It is difficult to think of any other film that has been the subject of so many reimaginings and rescorings. From Giorgio Moroder's Razzie-nominated r ock score in 1984\, to Jeff Mills’ techno score in 2000\, to more recent ja zz soundtracks and YouTube fan edits\, Metropolis demonstrates a kind of in satiable\, musicalgrowth imperative. This latest score is no exception\, wi th compositions that mirror the analog distortion of the image\, the gestur al oscillations of the workers\, and the electrical charge of Rotwang’s ico nic laboratory equipment.
With a focus on unique hand-built instrumen ts alongside bowed guitar\, synthesizers\, and other electronics\, their or iginal soundtrack supports the film's mesmerizing visuals with a fittingly expansive score\, including post-industrial rhythms\, soaring utopian motif s\, and dystopian drones. Embodying the subterranean labour of the workers on screen\, the performers enact a restless quest of their own\, to keep th e Moloch Machine of music running throughout the film’s prodigious runtime without being swallowed by its hellmouth.
For many years\, Metropolis
was screened in fragmentary form\, with certain scenes being presented out
of their original sequence\, until 25 minutes of additional footage were f
ound in Buenos Aires in 2008. A decade before this discovery\, Roger Ebert
remarked that the film’s “very discontinuity is a strength” if only because
“it makes Metropolis hallucinatory — a nightmare without the reassurance o
f a steadying story line.” In the spirit of the “gaps and logical puzzles”
of the pre-2008 edit\, Magazinist will score the penultimate version of the
film\, emphasizing the surreal discontinuities that existed while it remai
ned
unrestored and incomplete.
Date:
Sunday\, October 22
Time: 6:30 pm
Venue: VIFF Centre | 1
181 Seymour Street | Vancouver\, BC | V6B 3M7