In Search of Beethoven
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Monday, October 5 2009 6:15pm
In 2006 director Phil Grabsky gave Mozart his thorough treatment, correcting the myths that arose out of the fictionalized Amadeus. Now Grabsky sets his camera on Beethoven with the same thoroughness and myth busting in a breathlessly paced and information packed 140 minutes.
The film traces a chronological time line of his life. Details are filled in by readings from his letters, performances of his most significant musical works, and interviews with the most eminent scholars, conductors, musicians, and musicologists available in Europe. The film brings welcome insight into his personal life, and puts his work in context with the geopolitical events of the late 18th century and early 19th century. The revolutions, wars, and politics of the day were a definite influence on his music.
Beethoven the man is revealed in his letters as well as his music. While his popular image is of a misanthropic, deaf, and melancholy old man he was also romantic, idealistic, and gastronomic. He was constantly falling in love with his aristocratic young lady students and would write pieces devoted to them—most famously the Moonlight Sonata, and Für Elise. Unfortunately, his affections could not be returned because of the class barriers of 19th century Viennese society—no noble lady could be allowed to marry a mere musician!
He appreciated good wine and good food, frequented the best restaurants in Vienna, and cultivated the reputation of a gourmand. More than once he we would write and ask his friends for bottles of fine wine to sooth his ailments. Ominously, his father died an alcoholic after he fell into depression over the death of his wife.
His frequent bouts of poor health and progressive deafness were a great source of despair, and he was driven to the brink of suicide at a few points in his life. But his art brought him back as he could not end himself when there was always one more piece of music in him which he felt obliged to bring forth to the world. While he could no longer perform publicly on the piano, his deafness was no barrier to music composition as his later works are some of his best ever.
Despite the troubles of the world around him, Beethoven was a believer in the higher nature of humanity and the potential for societal enlightenment. This belief showed through in his music like his only opera Fidelio, and the 9th Symphony. Through adversity, (a) man could prevail with hope and love. Beethoven suffered through adversities both personal and worldly, and in the process produced some of the best music ever conceived.
I will be eagerly looking forward to Grabsky's next music documentary project when he takes on Haydn.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
VIFF Review: Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Sunday, October 4 2009 7:00pm
This is an amazingly revealing documentary on the real man behind the myth that is the public image of Glenn Gould. Going beyond the eccentricities of his later years it reveals a complex and contradictory man who was both loving and smothering, perfectionist and clown, solitary and charming, father figure and hypochondriac.
Gould's abilities were formed early. As a child, his mother was his first piano teacher from around age 3 to 10. Gould attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where Alberto Guerrero taught him the fundamentals of his technique. As a teenager he played the family piano obsessively until the small hours of the morning. Some of his eccentricities were forming at this time as he was given to wearing excessive layers of clothing at all times.
His playful side is revealed in an extraordinary short film shot by a friend on a beach in the Bahamas. Gould is seen wearing his customary coat, scarf, gloves, and hat on the beach while a local bikinied beauty dances seductively for him. There are also clips of him serenading elephants at a zoo, and cows in a field.
Interviews with his closest friends, musicians, and work colleagues reveal the most intimate details of his life which belie his public image. He had few relationships, but the few he had were intense. He once asked his CBC colleague to adopt him as his brother. Long time friend from childhood John Roberts reveals much of the relationship Gould had with his parents.
A surprising revelation is the 4 year relationship Gould had with Cornelia Foss. Gould had years earlier been an admirer of pianist Lukas Foss and became close friends with him and his wife. When her marriage with Lukas broke down Cornelia left him for Gould. Gould loved Cornelia and was a good "uncle" to her children, but his mental state was declining so she returned to Lukas.
After he ended his concert pianist career at age 31 he continued with a prolific recording career as well as a radio broadcasting career with the CBC. He pioneered recording techniques and pushed the tape-based technology to its limits. He conceived of a way for listeners to create their own mixes which was impossible with the technology of the time, but I wonder what he could have done with today's ubiquitous digital recording technology.
Gould passed away shortly after his 50th birthday of stroke in 1982. He left a legacy of recordings most famously his two sets of Bach Goldberg Variations which re-conceived the compositions in his unique style. His shrewdly managed public image made him larger than life and has kept him in the public consciousness to this day. But at his core, he was an intensely intelligent and passionate man who was happiest playing piano in his Ontario cottage where he could enjoy music, solitude, and peace.
