piece of work. For example, this DVD is quite expensive, and features no bonus material, and is less than an hour in length. Is this a statement? Who knows, but I think it's interesting to ponder over such a question.

The DVD begins with Introduction, which is a few minutes where we overlook Bjork's entire career very briefly through narration. Included are video and concert clips, along with comments from stars such as Elton John, Thom Yorke and Missy Elliott about how amazing she is. This takes us onto the Iceberg Lagoon section which features some beautiful imagery of Iceland where Bjork grew up. Again, this leads onto Reykjavik Childhood, a section which aims to detail Bjork's beautiful childhood, surrounded by the elementary forces of nature in Iceland. The Punk & Surrealism section takes us into her teen years where she became interested in punk music which eventually led to the formation of The Sugarcubes, who would actually go on to become an internationally successful punk band in the Eighties. There is particular focus on the song "Birthday," and just how unique it was, and still is. Song Stories And Sonic Experiments takes us into the era when Bjork had left the band, and was wanting t make it big on her own as a solo artist in the early Nineties.

From then on we are taken through Images, Beats and Nature, three sections that explore Bjork's music as a solo artist, her most famous work still to this day throughout the Nineties, when she became an internationally-famous superstar and sold millions of copies of her first three albums "Debut," "Post" and "Homogenic." These sections are probably the most interesting and enjoyable because it is the era of Bjork's career that we all became interested in to begin with: it is because of the music from these albums that we became such devoted fans, and therefore purchased this DVD! What's also stunning to realise is just how much pure artistic vision went into the creation of these albums, especially when you hear Bjork describing the story of "Isobel" around 20 minutes into the DVD. The information that we are given on Bjork's tours is also very interesting, but all the footage is available on the DVD's that you can buy, which are the full concert shows from her four tours for each of her first four solo studio albums.

Classical Influences is another great section which aims to explore the elements of classical music that have influenced Bjork throughout her career, most evident on the album Homogenic. I find this to be quite irritating, however, because classical music is a genius conception that Bjork incorporated, genius-like, into her music. It's almost impossible to decipher anything about the companion of classical music and the electronic beats in songs like "Joga" and "Bachelorette." The Musicals section explores her work in the 2000 film Dancer In The Dark, whereas the Microbeats section looks at her work on 2001's epic masterpiece "Vespertine," her fourth solo album. It's interesting to see how the music was created for this album with Matmos and Zeena Parkins. Also, the tour that accompanied the album was arguably her best and is explored here well. Arctic Passion is the last section of the DVD and looks at Bjork's position in the industry, along with a superb live performance of "Generous Palmstroke" with Zeena on harp.

This DVD is really essential in any Bjork fan's collection, even though it was shown on British television around four years ago. It might be a bit expensive, as are all Bjork's DVD's (she gotta get her income from somewhere, guys!), but I think it's really worth it. You get almost fifty minutes of interviews, pictures, video and concert clips, and never-before-seen images of Bjork as a child. I don't think it will take much for a true Bjork fan to buy this DVD, but if you're pondering whether or not to buy it, then trust me, this is something you don't want to miss! December 21, 2005

Inside and Out Bjork

I usually skip all these biographical documentaries and hagiographies, but this one is very interesting. One of the reasons I got it was because it promised to discuss the influence of classical music on Bjork's music, but this DVD delivers a lot more than this.
Bjork is a very intelligent and serious interviewee, though she can be mercilessly funny too, and her comments help put many of her songs, albums and artistic decisions into focus. Yes, she discusses her troubled relationship with Western classical music, and how we need to make sure the children can be exposed to it in a good way, my feelings exactly. Being a classically trained but long drifted soul myself, I really liked hearing about how she found her way out and made peace with Shostakovich. She blows many of acclaimed composers out of the water in any case, but she is aware of her roots. Speaking of roots, if you want to hear her talk about many things Nordic, including mythology, and see some amazing Icelandic landscapes, then there's plenty of that on this DVD as well.
The whole thing was filmed roughly around the time Vespertine was released, and it will also give you a good overview of her career until that point and put certain decisions into perspective, but that's not to suggest that this video is just relentlessly dishing out the facts and (often fascinating) video footage, including rare early days, punky Bjork. It makes sense as a coherent whole and I found it to be very absorbing, also upon repeated viewings.
A whole army of Bjork's friends, supporters, collaborators and co-conspirators show up to offer their words of wisdom; my favourites are Missy Elliot, a funky genius herself, talking about Bjork and Mozart (pronounced Mozz-ahrt) and Elton John, fuming about the crtitical drabbing that fabulous swan dress took.
The final moment of this movie is Bjork, accompanying herself on a little church organ and singing Generous Palmstroke. Great finish to a wonderful trip Inside Bjork. October 25, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...