Depeche Mode have released the first trailer for their epic new live film M. Check it out below, along with our interview with director Fernando Frías de la Parra.
The upcoming release follows on from Anton Corbijn’s 2019 live film Spirits In The Forest, and received a rapturous reception at this year’s Tribeca Festival. It is set to screen in over 2,500 cinemas across more than 60 countries from October 28.
The film gives fans the opportunity to see Dave Gahan and Martin Gore on their journey “into the heart of Mexican culture’s relationship with death, framed by the iconic live performances”. Conceived and directed by award-winning Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frias, M comprises footage from the band’s three sold-out shows at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City – held as part of their 2023 and 2024 stadium tour, in support of their acclaimed album ‘Memento Mori’ (their first release since the passing of bandmate Andy Fletcher).
“At its core, our new film M is about the deep connection between music, culture, and people – and Fernando Frías, who directed and conceived the film, did a beautiful job telling that story through the lens of Mexican culture and our shows in Mexico City,” said Gahan.
Check out our full interview with Frías below, where he opens up about working with the icons and how Depeche Mode are “a religion” in Mexico.
NME: Hello Fernando. How did you come to be involved in this project?
Fernando Frías de la Parra: “It was decided that the show for release would be shot in Mexico. They asked me for a proposal, and then they knew that they wanted to walk away from working with fans because they had done that recently, and also interviews. They’d said everything about coming back after the pandemic and the loss of Andrew Fletcher, so they wanted to be more focused on the show and the message of the album.
“I wrote a couple of treatments. It was a tricky one. ‘Without interviews and without fans’ experiences, how can I build a solid narrative that goes along with the show?’ I showed them some visual references of how I would like to cover the show: a celebration of the concept of ‘Memento Mori’. It means, ‘Remember you must die’ – and it doesn’t have to be confrontational, that’s what life is. I found some archive footage and other textures to work as an analogy. I’ve got a lot of obsolete technology, and that’s born to die. It’s also a metaphor to show how long they’ve been out there.
“When we finally sat down to talk, they said, ‘We love the treatment, we’ve been working with the same people over and over but we’re happy to be back in Mexico, it’s the biggest stadium on our tour and we’re doing three sold-out shows, so tell us if there’s anything you want to do’.
“I was asking Dave how much we could be on him and the stage without being too intrusive, and he said, ‘If you’re getting in the way, I’ll let you know – just go for it’. They also said that they had these amazing visuals on the screens, but that’s not necessarily something they were interested in capturing. They were there for the audience, but we need to focus on the performance for the film.”
So you spent a lot of time with the band?
“At the ending, there are a couple of shots with the band so we had a production day with Dave and Martin. They were incredibly supportive, generous and kind.”
It must have been rewarding to have them choose to shoot in music, given the album’s themes and Mexico’s culture of understanding death as part of life?
“I think so, but it’s also tricky because it’s a cliche. You know, with The Day Of The Dead, the movie Coco, it has become a flag for Mexican culture and there’s much more to it. The pre-Hispanic vision of death is very hard to grasp, even for us Mexicans. I find it reductionist to think of these things as a very dark coming together for a celebration. It’s a completely different mindset.
“There are interesting things about the Mictlan, the [Aztec] other world. I didn’t want to offer an ultra-reduced and pasteurised vision of Mexico, death and The Day Of The Dead. That’s out there everywhere if you want it. Music is something very abstract but very concrete at the same time, I wanted to bring on authors, poets, artists, anthropologists, that could comment on the idea of Mexico and death. I wanted it to be very factual, in a sense. An anthropologist says that The Day Of The Dead is not even Mexican, it’s a Catholic celebration, Carnival is not Brazilian because it’s a universal thing to celebrate the crops coming in.
“Then we have this other part that accepts that we live with the imagery of death in Mexico, so I invited some writers and poets to write something about that. It’s more of a piece that complements the show without being too obvious.”
The little vignettes and guest contributions really add a nuance to the film and let it breathe…
“Exactly. We have hours of interviews and really interesting stuff, but we just wanted what would really help the rhythm of the film. The full is just one thing: it doesn’t fully respect the order of the songs. We had to rearrange and edit according to the information we wanted to get across and to bring a cadence.”
Bands mean different things in different countries. How are Depeche Mode considered in Mexico? How were you looking to capture that?
“That’s a great question, and that’s where I started my treatment. Depeche Mode cut transgressively through Mexican society. You can see goth kids from the ‘80s who have stayed in that culture, kids in the underground markets who still dress in a leather overcoat in the summer, and then at the same time posh people who have danced to Depeche Mode at all their celebrations. It’s very hard to think of other bands that can completely cover the Mexican psyche, which is incredible layered. We tried to capture that in our shots on the audience.
“Here, they’re like a religion. You’ll have people dancing to ‘Enjoy The Silence’ at family parties, and others scouring for it on underground bootleg tapes. There are so many generations who love them and think they’re essential. That’s why the band chose to shoot in Mexico. I’ve been to see them in other countries because I wanted to get familiar with them before shooting. It’s very different.”
How so?
“It’s hard for me to explain, but it’s just the diversity of people all coming together for the same band. It’s fascinating to witness. In other places, it feels a little bit homogenic, and maybe the audience is a little more passive or respectful. Here it’s just crazy. It’s an energy, and you see the crowd all vibrating. It’s electrifying. It’s about how extroverted the Mexican people can be, combined with how big the band are here, combined with the size of the venue they fill. After all, it’s a huge celebration.”
Naturally you’re dealing with two icons here, and Dave cuts a certain shape on stage. Did you feel any pressure in capturing them?
“No pressure at all. The pressure only comes when choosing which angles to use because they both have such a good presence. It was an invitation to be playful. Dave spins a lot throughout the show, so we wanted to do something different with that from the camera perspective. Dave is moving all the time, while Martin has his own way of channelling the compositions. We had to leave some of the songs out, but there’s going to be an edit of the whole show with great things in.”
Depeche Mode: M will be hitting cinemas for limited screenings from October 28. Visit here for tickets and more information.
Frontman Dave Gahan caught up with NME last year, where he explained what the future might have in store for the band after the ‘Memento Mori’ campaign.