R.E.M.
In View: The best of R.E.M.

Released in 2003 along with the "best of" on CD, "In View" is primarily a collection of R.E.M.'s videos from 1988 to 2003.

And it is not a release to be underestimated, as the Athens quartet (and especially its frontman) has always been very interested in the visual arts; many of these videos are indeed the result of the band's and production's joint work, and while in some cases the video contributes to confusing the song's meaning (the most famous example is definitely "Losing My Religion"), most of the time the work accompanies the song, helping to understand its meaning or the mood that the piece intends to convey.

The tracklist includes the same songs from the 'best of', placed in reverse chronological order. Regarding the choice of tracks, while understanding the need to include the group's most famous singles, I think that at least among the bonus videos, those songs that, while fabulous, never got the visibility they deserved should have been included. My mind goes, for example, to "Drive", a song always underestimated but which I consider among the quartet's best.
Some videos add significant themes to the song itself: "Bad Day", for instance, features Stipe, Mills, and Buck impersonating a TV crew dealing with the weirdest news; in an interview, the bassist explained that they intended to criticize the American news broadcast system, which, in trying to provide as much news as possible, creates great confusion for the viewer. "The Great Beyond" is once again a reminder of Andy Kaufman, through the amusing images of his performances.

"Nightswimming" is a beautiful short film too difficult to comment on... together with the song, it creates a gorgeous atmosphere of freedom and the pursuit of lightheartedness. "Everybody Hurts" is certainly among the most beautiful videos in the collection, being closely tied to the song's lyrics and engaging without being cliché. As I mentioned earlier, "Losing My Religion" is the band's most controversial video. The song, ambiguous in itself, was accompanied by this film by Indian director Tarsem that definitely favors the blasphemous interpretation of the piece. So much so that in highly Catholic Ireland, the video was censored...
Among my favorite videos are definitely those of "At My Most Beautiful", "All the Way to Reno" (with Michael Moore in the director's chair), "E-bow the Letter", and "Man on the Moon". Among the bonus videos (i.e., those that go beyond the tracks of "In Time"), those of "Lotus" and "I'll Take the Rain", cartoons by Yoshitomo Nara and David Weir, are very interesting.

Accompanying all the main videos are tidbits of interviews contemporary to the song. Frankly a bit too brief, given that R.E.M. has never been banal in their interventions and their words are always interesting. However, some are quite endearing, like the one where Michael explains the process leading the band to choose a record's name... And finally, there are the live performances from Trafalgar Square of "Imitation of Life", "Losing My Religion", "Man on the Moon": another small proof of the band's live skill. To recap: I have nothing to say about the beauty and originality of the videos. Criticism mainly goes to the choice (I imagine by the production) to include few interviews and barely touch upon the live aspect of R.E.M.'s career. They chose to make the DVD a purely mass appeal tool, trying to attract only new fans without winking at longtime fans with special bonus elements.

Apart from this, 96 minutes of auteur videos never hurt...