If you miss this film at the VIFF you will likely be able to catch it on television. It was co-produced with television networks world-wide like ZDF-ARTE, PBS, Bravo!, TVOntario, and the Knowledge Network so it should appear on those networks in the near future.
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Sunday, October 4 2009 7:00pm
This is an amazingly revealing documentary on the real man behind the myth that is the public image of Glenn Gould. Going beyond the eccentricities of his later years it reveals a complex and contradictory man who was both loving and smothering, perfectionist and clown, solitary and charming, father figure and hypochondriac.
Gould's abilities were formed early. As a child, his mother was his first piano teacher from around age 3 to 10. Gould attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where Alberto Guerrero taught him the fundamentals of his technique. As a teenager he played the family piano obsessively until the small hours of the morning. Some of his eccentricities were forming at this time as he was given to wearing excessive layers of clothing at all times.
His playful side is revealed in an extraordinary short film shot by a friend on a beach in the Bahamas. Gould is seen wearing his customary coat, scarf, gloves, and hat on the beach while a local bikinied beauty dances seductively for him. There are also clips of him serenading elephants at a zoo, and cows in a field.
Interviews with his closest friends, musicians, and work colleagues reveal the most intimate details of his life which belie his public image. He had few relationships, but the few he had were intense. He once asked his CBC colleague to adopt him as his brother. Long time friend from childhood John Roberts reveals much of the relationship Gould had with his parents.
A surprising revelation is the 4 year relationship Gould had with Cornelia Foss. Gould had years earlier been an admirer of pianist Lukas Foss and became close friends with him and his wife. When her marriage with Lukas broke down Cornelia left him for Gould. Gould loved Cornelia and was a good "uncle" to her children, but his mental state was declining so she returned to Lukas.
After he ended his concert pianist career at age 31 he continued with a prolific recording career as well as a radio broadcasting career with the CBC. He pioneered recording techniques and pushed the tape-based technology to its limits. He conceived of a way for listeners to create their own mixes which was impossible with the technology of the time, but I wonder what he could have done with today's ubiquitous digital recording technology.
Gould passed away shortly after his 50th birthday of stroke in 1982. He left a legacy of recordings most famously his two sets of Bach Goldberg Variations which re-conceived the compositions in his unique style. His shrewdly managed public image made him larger than life and has kept him in the public consciousness to this day. But at his core, he was an intensely intelligent and passionate man who was happiest playing piano in his Ontario cottage where he could enjoy music, solitude, and peace.
If you miss this film at the VIFF you will likely be able to catch it on television. It was co-produced with television networks world-wide like ZDF-ARTE, PBS, Bravo!, TVOntario, and the Knowledge Network so it should appear on those networks in the near future.
VIFF Review: The Man Who Bottled Clouds
The Man Who Bottled Clouds
Granville 7 Theatre 4
Sunday, October 4 2009 11:40am
This documentary about Brazilian musician Humberto Teixeira was produced and narrated by his daughter Denise Dummont. Even though he raised her she never felt she knew her father as a person and sets out to learn who he was by interviewing his friends, family, and colleagues in Brazil and New York Ciy.
Most of the musicians are unfamiliar to non-Brazilians but notably recognizable are Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, and Maria Bethânia. They speak of Teixeira in respectful tones but it is the interviews with his first wife (Denise's mother), and Denise herself which are the most revealing about his character.
Extensive historic footage is used to invoke 1930-50s Brazil. Even the contemporary scenes have a vintage feel as they are shot on old film stock. It is a pivotal time in the industrialization of Brazil with its attendant social upheavals. Northeasterners are streaming into the cities like Rio De Janeiro to escape the drought and build a better life. They bring with them their native culture.
Humberto Teixeira is one of these migrants from the town of Iguatu in the rural state of Ceará. Little is mentioned of his early life but he did study medicine before switching to law and becoming a lawyer. Teixeira had limited success in music until he teamed up with fellow Northeasterner Luiz Gonzaga to bring their adaptation of Northeastern baião music to the South. Gonzaga would become the better known singing cowboy front man, but songwriter Teixeira would become the Doctor of Baião.
