Overview: Inspired by the music and life of Robert Wyatt - who co-founded the British rock band Soft Machine - Rock Bottom tells the story of artists immersed in the creative whirlwind of the early 70s hippie culture.

Drugs will turn a passionate summer into a nightmare in a journey through the themes of Wyatt’s music: the euphoria and anguish of artistic creation & the unconscious fascination with drugs.

DVD Verdict: In what is the very first long film by veteran Spanish filmmaker María Trénor, the initial premise of Rock Bottom — a celebration of the 50 years of musician Robert Wyatt’s self-titled album, explored through a fictionalized version of his relationship with artist Alfreda “Alfi” Benge in the post-hippie milieu of the beginning of the 70s — was, from the off, of interest to me and thus I sat down with a great sense of excitement.

Now, as much as I had sky high hopes for this film, and as much as I was more than ready to accept this film for all it’s good and bad parts, it is true that there are a seemingly exhaustible succession of cliffs, more cliffs and steeper cliffs that result in a proposal where, well, you’ll see.

The plot itself isn’t overly complicated, but does come with some obvious dialogue (it’s the type of film in which a reference to Syd Barrett, ex-vocalist of Pink Floyd, is accompanied by the phrase “How I wish he was here”, a film that dates back to 1973, two years before the subject was to be recorded) with a few ill-defined characters and a, at times, semi-narrative structure.

That all said, the visuals are captivating, surprising and beautiful. The atmosphere is very creative. I really liked the music too, but as noted, the story drifts from time to time, and the main characters, well, personally, I found it hard to believe in their love (but that could just be me overthinking this animated story).

OFFICIAL TRAILER: Rock Bottom

Official Purchase Link