VIFF Review: Kinshasa Symphony

Kinshasa Symphony
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Friday, October 8 2010 6:15pm

What compels musicians to create music even under the most extreme of circumstances? From the Titanic to the Siege of Stalingrad, there are musicians who carry on regardless. After years of war, the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo barely functions with power outages, potholed dirt streets, ruined buildings, and pitch black nights. But the musicians of L’Orchestere Symphonique Kimbanguiste carry on despite the near impossible living conditions.

The orchestra is under the strong leadership of conductor Armand who is not a musician, but a pilot by training. He is the grandson of Simon Kimbangu, founder of the Christian sect named after him, and has inherited the drive, focus, intelligence, charisma, and pure force of will to shape these players into a functioning orchestra. For the most part, they are not professional musicians, but ordinary Congolese with an exceptional dedication to music. He takes on Beethoven's 9th Symphony which is no small challenge for even the most seasoned of Western orchestras, much less an inadequately equipped orchestra and choir of two hundred players.

The stories of the musicians private lives is compelling, and sometimes heartbreaking. They make their living in everyday occupations such as hairdressers, shopkeepers, cooks, mechanics, and electricians. Each has their own story of struggling to survive a hard existence with their families, but also devoting a large amount of time with the symphony. The symphony is an escape from a grinding existence, an outlet for their ingenuity, and an opportunity to creating beauty in a place where much was destroyed.

There are some particularly beautiful moments with the sound design. The musicians are filmed playing solo in the streets of Kinshasa with the traffic and chaos swirling around them. And then slowly the noise of the street fades and only the instrument is heard as the camera frame tightens in on the entranced face of the player playing his instrument.

This film is an uplifting exploration of the enduring human instinct for creativity that cannot be diminished by poverty, war, famine, or death. Congo's hope for the future lie with people like Armand and his fellow orchestra members who are rebuilding the country one concert at a time.