Baião swept post-war Brazil and dominated popular music until the late 1950s. The lyrics romanticizing country life had great appeal to the many migrants homesick for their Northern lands. It directly influenced the up and coming Bossa Nova musicians, and spread outside Brazil to influence forms as diverse as Jamaican reggae and Carmen Miranda musicals.
There are many performances of Teixeira's songs by many Brazilian musicians. A highlight is a performance of Asa Branca by David Byrne dressed in Brazilian cowboy gear.
The film is an interesting look at a musical form which is largely overshadowed outside of Brazil by the later Bossa Nova movement. Once again, the importance of the culture of Brazil's rural Northeast on the rest of the country is highlighted. The Brazilian brain may lie in the South but its heart is in the North.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Granville 7 Theatre 4
Sunday, October 4 2009 11:40am
This documentary about Brazilian musician Humberto Teixeira was produced and narrated by his daughter Denise Dummont. Even though he raised her she never felt she knew her father as a person and sets out to learn who he was by interviewing his friends, family, and colleagues in Brazil and New York Ciy.
Most of the musicians are unfamiliar to non-Brazilians but notably recognizable are Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, and Maria Bethânia. They speak of Teixeira in respectful tones but it is the interviews with his first wife (Denise's mother), and Denise herself which are the most revealing about his character.
Extensive historic footage is used to invoke 1930-50s Brazil. Even the contemporary scenes have a vintage feel as they are shot on old film stock. It is a pivotal time in the industrialization of Brazil with its attendant social upheavals. Northeasterners are streaming into the cities like Rio De Janeiro to escape the drought and build a better life. They bring with them their native culture.
Humberto Teixeira is one of these migrants from the town of Iguatu in the rural state of Ceará. Little is mentioned of his early life but he did study medicine before switching to law and becoming a lawyer. Teixeira had limited success in music until he teamed up with fellow Northeasterner Luiz Gonzaga to bring their adaptation of Northeastern baião music to the South. Gonzaga would become the better known singing cowboy front man, but songwriter Teixeira would become the Doctor of Baião.
Baião swept post-war Brazil and dominated popular music until the late 1950s. The lyrics romanticizing country life had great appeal to the many migrants homesick for their Northern lands. It directly influenced the up and coming Bossa Nova musicians, and spread outside Brazil to influence forms as diverse as Jamaican reggae and Carmen Miranda musicals.
There are many performances of Teixeira's songs by many Brazilian musicians. A highlight is a performance of Asa Branca by David Byrne dressed in Brazilian cowboy gear.
The film is an interesting look at a musical form which is largely overshadowed outside of Brazil by the later Bossa Nova movement. Once again, the importance of the culture of Brazil's rural Northeast on the rest of the country is highlighted. The Brazilian brain may lie in the South but its heart is in the North.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
VIFF Review: The Great Contemporary Art Bubble
The Great Contemporary Art Bubble
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Saturday, October 3 2009 3:30pm
British art critic Ben Lewis exposes the corrupt business practices which lead to the recent astronomical price increases in contemporary art auctions, and how the players followed the classic market bubble to its inevitable catastrophic conclusion.
Lewis conducts surprisingly candid interviews with gallery owners, artists, collectors, and other art insiders who tacitly acknowledge the corruption and manipulation of the system with a nod and a wink. Everyone is in on this confidence game where there is every incentive not to declare the emperor has no clothes.
Lewis' most devastating moment is his acquisition of an inventory list of the White Cube Gallery documenting the vast number of unsold Damien Hirst works. Leaked to the art press it throws the rarified art world into controversy.
Hirst has the last laugh as his Sotheby's auction (ironically on the same day as Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt) without representation by a dealer or gallery generates a record 125 million US dollars directly to him. In order to safeguard the value of their inventories, his former dealers are forced to bid on, and purchase lots to keep prices up.
But all bubbles eventually collapse, and subsequent art auctions become a cruel joke as lot after lot is left unsold and auction houses are plunged into debt over their guarantees in a situation parallelling the financial markets.
Since few of us could ever manage to bid millions on a work of art it would seem this is just a game of one upmanship between billionaires without consequence for the general public. This is far from true as public money must be used by public institutions to purchase significant works at inflated price for their collections. In addition media coverage gives legitimacy to works for their monetary value regardless of any aesthetic considerations.
Lewis bravely declares that the emperor has no clothes, but with the world economy deeply wounded the customers for inflated art have run out. This era of contemporary art as speculative commodity has come to an end as surely as tulip bulbs, derivatives, and subprime mortgages.
