Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal Tap (1984)

What makes Rob Reiner’s 1984 masterpiece This is Spinal Tap so funny? Is it the clever, hilarious and quote-worthy dialogue? Or is it the way the movie is done? This is Spinal Tap opened up a whole different genre of film – “the mockumentary” a film shot in the style and using the conventions of documentary filmmaking but focusing on a fictional, and often satirical, subject. Spinal Tap not only is a great movie, but paved the way for other great movies using the same type of filmmaking. Christopher Guest, who is one of the leading “rockers” in Spinal Tap, was heavily influenced by Reiner’s unique style of filmmaking and went on to direct other mockumentaries such as Waiting for Guffman (1997), Best in Show (2000), and A Mighty Wind (2003).

Reiner’s film, the first for Reiner as a director, also influenced other mockumentaries such as: Bob Roberts (1992), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), and Borat (2006), as well as other musical mockumetaries like Fear of a Black Hat (1994), about hip-hop, and Dill Scallion (1999), about country music. Reiner has found himself in as one of the most successful directors of our time.

One reason that I think Spinal Tap is so funny, is because it is almost real. They tried to do everything in their power to make the audience believe that this was an actual documentary on aging rockers trying to squeeze a few bucks out of a tour. The three main characters of the movie, David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) all learned how to play their own instruments and learned how to talk in a believable British accent. Reiner takes us into the minds of these “rock stars” and shows us the in-fighting and the steady decline of the rock band as it hits rock bottom.

Because most of the film was adlibbed, it created the impression that it was a real documentary and that the actors in the film weren’t really “acting” but saying what they tought stupid, drugged out, washed up British rock stars would say. After the film came out other rockers said that almost everything in Spinal Tap had happened to them. For example, rockers like Robert Plant and Ozzy Osborne said that they too had been lost in the hallways looking for the stage door. In fact, the film has a number of not-so-veiled references to the real histories of such bands as The Beatles, The Who, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and a variety of others.

All the music in Spinal Tap was created by the members of the “band” and Reiner. Spinal Tap even has their own page on iTunes where you can buy their music. If you go to Amazon’s music page, you can actually buy albums by this “fake” band. This ambiguity – real or not? – has confused audiences from the beginning. When the movie was originally released in 1984 the screen audience didn’t think it was very funny because they were confused whether this was an actual documentary or not.

Spinal Tap was the first of its kind, making it ultimately a cult film. Pop culture was ever-altered by its release. It not only opened doors for future filmmakers, but altered filmmaking itself. Spinal Tap shows us that directors don’t need multimillion dollar budgets to make a great movie, but just clever dialogue and an open mind to filmmaking.

Tim Blodgett
Film Club