Is it worth beingone of the most lauded and
                 successful rock  groups in the 90s? After viewing
                 the brilliantly crafted Radiohead documentary
                 Meeting People Is Easy, the answer is no. And
                 according to lead singer Thom Yorke, "It's a
                 complete headfuck."
                    The behind- the- scenes film, which made its
                 U.S. debut on Saturday (March 20) night at
                 South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, chronicles
                 the madness that ensued as the band's
                 commercial success of the Grammy- winning
                 album OK Computer skyrocketed. Filmmaker
                 Grant Gee (who also directed Radiohead's "No
                 Surprises" video), shadowed the band for nearly
                 a year and, using everything from hidden cameras
                 to high-speed juxtaposed images, poignantly yet
                 tersely depicts a weary Yorke and bandmates
                 having to endure countless mundane media
                 interviews, photo shoots, and post-show fan
                 adoration and hysteria.
                    Perhaps the film's most compelling moment,
                 and the one that captures the essence of this
                 90-minute documentary, is when Yorke braves
                 numerous takes during a video shoot where he is
                 required to wear a tank on his head that slowly
                 fills with water, until he is completely immersed
                 and unable to breath. After gasping for air for the
                 umpteenth time, he is pissed off and exasperated.
                 The tension of this particular scene is carried on
                 throughout the film as the band treks the globe.
                 Photo shoots are frenzied and forced, fans are
                 hysterical, and there is no respite from the road
                 for Radiohead.
                    Gee's arresting shots of New York (a
                 yellow-tinted lens scans the city as a cockroach
                 crawls across it), Barcelona, London, Paris,
                 Berlin, and Tokyo are interspersed with live show
                 and studio footage as well as numerous scenes of
                 the band exhibiting pre-show and post-show
                 emotions. Previously- unseen live show footage is
                 eye and ear candy for hardcore Radiohead fans,
                 with the band performing a number of both
                 unreleased songs and B-sides in addition to the
                 Radiohead anthems "Creep" and "Karma Police."

                    Based upon the silence that followed
                 Saturday's screening, Gee has crafted a
                 groundbreaking film that is moving and thought-
                 provoking, and simultaneously entertaining.
                    In addition to being Capitol Records' first
                 simultaneous DVD and home video release on
                 May 5, Meeting People Is Easy will enjoy a
                 limited screening schedule in Los Angeles, New
                 York, San Francisco, and Chicago during March
                 and April.