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Saturday, October 3 2009 3:30pm
British art critic Ben Lewis exposes the corrupt business practices which lead to the recent astronomical price increases in contemporary art auctions, and how the players followed the classic market bubble to its inevitable catastrophic conclusion.
Lewis conducts surprisingly candid interviews with gallery owners, artists, collectors, and other art insiders who tacitly acknowledge the corruption and manipulation of the system with a nod and a wink. Everyone is in on this confidence game where there is every incentive not to declare the emperor has no clothes.
Lewis' most devastating moment is his acquisition of an inventory list of the White Cube Gallery documenting the vast number of unsold Damien Hirst works. Leaked to the art press it throws the rarified art world into controversy.
Hirst has the last laugh as his Sotheby's auction (ironically on the same day as Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt) without representation by a dealer or gallery generates a record 125 million US dollars directly to him. In order to safeguard the value of their inventories, his former dealers are forced to bid on, and purchase lots to keep prices up.
But all bubbles eventually collapse, and subsequent art auctions become a cruel joke as lot after lot is left unsold and auction houses are plunged into debt over their guarantees in a situation parallelling the financial markets.
Since few of us could ever manage to bid millions on a work of art it would seem this is just a game of one upmanship between billionaires without consequence for the general public. This is far from true as public money must be used by public institutions to purchase significant works at inflated price for their collections. In addition media coverage gives legitimacy to works for their monetary value regardless of any aesthetic considerations.
Lewis bravely declares that the emperor has no clothes, but with the world economy deeply wounded the customers for inflated art have run out. This era of contemporary art as speculative commodity has come to an end as surely as tulip bulbs, derivatives, and subprime mortgages.
Friday, October 02, 2009
VIFF Review: The Jazz Baroness
The Jazz Baroness
Granville 7 Theatre 5
Thursday, October 1 2009 6:00pm
This film is Hannah Rothschild's personal journey to learn about her great aunt Pannonica of whom her family rarely spoke. Hannah had only a brief relationship with Pannonica having only met her a few years before her death.
Pannonica was born into the English branch of the prominent Jewish Rothschild banking family. Named after a species of moth that her naturalist father collected, she led a sheltered life of privilege in palatial estates. Pannonica was brought up to become a wife and mother which were the only acceptable roles open to high society women in the early 20th century. But world events would test her strength and hint at new possibilities.
The wealth and privilege of the Rothschilds could not save unlucky European family members who were caught by the Nazi regime and perished in the concentration camps. Pannonica's husband was sent to fight in Africa. She only left Normandy for America just in time. Leaving her children in America, she enlisted as a private and aided the Allied war effort in Africa.
After the war the family settled in Mexico. But one day on a visit to New York her friend played Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight for her and she fell in love with his music. She stayed in NY and effectively left her family but would not meet Thelonious Monk until a concert in Paris where they were introduced by pianist Mary Lou Williams.
Pannonica became nursemaid, chauffeur, gopher, banker, and best friend to Monk and many of the bebop era jazz musicians in New York City. But mainstream society would not accept an independent white woman associating with disreputable black jazz musicians without a fight. Vicious rumors and speculation about Charlie Parker's death in her hotel suite are put to rest. The infamous incident when she takes the rap for drugs found in her car to protect Monk is recounted but it is never revealed who they actually belonged to.
The film includes extensive interviews with musicians, family, and colleagues including Thelonious Monk Jr, Quincy Jones, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes, Clint Eastwood, and Pannonica's siblings. Naturally, the soundtrack is a greatest hits package of Thelonious Monk's as well as other musicians compositions dedicated to Pannonica.
Hannah admires her great aunt's reinvention of herself but wonders about the family left behind. Her doubts are assuaged with the discovery of Pannonica's loving letters to her family in Mary Lou Williams' archive.
Alongside Clint Eastwood's Straight, No Chaser, this movie documents a remarkable relationship between music lover and music creator. Monk's fragile genius might not have flourished without the unwavering support of the Jazz Baroness.
Granville 7 Theatre 5
Thursday, October 1 2009 6:00pm
This film is Hannah Rothschild's personal journey to learn about her great aunt Pannonica of whom her family rarely spoke. Hannah had only a brief relationship with Pannonica having only met her a few years before her death.
