Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) was first reviewed during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Everything old is new again. This phrase comes to mind anytime you see the youth of the day discovering the discarded products and fashion styles of their parents and giving them a second life. While this often leads to older generations suffering flashbacks to their cringeworthy past decisions, there are some trends that have been a welcome return. The recording industry breathed a sigh of relief upon the resurgence of vinyl albums over the past few decades, as the format which fell out of favor in the early 1980s bounced back as consumers were making the shift to digital and the industry felt the sky was falling. Over the past 17 years, there has been consistent year-over-year growth with the format, but it is difficult to pinpoint why that is. Is it as simple as the sound quality? Can ironic kitschiness explain such a lengthy trend? Or, perhaps, there really is an innate desire to hold something tangible, to appreciate music as the art that it is?

Leave it to prickly Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher to sum up celebrated artist Anton Corbijn’s first feature documentary: “Rock stars were artists. Graphic designers were artists. All that work stood the test of time.” As the years ticked away and attitudes changed, consumers became more accustomed to seeing stamp-sized images on their devices that they might linger on for a few seconds on the way to turn on shuffle. Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) is the antithesis of this phenomenon. There was a time when the album artwork was nearly as important as the music itself–it was often difficult to parse whether bands were making the artwork iconic or the other way around.

Hipgnosis (pronounced “Hypnosis”) is the gold standard in this arena, acting as the mastermind behind the lion’s share of the iconic covers that have permeated the cultural consciousness. This documentary allows us to learn about Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell, the boundary-pushing creative geniuses behind the album art design studio. Through careful curation of new and archival interviews with the pair, their close friends, and a dazzling array of famous faces, we begin to collect the pieces to get a sense of the bigger picture. Thorgerson was the brash madman who would drive most sane people away if his ideas were not so brilliant, and Powell was his long-suffering partner who finessed and executed these ideas in a way that balanced artistic integrity with practicality. They needed each other even when they could not stand one another.

Outside of a bit of creative flourish with Powell stoically bookending the film, the film largely sticks to conventions with a chronological deep-dive through their groundbreaking career. A simple beginning for the two in the Cambridge art scene evolved into something bigger as their mates ended up forming a little band called Pink Floyd, ultimately scoring their big break creating the artwork for the band’s sophomore effort, “A Saucerful of Secrets.”

Beyond just simply explaining how a piece of art came about, which the film also capably delivers, you are given access to a deep well of classic rock anecdotes. As both Pink Floyd and Hipgnosis were embarking on their exciting journey to stardom, we get unsettling stories of founder Syd Barrett’s steep decline down an LSD spiral. The imagery evoked from some of the comments feels straight out of a horror movie.

Corbijn could be accused of playing things a bit safe in the film’s structure, but when you have the likes of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, and many more providing new insights into some of their most famous works, most audiences will be more than satisfied. By talking about individual albums, you begin to get a more cohesive portrait of what the music scene looked like at the time. Hipgnosis helped demolish any preconceived notions about what an album cover could be. Label heads may have been apoplectic when Pink Floyd chose not to have their name or likeness anywhere on their “Atom Heart Mother” album, but that did not keep an intense-looking cow from being one of the most indelible images in rock history. Even relatively more straightforward concepts like McCartney’s idea for “Band On The Run” were brought to life by the studio in a way that exceeded his wildest dreams.

For every riveting story of creative ingenuity with something like Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy” or your choice of Peter Gabriel album, you also get a sense of the rock ‘n’ roll excess that was running rampant in an industry that felt invincible. This was a time when labels would somehow sign off on flying a crew to Hawaii just to capture a sheep on a lounge chair. This was not lost on Hipgnosis, and certainly not Thorgerson, who were actually trying to have meaning behind their art. To hear them discuss their intentions, there was always a keen awareness of the balance between art and commerce, only commerce began to outpace the former more and more as the years ticked by. It was this unbridled excess that would ultimately be the undoing of the industry and Hipgnosis themselves, neither truly prepared for the cultural shift that was around the bend.

Corbijn does a really admirable job of stitching all of this together in a way that honors both Hipgnosis as a creative force and the legacy they left behind in their artwork. Classic rock fans may feel like they have heard all of these stories before–although, who could get tired of hearing about the stuntman on fire on the “Wish You Were Here” cover–but even the most ardent fans are bound to hear a few anecdotes that are brand new to them. The film does stumble a bit as we reach the finish line, abruptly wrapping up the journey without solidifying its thesis statement. This does not dramatically lessen the impact of what this creative force and period of time meant for music, but it is admittedly a bit disorienting.

Hipgnosis set the template for how music deserves to be experienced. This is not an argument that music was “better back then”; music has always provided some axis-tilting work that has changed a generation. There was simply a keen belief that it deserved to be unleashed into the world with creativity and grandeur. And no one did it better than Hipgnosis.

Video Quality

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) comes to Blu-Ray courtesy of Utopia with a lovely high definition master that represents this material exactly as intended. The feature subsists on archival footage and photos mixed with some newer interviews to fully capture the history of this artwork. All of the newer material is shot in black-and-white along with much of the archival material. The contrast is dialed in perfectly throughout. There are some colors featured when it comes to the album artwork which especially radiates in contrast with the monochrome footage.

This older material seems to be derived from the most stable sources possible, most of which look very strong considering the vintage and relative scarcity of some of this work. At its best, moments mostly look clear and natural with some detailed features. The material exhibits only minor source deficiencies. The transfer does not feature anything in the way of compression artifacts or digital anomalies of the sort. We are thrilled this got such a carefully considered release.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a first-rate DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that brings this experience to life without issue. Dialogue is prominent in the center channel as you get anecdotes relayed in a stable manner. The surround sound presentation makes the journey more expansive with certain moments washing over you prominently. The film balances the interviews with a good amount of footage from the past, all of which are represented to the best of their abilities. The classic music that has been secured radiates out with unwavering fidelity as you feel the power of what the artwork represents. There are no age-related weaknesses or other issues spotted. Utopia has done an excellent job with this disc. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Director Anton Corbijn and Graphic Designer Aubrey (Po) Powell provide a really lovely commentary track in which they discuss the process of excavating the past, the stylistic flourishes of the feature, how they settled on what albums to include, taking a “warts and all” approach to the material, and more.

Q&A with Anton Corbijn and Aubrey Powell: A terrific 28-minute piece with the director and subject in which they discuss the genesis of the idea of a film, the structure of the film, exploring the archives to bring life to these still images, the interview subjects who agreed to be a part of the feature, the artistic ethos of the community and more.

Deleted Scene: A nearly five-minute unused scene is provided in which Powell shares a story about Peter Gabriel.

Photo Gallery: There is a 16-minute collection of images from the film provided here which shows off some great archival material.

Trailer: This disc provides a Red Band Trailer (2:21) and a Green Band Trailer (2:21) for the film.

Final Thoughts

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) is a terrific documentary that explores an element of music that is often taken for granted these days: album artwork. When you have a truly great piece of art representing your musical creation, it can become an indelible image. This documentary gathers so many talented artists to discuss the unbelievable journey of this studio complete with unique footage that has rarely been seen elsewhere. There are some small elements we can nitpick, but this is such a satisfying viewing experience that we need not dwell on them. Utopia has released a Blu-Ray featuring a grand A/V presentation and some rock-solid special features. If you are a music documentary fan, this is well worth a watch. Recommended

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Utopia & Vinegar Syndrome have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.