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| Popmatters |
![PJ Harvey - Let England Shake: 12 Short Films By Seamus Murphy [DVD] review](http://www.sweetslyrics.com/poze/dvd_cover.jpg) On my trip to England in March 2011, PJ Harvey’s recently-released Let England Shake was my most frequent soundtrack. Now, basing listening choices on region-specificity can feel overly contrived and a little corny; that is, making a point of listening to Kanye West in Chicago or Sonic Youth in New York is simply trying too hard, L.A. Woman in L.A. is way too on-the-nose, etc. But Harvey’s album had two qualities that made it a must listen. For one, it was among the best, most ambitious releases of early 2011, and damned if I was going to not listen to it specifically to avoid corniness. But, more importantly, I thought the physical landscape of England would complement Harvey’s deeply conflicted, but ultimately affectionate, take on her country’s historical and emotional landscapes. Harvey and Seamus Murphy had a similar idea, which is the basis for these short films.The collaboration between Harvey and documentary photographer Murphy was hatched when she saw his 2008 exhibit and book, A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan. What was initially planned as a series of photos for Let England Shake turned into a documentary film project, which subsequently turned into a series of shorts to accompany every song on the album. Murphy’s photographic work is largely devoted to war- and disease-afflicted regions of the world, which makes him an intriguing fit for the project. Although Harvey’s album focuses largely on England’s military past, particularly World War I, the wounds remaining from these conflicts are more embedded in the nation’s overall psyche than in its geography. Thus he was challenged with fitting songs about England’s war-torn past to its visual present. In the liner notes, Murphy claims that he intended to find “a visual language that worked with the music of each song, taking its melody and beat as the guide rather than the lyrics”, and the films generally work best when he adheres to that guideline. Murphy wisely let Harvey’s ominous, bouncy riff on “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” on the title track suggest the empty carnival rides and Punch and Judy performance on its corresponding video. Similarly, ballroom dancers and celebratory rock show attendees are the appropriately disorienting match for the horns and hand-claps on “The Words That Maketh Murder” rather than the “soldiers fall[ing] like lumps of meat” of Harvey’s lyrics. Murphy applies the bright, shuffling opening of “Battleship Hill”, Harvey’s recounting of the Gallipoli Campaign, not to scenes of warfare, but to elderly Bingo players. The concluding line “Cruel nature has won again” doesn’t score an overgrown graveyard or ivy-covered ruins, but a series of determined faces, each younger than the last. The juxtaposition works on an intuitive level—nature may be cruel, but the English are a tenacious people—while not distracting as a direct lyrical match would....full text |
| Pitchfork |
| To go along with her excellent record Let England Shake, PJ Harvey and war photographer Seamus Murphy created videos for all 12 tracks on the album. Over on her Facebook, Harvey has announced that the videos will be collected on a DVD called Let England Shake: 12 Short Films by Seamus Murphy. It'll include a previously unreleased short film for a solo live version of album cut "England". According to Amazon, the DVD will be be available on December 12 in the UK and December 6 elsewhere....full text |
| Nme |
| Murphy made 'Let England Shake: 12 Short Films by Seamus Murphy' out of images from his work in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, combining them with new footage from across England. The DVD will include a new, previously unseen film for 'England'. Notes made by Murphy on the making of all of the films will also be included....full text |
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