This is an amazing film. It's subtitled "An Electronic Odyssey," and indeed, it is, an amazing journey to many places you would not think you'd go.
First, it appears to be the story of Leon Termin's invention of the Theremin. It is! It gives us great historical footage, and interviews with his associates and contemporaries. It seems almost comical now that the Theremin would have been promoted as an orchestral instrument (like the previously recently invented saxophone by Adolph Sax), but the interviews are articulate, revelatory and prescient. Thanks for this wonderful history! Next, of course, is what actually became of the Theremin in musical history: it became the signature sound of 'spooky' films and of science fiction films in the 1950s. We had the great Franz Waxman's "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) score, which was also used in "Flash Gordon" (1936), Miklos Rozsa's "Spellbound" (1945), "The Lost Weekend," (1945) and many more even up to "Bartleby" (2001); then all of the low budget and high budget 50's SF films! The genius Bernard Hermann knew he needed it for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951), one of the great, defining, SF soundtracks! (For me, "The Bride of Frankenstein" is the greatest one).
The film showcases, and keeps playing, "Good Vibrations" (1966) by the Beach Boys, apparently to show how the Theremin can be effectively used in music-- much like the slide whistle, chimes, or bells. Bonus points for the extensive 'interview' with the super nutso genius Brian Wilson explaining how 'Good Vibrations' developed. Anybody who's ever taken drugs can understand everything he says! Way to go Brian! Even if you have completely flipped out!
We get the great Robert Moog himself describing his love affair with the Theremin, how it works, and its impact on the development of the synthesizer and electronic music!
But there's more! Termin is abducted by the Russians in the 1920s, and like a mystery thriller, he is discovered again in the 1990s! The documentary interviews him at age 94, and shows him traveling back to America to receive belated accolades, and to revisit New York City to see how his old haunts, and the city itself, have changed.
The last part of the film is a startling film segment for anyone who has ever gotten older. How would you feel traveling back to your old haunts of fifty or sixty years ago? The camera focuses on a bent nonagenarian wandering the alien streets of a New York sixty years in his future. What must he be thinking? What would you be thinking if you were in his place, as you will be in fifty or sixty years? All of a sudden, the film makes you stop and think about the odyssey of your own life, its past, present and the future as looking at the past. It's a psychedelic segment.
So you've got it all-- an entertaining and transfixing musical history and a mirror pointed at yourself. A great film! Thanks Steven Martin! I give it a 9.
First, it appears to be the story of Leon Termin's invention of the Theremin. It is! It gives us great historical footage, and interviews with his associates and contemporaries. It seems almost comical now that the Theremin would have been promoted as an orchestral instrument (like the previously recently invented saxophone by Adolph Sax), but the interviews are articulate, revelatory and prescient. Thanks for this wonderful history! Next, of course, is what actually became of the Theremin in musical history: it became the signature sound of 'spooky' films and of science fiction films in the 1950s. We had the great Franz Waxman's "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) score, which was also used in "Flash Gordon" (1936), Miklos Rozsa's "Spellbound" (1945), "The Lost Weekend," (1945) and many more even up to "Bartleby" (2001); then all of the low budget and high budget 50's SF films! The genius Bernard Hermann knew he needed it for "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951), one of the great, defining, SF soundtracks! (For me, "The Bride of Frankenstein" is the greatest one).
The film showcases, and keeps playing, "Good Vibrations" (1966) by the Beach Boys, apparently to show how the Theremin can be effectively used in music-- much like the slide whistle, chimes, or bells. Bonus points for the extensive 'interview' with the super nutso genius Brian Wilson explaining how 'Good Vibrations' developed. Anybody who's ever taken drugs can understand everything he says! Way to go Brian! Even if you have completely flipped out!
We get the great Robert Moog himself describing his love affair with the Theremin, how it works, and its impact on the development of the synthesizer and electronic music!
But there's more! Termin is abducted by the Russians in the 1920s, and like a mystery thriller, he is discovered again in the 1990s! The documentary interviews him at age 94, and shows him traveling back to America to receive belated accolades, and to revisit New York City to see how his old haunts, and the city itself, have changed.
The last part of the film is a startling film segment for anyone who has ever gotten older. How would you feel traveling back to your old haunts of fifty or sixty years ago? The camera focuses on a bent nonagenarian wandering the alien streets of a New York sixty years in his future. What must he be thinking? What would you be thinking if you were in his place, as you will be in fifty or sixty years? All of a sudden, the film makes you stop and think about the odyssey of your own life, its past, present and the future as looking at the past. It's a psychedelic segment.
So you've got it all-- an entertaining and transfixing musical history and a mirror pointed at yourself. A great film! Thanks Steven Martin! I give it a 9.