''Linear'' is a 2009 film directed by Anton Corbijn. The film includes music from U2's 2009 studio album, ''

No Line on the Horizon ''No Line on the Horizon'' is the twelfth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite, and was released on 27 February 2009. It was the band's first record since ''How to Dismantle an A ...

'', and was included on both digital and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

formats with several editions of the album.

Development

The idea behind the film originated from a U2 video shoot in June 2007. During the shoot, Corbijn asked the band to remain still while he filmed them; this created a "photograph on film", in which U2 did not move but the objects around them did. Impressed, the band believed that the listening experience could be enhanced with visuals, and in May 2008 they commissioned Corbijn to create the film. The film was created as a companion to ''No Line on the Horizon'', and Corbijn has claimed that the film is not a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, but rather "a new way to listen to a record" and "a new way to use film to connect to music". The plot is based on the characters Bono created for the album ''

'', with the story revolving around a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

ian motorcycle cop who has become disillusioned with his life, as well as the conflict between immigrants and the police in the city, causing him to leave and see his girlfriend in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. The film features a mix of

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

and colour filming, and runs for 58:20. ''Linear'' was completed in time for the album's original November 2008 release date, but as the band continued to work into December the film became out of sequence with the album. 10 of the 11 songs in the film were edited as a solution, and the original running order was kept intact. The film features

Saïd Taghmaoui Saïd Taghmaoui (born 19 July 1973) is a French-American actor and screenwriter. One of his major screen roles was that of Saïd in the 1995 French film ''La Haine'', directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Taghmaoui has also appeared in a number of En ...

as the cop,

Lizzie Brocheré Lizzie Brocheré (, born 22 March 1985) is a French film, television, and theatre actress who began working as a child actress in 1995. She moved to English-speaking roles in the early 2010s, with appearances in dark comedic and dramatic pieces ...

as the waitress, Marta Barrio as the lone dancer, and Francisco Javier Malia Vazquez as the barman.

Plot

The film opens with a scene of Paris as night falls, before moving on to a journey through the city streets ("Unknown Caller"). At the end of the trip through Paris, a motorcycle cop (Taghmaoui) sits on his police-issued motorcycle, staring at some graffiti on a wall which reads "Fuck the Police" in French. Kicking his bike over, he pours gasoline on it, sets it alight, and watches it burn ("Breathe"). As dawn breaks, he gets on his own motorcycle and begins his journey through the French countryside before crossing into

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, aiming to see his girlfriend in

("Winter"). Pulling off for a break part-way through the journey, the cop lies on his back and watches a cloud form the image of the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n continent before falling asleep ("White as Snow"). Waking up, he resumes his journey across Spain ("No Line on the Horizon"). Upon coming to a town, he pulls off for lunch and enters a small café which, with the exception of the waitress (Brocheré), is devoid of people ("Fez – Being Born"). Bored, the waitress flicks on the television and they watch a U2 music video ("Magnificent"). Resuming his journey, the cop travels through the countryside until making a stop in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

("Stand Up Comedy"). Walking into a bar, the cop attracts the attention of a woman who begins to dance (Barrio), while the barman (Vazquez) serves him several drinks. Leaving the dancer his keys on the table, the cop goes to leave the bar, but as he does so he looks through a peephole and observes several women with moustaches dancing ("Get on Your Boots"). Walking alone through the streets and with no place to stay overnight, he makes his way down to the beach and falls asleep on the sand ("Moment of Surrender"). Waking up in the morning, he rents a rowboat and begins to paddle his way across the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

to Tripoli ("Cedars of Lebanon").

Track listing

The film contains 11 tracks, 10 of which are from ''No Line on the Horizon''. The order of the songs was rearranged from the order of the album. "Winter", a track cut from ''No Line on the Horizon'', is in the film while "

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is the fifth song from U2's 2009 album ''No Line on the Horizon''. The song was released as the album's third single in a digital format on 25 August 2009 and in a physical version released on 7 Sept ...

" is not. The film's running order is representative of ''No Line on the Horizon''s track list as of May 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Linear (Film) 2009 films British musical films Films directed by Anton Corbijn Films set in Paris U2 films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films