Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert will be released in select cinemas across The Americas, Europe, Asia, and United Arab Emirates, with limited screenings beginning Wednesday, March 19. Cinemas in Australasia and other countries in the Middle East will screen the film at a later date.
Synopsis
This special global event captures an extraordinary live performance of some of Zimmer’s most revered compositions, including music from Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar, The Lion King, and much more. Decades of cinematic masterpieces are brought to life by his band and a world-class orchestra at Dubai’s iconic Coca-Cola Arena, the star-studded Al Wasl Plaza dome at Expo City Dubai and beyond. From the dunes of the Arabian Desert to the heights of Jumeirah Burj Al Arab, these performances deliver an intimate and unique experience of Zimmer’s most beloved and renowned movie soundtracks.
Review
In a career spanning four-decades Hans Zimmer has won Oscars and worked with some of the finest names in Hollywood. But until 2014 there was one thing Zimmer hadn’t done. Toured the world. On the advice of collaborators Pharrell Williams and Johnny Marr he did just that and never looked back. This month his most recent tour, now an annual staple of arenas around the world, will come to select cinemas for the first time.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Zimmer live in concert twice. The first time was a tour which became immortalised in his first live album, Live in Prague. The second time was for the tour which was later released as the Hans Zimmer Live album. Between those two shows the legendary composer grew in confidence and showmanship immensely. Taking his live show from a traditional film concert to a full on rock and roll show featuring an incredible cast of multi-instrumentalists and trusted confidants in his ongoing work in film and television.
Directed by Paul Dugdale (Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour), Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert is breathtakingly effective at bringing the audience inside Zimmer’s show and his creative process. The film mixes footage from a show at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai with heavily stylised performances around the city. It’s also broken up by a series of short interview segments featuring Marr and Williams alongside Sir Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Billie Eilish, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet.
Dugdale and editor Simon Bryant have worked meticulously to craft a film which feels distilled directly from Zimmer’s mind. There’s a natural flow to proceedings which works in tandem with the set list of his live show. For those who have seen recent concerts the set list remains mostly in-tact with interview sections mostly teeing up which greatest hit piece the audience will be delighted by next. As is made clear through his discussions with Mar and Williams, Zimmer has found a great love for playing live. He also has an honest and honourable desire to please his audience. So it’s no accident that all the heavy hitters are here. From Nolan collaborations Interstellar, Inception and The Dark Knight to huge comic book favourites like Wonder Woman 1984, Man of Steel and interestingly Dark Phoenix. All sit nestled alongside fan-favourites like The Lion King, for which Zimmer won an Academy award, Gladiator and the all-time crowd pleaser Pirates of the Caribbean.
Cinematographer Brett Turnbull captures the magic of Zimmer’s show remarkably. For those who have witnessed his show in person the magic and the passion are entirely in tact. I laughed at his anecdotes. I cried during emotional swells in the music. Diamond in the Desert is never short of electric to watch for its entire 158 minute runtime.
The colourful menagerie of the stage show is brilliantly offset by the monochrome interviews. These were the moments I was most nervous of watching. All potential for these moment to become cliched box pops is quickly dispelled. Zimmer and each of his chosen interviewers lament their personal connections to each other and the music as if they are old friends catching up. The complete lack of music in these moments stands out charmingly against the complex soundscape of the concert itself. His conversations with directors Nolan and Villeneuve are the most in-depth. His conversations with Marr and Williams the most revealing. All of them add to the overall sense of a man who is perhaps the greatest living composer of our generation.
What’s equally striking about Diamond in the Desert is its ability to communicate so much about Zimmer without neglecting his incredible 18-piece band. As with the majority of his live shows there are guest appearances from Gladiator vocalist Lisa Gerrard, Dune vocalist Loire Cotler, Zimmer’s life-long friend and Lion King vocalist Lebo Morake and superstar cellist Tina Guo. Each finds their place in the film, sharing the spotlight with their mentor and collaborator. The same can be said of the Ukrainian orchestra who has been on the road with the band throughout the war with Russia in their homeland. Zimmer’s affection for each and every musician on stage shines through in his on stage interactions and adds to the overall emotion of the piece.
The sound mixing on the film is, of course, exquisite. For those unable to afford the hefty price for concert tickets there’s so much to soak up from this filmed version. I’m so glad it’s getting even a limited theatrical run to give fans the chance to hear this preposterously talented collective on a theatre sound system. I had the chance to watch the film with full Dolby Atmos sound and the clarity of the mix was awards-worthy. There’s a fine balance between each of the instruments and voices on stage and it never fails to impress. Hopefully Diamond in the Desert leads to another full-length live album.
Verdict
Diamond in the Desert is a thrilling journey inside the mind of Hans Zimmer. It successfully brings his most experimental and bombastic live show to the screen without sacrificing its exhilarating pace through its cutaway interview segments.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
