Saint Etienne Presents: Finisterre

A companion piece to Saint Etienne's 2002 album of the same name, Saint Etienne Presents: Finisterre tries to be at once a London travelogue, a documentary about the city's "hidden" music scene, and a showcase for Saint Etienne's shimmering techno-pop music. Unfortunately, the film comes up short on all three counts. Much of the music from the beloved West London trio—Pete Wiggs, Bob Stanley, and Sarah Cracknell—is edited to accompany various visual montages, so you get snippets rather than entire songs. The London that the filmmakers show is primarily comprised of obscure car parks, cluttered alleys, and dingy buildings. And the music scene, represented in a series of interview excerpts with ‘90s British pop luminaries like Mark Perry and Andy Hackett (although the speakers are never identified), don't really shed much light (but they do add an endearing Englishness to the film with accents that range from High Street to almost indecipherable Cockney). Granted, there are beautiful moments when the music and the visuals mesh, especially with the songs "Shower Scene" and "Primrose Hill," but more often than not the music sounds tailor-made for visuals that are themselves no more interesting. As one of the interview subjects says, "The dream you set out with is not always the dream you end up with"—a pretty solid summary for this sometimes pretty but ultimately empty film that will only appeal to hardcore Saint Etienne fans and diehard Anglophiles. DVD extras include a filmmaker/band commentary, bonus footage, and a booklet. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: P. (M. Moore)