User Reviews

I saw this film last night at its Boston-area Premier (at Tufts University), and it was excellent. I was not expecting to be terribly interested by the subject matter, so I was delighted to find that the film was very enjoyable. Bad Boy Made Good is a look at George Antheil, a composer in the first half of the century, whose performances prompted standing ovations, catcalls, and riots, often all three at once. The story focuses around what is perhaps his most famous piece, The Ballet Mecanique, a piece of music written in 1924 that couldn't be performed as originally intended for 75 years, when the technology finally caught up. This film is an interesting look into Antheil's life.

The producer, Paul Lehrman, was at the showing to answer questions and he indicated that the film will be at film festivals around the country - if you get a chance, see this film.

Last weekend I had the honor to view the final cut of a film at the Doc Kountze Film Festival called Bad Boy Made Good. This film brought to life a piece of music that, when it was created in the 1920's, was ahead of its time. What the composer, George Antheil, had in mind when he created Ballet Mecanique, was not possible to deliver to audiences until the 1990s. The work is a composition which includes the following instruments: two grand pianos, three xylophones, four bass drums, and a tam-tam, 16 synchronized player pianos, sirens, bells and 3 airplane propellers. I sh** you not. It is truly a spectacle, er, spectacular piece.

This documentary includes the evolution of the project as well as the evolution of the life of George Antheil. I don't think that I can describe this with any justice, but because this topic was so far outside of my circle of knowledge, I was completely riveted by this film. I was surprised at what an important part of contemporary musical history (something that we don't hear much about in mainstream channels save for Aaron Copeland) that I felt genuinely enlightened. George's life (I feel so connected that I can call him by his first name) held a lot of the same struggles musicians have today and maybe even on a grander scale because of his ingeniousness. Every musician should see this film for obvious reasons and everyone else should catch a glimpse just to be inspired.

Two thumbs up!