The Final Cut (1983 film)
| The Final Cut | |
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| Directed by | Willie Christie |
| Produced by | Barry Matthews |
| Screenplay by | Roger Waters |
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| Music by | Pink Floyd |
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Release date
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Running time
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19 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Final Cut is a 19-minute film by Pink Floyd and is based on their 1983 album of the same name. It was shot in 1982 from a screenplay by Roger Waters and was directed by William Lawrence "Willie" Christie who at the time was Waters' brother-in-law. The film features actors who are not named in the credits.
The film is shown through the eyes of a World War II veteran, played by Alex McAvoy who appeared in Pink Floyd's 1982 movie, The Wall as the teacher. The film starts out with the introduction of the album, switching through various radio stations. However rather than "The Post War Dream" (as on the album), "The Gunner's Dream" fades in, skipping four tracks. This shows the veteran driving down an empty motorway. As he passes under a bridge, he sees a war veteran standing on the bridge. He stops the car and runs back to look. The camera focuses on a piece of graffiti reading "Go on Maggie", a reference to the prime minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher. Instead of a veteran, there is a woman standing smirking at him. The scene changes to a home scene where he watches television with his wife. He enters the kitchen and pulls out a pistol. The smirking woman is then seen walking past their house. The song changes and "The Final Cut" now plays. Footage of Waters singing the song, his face hidden by a shadow except for his mouth, to a psychiatrist is intercut with stock footage. The next song is "Not Now John". Footage of a young Japanese man walking around a factory is intercut with footage of other workers and geishas. At the end of the video the old war veteran runs to try to save the Japanese man from dying. The old man is seen back in his living room watching television. The video of "Not Now John" is seen on the television. He changes the channel and the next song begins. "The Fletcher Memorial Home" features dictators and politicians walking around in an asylum, filmed at Forty Hall in Enfield. These politicians include Thatcher, Leopoldo Galtieri, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, among others. The war veteran walks up to them, pulls out the gun seen earlier and shoots them. Just after, he walks over to the window of the asylum and sees them well and alive inside. The film ends.
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