Pannonica was born into the English branch of the prominent Jewish Rothschild banking family. Named after a species of moth that her naturalist father collected, she led a sheltered life of privilege in palatial estates. Pannonica was brought up to become a wife and mother which were the only acceptable roles open to high society women in the early 20th century. But world events would test her strength and hint at new possibilities.
The wealth and privilege of the Rothschilds could not save unlucky European family members who were caught by the Nazi regime and perished in the concentration camps. Pannonica's husband was sent to fight in Africa. She only left Normandy for America just in time. Leaving her children in America, she enlisted as a private and aided the Allied war effort in Africa.
After the war the family settled in Mexico. But one day on a visit to New York her friend played Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight for her and she fell in love with his music. She stayed in NY and effectively left her family but would not meet Thelonious Monk until a concert in Paris where they were introduced by pianist Mary Lou Williams.
Pannonica became nursemaid, chauffeur, gopher, banker, and best friend to Monk and many of the bebop era jazz musicians in New York City. But mainstream society would not accept an independent white woman associating with disreputable black jazz musicians without a fight. Vicious rumors and speculation about Charlie Parker's death in her hotel suite are put to rest. The infamous incident when she takes the rap for drugs found in her car to protect Monk is recounted but it is never revealed who they actually belonged to.
The film includes extensive interviews with musicians, family, and colleagues including Thelonious Monk Jr, Quincy Jones, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes, Clint Eastwood, and Pannonica's siblings. Naturally, the soundtrack is a greatest hits package of Thelonious Monk's as well as other musicians compositions dedicated to Pannonica.
Hannah admires her great aunt's reinvention of herself but wonders about the family left behind. Her doubts are assuaged with the discovery of Pannonica's loving letters to her family in Mary Lou Williams' archive.
Alongside Clint Eastwood's Straight, No Chaser, this movie documents a remarkable relationship between music lover and music creator. Monk's fragile genius might not have flourished without the unwavering support of the Jazz Baroness.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Fringe Review: The Secret Love Life of Ophelia
The Secret Love Life of Ophelia
Studio 16
Tuesday, September 15 2009 8:00pm
Steven Berkoff attempts to fill in the backstory of Ophelia and Hamlet's doomed love and succeeds brilliantly. Written in the form of letters sent between the two lovers, the story unfolds from the first tender blush of affection, to wonderfully lustful and passionate imagery, and finally to heart wrenching declarations of eternal love in death. Berkoff really captures the language and emotion in his script which weaves itself into the events of Shakespeare's play.
Alicia Novak is an amazing Ophelia transforming from shy girl to lover to sacrificial being. Darren Boquist captures Hamlet's tragic descent but was marred by the occasional word stumble.
I think Shakespeare would approve.
4/5
Studio 16
Tuesday, September 15 2009 8:00pm
Steven Berkoff attempts to fill in the backstory of Ophelia and Hamlet's doomed love and succeeds brilliantly. Written in the form of letters sent between the two lovers, the story unfolds from the first tender blush of affection, to wonderfully lustful and passionate imagery, and finally to heart wrenching declarations of eternal love in death. Berkoff really captures the language and emotion in his script which weaves itself into the events of Shakespeare's play.
Alicia Novak is an amazing Ophelia transforming from shy girl to lover to sacrificial being. Darren Boquist captures Hamlet's tragic descent but was marred by the occasional word stumble.
I think Shakespeare would approve.
4/5
Vancouver International Fringe Festival 2009
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. Despite a rocky economy and an arts unfriendly provincial government, the show must go on. With perseverance and the generosity of patrons, sponsors, and arts loving individuals there will be more and greater Fringe in the future. Here's to another 12 days of hilarity, passion, anxiety, song, sexuality, and surprise.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
VIFF Review: Celia the Queen
Celia the Queen
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Friday, October 3 2008 7:15pm
Celia Cruz was one of the greatest singers of Salsa music. As one of the many talented musicians who left Cuba after the Revolution, she faced an uncertain future in exile. She went on to have a great life in the United States, and helped spread Cuban music around the world.
She was bigger than life on and off stage. Vivacious, with a broad smile, and vibrant deep voice, she was the personification of the great Cuban singing star. A larger than life star needs larger than life accessories, so her flamboyant costumes, shoes, and wigs became her trademark.
