Bring the Soul: Review - Charlie Murray

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BTS Brought The Soul… And They Changed Mine

by

Charlie Murray

I’ve had an emotional few days. It’s complicated but it is related to BTS’ Love Yourself message and me trying to figure out what I should be learning from them. So, I was expecting to have a cathartic cry as I watched the film, and I was looking forward to it so much that I had butterflies all morning.

What I was not expecting was to still be crying on my journey home. It started to rain, and a lyric from ‘Forever Rain’ made its way into my head: “I wish it rains all day, cuz then people wouldn’t stare at me, yeah, cuz the umbrella would cover the sad face”.

So, what was it about the film that made me cry on and off throughout, and constantly once I finished watching it? A variety of things.

The film started with the members entering what appeared to be a fancy apartment room and indulging in some drinks and food. We heard little quips of banter as they said they wanted alcohol, and it felt so comforting to see them enjoy relaxing together and discussing the Love Yourself tour. Clips such of these alternated with footage of the concerts and backstage moments. We got to see them as both flawless performers, and ordinary boys behind the scenes who just want to laugh together and have fun.

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The first clips we saw included the boys performing Mic Drop on the very first stop of the Love Yourself tour in Seoul. Despite the many performances I have watched of them, seeing the bold red colours of light sticks filling the arena as the heavy music played on a large cinema screen felt different. It hit me just how huge the scale of their concerts are, and how impactful their performances are, especially on tour when they want to make ARMYs proud. We also saw footage of those same brilliant performers at the Grammy museum, breaking barriers and being taken seriously as artists. A thought entered my head and refused to leave: There will never be another group like this.

Their perfectionism and need to make ARMYs completely and utterly proud of them (as if they haven’t already achieved that multiple times over) was highlighted in a behind-the-scenes clip that broke my heart. We saw them monitoring a previous performance of IDOL, in which they looked totally into the performance and full of energy. And yet, they looked dissatisfied. They complained that they were conserving too much of their energy, and not performing to the fullest. I frowned at the screen because the thought of BTS not using up all their energy is such an alien concept to me. The film gave me a whole new perspective on BTS, because I normally only see them full of energy and giving their all on stage, whereas the film showed them suggesting that, on the contrary, they still don’t think they give enough.

Another scene that stood out to me was when we saw the members crouching in their positions off stage before it was raised up for the first song: IDOL. We could hear the audience screaming and see close-ups of the boys looking anxiously at each other before the song properly started. Suddenly, I saw a glimpse of what it was like to be them. I saw a glimpse of just how daunting it is to perform to such eager fans, especially when we know how anxious they are to perform perfectly.

That scene was mirrored later in the film, when we saw them about to perform at the O2 in London. We saw similar close-ups of the members below the surface of the stage as the intro music played, and yet again we heard the hyped-up screams of the excited audience.

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And then we saw staff members wheeling Jungkook onto the stage, and it cut to 2 hours before the concert where we see raw footage of him being treated for his foot injury. The image of him leaning against the table in pain, lamenting, “But we finally came to Europe…” only to accept that he couldn’t dance on stage, made me a sobbing mess. As did later footage of Taehyung also having his performance compromised by his lost voice. I can’t tell you how heartbreaking it was to hear that little squeak that came out of his mouth backstage when he was trying to rehearse but the notes wouldn’t come out.

BTS’ injuries and illnesses may seem minor, but in the context of previous scenes of them complaining that they want to give nothing less than their best on stage, it really broke my heart. This film made me so grateful they were able to come back to Europe, but also so guilty about how much they push themselves for us.

On a happier note, we saw so much content of the members being happy and making each other laugh, including a scene that I would gladly watch all day of the members impersonating each other’s opening and ending ments. Jungkook’s absolutely hysterical impression of Yoongi’s “It’s so hot ARMY, because of you” was edited in with footage of Yoongi actually saying that on stage (a memory I treasure because I remember being stood there at the O2 when he said it and just laughing at how adorable he was).

I have so much more to say about this film, but my general feelings are as follows:

I feel so grateful for BTS. That film, and Namjoon’s beautiful speech at the end, gave me a different outlook on the members even though I already thought we knew all we could know about them. We really saw them as real people, just ordinary boys off stage who suffer like all of us, which made us watch the explosive videos of their performances in a different light. It made me realise just how much they do for us. It made me feel sorry for their hardships instead of idolising them as perfect people with no worries. And ultimately, it made me respect them even more and become even hungrier to watch them in concert again.

I truly think that it would be hard for anyone to watch that film and see their efforts, their undeniable chemistry and how hard they work (the film gave us the fascinating pleasure of watching Yoongi and Jungkook write music), without becoming a fan or at least appreciating that they are a group of immensely talented, funny, and flawed yet wonderful men.


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