The film that will take you into the heart of the beast.
Sam Dunn is a 30-year-old anthropologist. He's also a lifelong metal fan. After years of studying diverse cultures, Sam turns his academic eye a little closer to home and embarks on an epic journey into the heart of heavy metal. His mission: to figure out why metal music is consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned, even while the tribe that loves it stubbornly holds its ground - spreading the word, keeping the faith, and adopting styles and attitudes that go way beyond the music.
Sam visits heavy metal landmarks as far flung as LA's Sunset Strip, the dirty streets of Birmingham, and the dark forests of Norway. Along the way, the two sides of Sam Dunn - curious anthropologist and rabid fan - collide, as Sam explores metal's obsession with sex, religion, violence and death, meets his heroes, and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Part social document, part celebration of a misunderstood art form, this documentary is the first of its kind: a chance for metal fans to speak out and a window into a culture that's far more complex than it seems.
Secret Agent Acid Thunder
Fantastic. Metal: A headbanger's journey is The Shit™. I can say shit now because it's ok to say shit on the radio and tv, so I don't think it's going to have much impact on things if we say shit in print and online media... shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit
I cannot stress enough, how much I enjoyed this doco. Even though I may be considered to be a two-pronged biased entity on the subject, the content was amazing. It was detailed and relevant, it backed up everything the director/narrator (Sam Dunn) was talking about and had previously suggested. I found it most interesting that he was an anthropologist. Actually I think that most of the people during the screening thought the same, and no matter how they tried to twist the idea around, his study on the, "culture of heavy metal" is just as qualified and legitimate as his study of the "plight of Guatemalan refugees".
The synopsis says it all, where does the stereo-typing, stigmatisation and condemnation of Heavy Metal come from? Really? What factual information do people base their opinions on? This documentary investigates that and comes up with some very interesting pros and cons for both sides.
I would like to say thanks to Mr Dunn for his highly intellectual production and also thank him for the interviews he had with Dee Snider, Rob Zombie, Cannibal Corpse and Voivod - whose name I'm still unable to pronounce, damn the French - because there were times when I went "Wow!" or I was laughing so hard that I was snorting. I wasn't the only one either.
M (Moderate coarse language, moderate themes)
98 minutes (1:38 hours)
Film: 16 November 2006