She led a very public life, and was surprisingly accessible. There is extensive footage of her in concert, behind the scenes, and in media interviews. But somehow she managed to keep enough private to remain happily married to musician Pedro Knight for almost four decades.
Cruz recorded extensively and collaborated with many Latin musicians. She and Knight toured the world with several salsa groups, most notably the Fania All-Stars.
The film interviews an eclectic mix of fans. Inspired by Cruz's electric persona and outlandish costumes, a Cuban émigré becomes a female impersonator of her. A Cuban-American artist paints a whole series of her image in Warhol-like abstract form. "Two Cuban-American boys in London" who just phoned her up while she was in London, starting a friendship that would later result in a coffee table book about her.
Cruz was greatly admired by musicians inside and outside the Cuban music scene. Among her professional devotees interviewed are Talking Heads front man David Byrne, hip hop star Wyclef Jean, Latin singer Gloria Estefan, and producer and composer Quincy Jones.
The salsa influence even reaches the Far East. A segment in Tokyo, Japan visits a Latin dance studio, a Latin record store, and a Latin music night club. The Japanese salsa fans are as devoted to Cruz as her American fans.
She performed and recorded up until the end at age 78 when she passed away in 2003. Her's was virtually a state funeral. The streets of New York City were lined with thousands of fans cheering her as the procession made its way to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
This film is a loving tribute to the Queen of Salsa. ¡Azúcar!
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Friday, October 3 2008 7:15pm
Celia Cruz was one of the greatest singers of Salsa music. As one of the many talented musicians who left Cuba after the Revolution, she faced an uncertain future in exile. She went on to have a great life in the United States, and helped spread Cuban music around the world.
She was bigger than life on and off stage. Vivacious, with a broad smile, and vibrant deep voice, she was the personification of the great Cuban singing star. A larger than life star needs larger than life accessories, so her flamboyant costumes, shoes, and wigs became her trademark.
She led a very public life, and was surprisingly accessible. There is extensive footage of her in concert, behind the scenes, and in media interviews. But somehow she managed to keep enough private to remain happily married to musician Pedro Knight for almost four decades.
Cruz recorded extensively and collaborated with many Latin musicians. She and Knight toured the world with several salsa groups, most notably the Fania All-Stars.
The film interviews an eclectic mix of fans. Inspired by Cruz's electric persona and outlandish costumes, a Cuban émigré becomes a female impersonator of her. A Cuban-American artist paints a whole series of her image in Warhol-like abstract form. "Two Cuban-American boys in London" who just phoned her up while she was in London, starting a friendship that would later result in a coffee table book about her.
Cruz was greatly admired by musicians inside and outside the Cuban music scene. Among her professional devotees interviewed are Talking Heads front man David Byrne, hip hop star Wyclef Jean, Latin singer Gloria Estefan, and producer and composer Quincy Jones.
The salsa influence even reaches the Far East. A segment in Tokyo, Japan visits a Latin dance studio, a Latin record store, and a Latin music night club. The Japanese salsa fans are as devoted to Cruz as her American fans.
She performed and recorded up until the end at age 78 when she passed away in 2003. Her's was virtually a state funeral. The streets of New York City were lined with thousands of fans cheering her as the procession made its way to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
This film is a loving tribute to the Queen of Salsa. ¡Azúcar!
VIFF Review: Ice People
Ice People
Pacific Cinematheque
Thursday, October 3 2008 1:30pm
The first light of the austral spring sun lights the horizon in Antarctica, signalling the end of the dark winter. For the scientists living and working at McMurdo Station it is time again to venture back into the field. This documentary is a look into the life of geologists working in the coldest, driest, most remote place on Earth.
Visually the landscape of Antarctica is spectacular. The region the geologists is exploring looks remarkably like the U.S. southwest desert. With massive buttes rising out of the vast brick coloured plain, and surrounded by distant mountains, you could almost believe you were in Arizona if it wasn't for the -20C temperature and dusting of snow. Leaf fossils reveal the history of the region. What is now polar desert was once a temperate forest and lake.
The most noticeable difference with this film from most other science documentaries is how quiet it is. There is a complete lack of narration, and barely a music soundtrack. It's a very natural soundscape with only the sound of the wind, the crunch of footsteps, the scraping of shovels, and the laboured breathing of the scientists. Using only the available sound is effective in communicating the feeling of isolation and smallness in this vast land.
