One of America’s most inventive bands in an iconic live performance
Jonathan Demme’s landmark concert film, revived in 2023 with A24’s critically acclaimed rerelease, captures Talking Heads at the height of their powers. Shot across several nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre as part of the 1983 Speaking in Tongues tour, Demme shows the band at their most inventive by expanding from a solitary David Byrne into a full-force ensemble whose blend of art rock, funk, and new-wave experimentation turns music into pure performance art.
Long considered one of the greatest concert films ever made, Stop Making Sense distills Talking Heads’ brilliance into avant-garde stagecraft: minimalist set design, bold lighting, and Byrne’s magnetic, off-kilter dancing.
« Nul besoin d’être un adorateur des Talking Heads pour savourer le film de Jonathan Demme, rare exemple d’harmonie entre les puissances propres du cinéma et du concert de rock. »
Élie Raufaste Cahiers du Cinéma 07/07/2025
“The movie is the finest imaginable version of the Talking Heads’ Speaking in Tongues tour.”
Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune 22/09/2023
National Film Registry, National Film Preservation Board, 2021, us
NSFC Award for Best Documentary, National Society of Film Critics Awards, 1985, us
Grand Prix, Ghent International Film Festival, 1985, be
Jonathan DEMME
Jonathan Demme was a prolific American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned over three decades. Demme directed a number of critically acclaimed films, including Silence of the Lambs (1991), which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress at the Academy Awards. His concert film Stop Making Sense (1984), now widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry in 2021.
