There I was some other day looking up at the 1982 lineup from the Cannes Film Festival when I noticed in the short film category there was
a short directed by Creme and Godley, a great duo known for several important music videos in that decade. I was intrigued because I thought
"The Cooler" would actually turn out to be a short rather than a music video, and when I looked up the names of Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney,
Barbara Bach and Linda McCartney I still thought this could actually play like a mixture of both short and music video. The latter was the real
thing, and despite the inclusion at Cannes this is barely remembered today and only fans of the people involved get the chance to know about it,
specially Ringo's fans since the short presents three songs from his then-upcoming album "Stop and Smell the Roses".
What's this all about? Sir Paul convinced Ringo to make a promotional video for the album and he personally chose the songs and the rest was a
concept to be worked around them, almost as if composing a conceptual idea. Here, Ringo plays a prisoner sent to a prison in the desert where he
hallucinates time and again with dreams revolving his dead father or being obsessed with the female head of the prison. At each song, the dream-like
transition changes from one nightmare to another (my favorite part was when the music stopped and a military leader was shouting
exercise instructions to the prisoners at the camp while Ringo awakes and starts doing his manic exercise moves, completely exhausted while locked
in his cell).
I was not moved by its stories neither felt so impressed with the all-star cast. Something doesn't work quite well here, maybe the lack of a deeper meaning to it all; however it is a
watchable project with nothing harmful about it. But considering the team gathered in this near-epic production of sorts one expects a great deal.
The songs were so-and-so, but I guess Mr. Starr wasn't all that inspired. Nice quality sound but that's it - considering what we get in musical
terms these days this is near brilliant.
Maybe I'll come back to some subsequent views and maybe I'll enjoy it a lot more. But for the moment, this clip doesn't get near the
spectacle from the MTV early days videos. Still a thumbs up. 6/10.