The downside of no narration or soundtrack is that it makes the film dull and sometimes puzzling. Interviews and footage of the geologists as they work and live out of tents in the field reveals something of their scientific work and life down under but still leaves so much unexplained and unexplored. A circumspect and ultimately unsatisfying film which could have been much more interesting with more post production.
Pacific Cinematheque
Thursday, October 3 2008 1:30pm
The first light of the austral spring sun lights the horizon in Antarctica, signalling the end of the dark winter. For the scientists living and working at McMurdo Station it is time again to venture back into the field. This documentary is a look into the life of geologists working in the coldest, driest, most remote place on Earth.
Visually the landscape of Antarctica is spectacular. The region the geologists is exploring looks remarkably like the U.S. southwest desert. With massive buttes rising out of the vast brick coloured plain, and surrounded by distant mountains, you could almost believe you were in Arizona if it wasn't for the -20C temperature and dusting of snow. Leaf fossils reveal the history of the region. What is now polar desert was once a temperate forest and lake.
The most noticeable difference with this film from most other science documentaries is how quiet it is. There is a complete lack of narration, and barely a music soundtrack. It's a very natural soundscape with only the sound of the wind, the crunch of footsteps, the scraping of shovels, and the laboured breathing of the scientists. Using only the available sound is effective in communicating the feeling of isolation and smallness in this vast land.
The downside of no narration or soundtrack is that it makes the film dull and sometimes puzzling. Interviews and footage of the geologists as they work and live out of tents in the field reveals something of their scientific work and life down under but still leaves so much unexplained and unexplored. A circumspect and ultimately unsatisfying film which could have been much more interesting with more post production.
VIFF Review: Bird's Nest
Bird's Nest: Herzog and De Meuron in China
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Thursday, October 2 2008 7:15pm
The most iconic image of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the remarkable National Stadium. The international competition to design the stadium was won by Swiss star architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. But winning the competition was only the beginning of a monumental task. This documentary is a fascinating look behind the scenes on a high visibility project, and what technical, financial, political, and cultural problems must be overcome.
Without the aid of knowledgeable collaborators Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and former Swiss ambassador to China and Chinese art patron Dr. Uli Sigg, Herzog and de Meuron's design concepts may have crashed into a cultural faux pas. A rival's losing design of a green glassed dome has a shape reminiscent of a green shelled tortoise. Apparently this has a cultural connotation of a cuckolded man.
The various Chinese officials involved with the project all have their own agendas which are not necessarily beneficial to the successful completion of the stadium. A surprising development is the reduction in budget after construction is underway. This causes the original retractable roof to be abandoned, and the stadium to be left open.
Herzog and de Meuron have a very humanistic philosophy to architecture. Starting without preconceived notions, they learn as much as possible about local conditions including site, purpose and cultural values. They try to create not a monument but an anti-monument. Despite its impressive scale they try to incorporate elements to make the stadium human scaled. It is their hope that it will become a sort of public sculptural space after the Olympics much as the Eiffel Tower became a public sculpture one could visit. Whether this happens is out of their hands.
The stadium is not their only project in China. Their town plan design for a new neighbourhood of the small city of Jinhua has run into a bureacratic wall and is stalled in the planning stage. For ordinary Chinese like Fang—a young man living in the nearby village of Yiwu and contemplating a move to Jinhua—this represents a speed bump in the exodus to the city. From the village and the hutong to the city and the high rise, architects like Herzog and de Meuron have an influential role in the transformation of China.
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Thursday, October 2 2008 7:15pm
The most iconic image of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the remarkable National Stadium. The international competition to design the stadium was won by Swiss star architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. But winning the competition was only the beginning of a monumental task. This documentary is a fascinating look behind the scenes on a high visibility project, and what technical, financial, political, and cultural problems must be overcome.
Without the aid of knowledgeable collaborators Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and former Swiss ambassador to China and Chinese art patron Dr. Uli Sigg, Herzog and de Meuron's design concepts may have crashed into a cultural faux pas. A rival's losing design of a green glassed dome has a shape reminiscent of a green shelled tortoise. Apparently this has a cultural connotation of a cuckolded man.
The various Chinese officials involved with the project all have their own agendas which are not necessarily beneficial to the successful completion of the stadium. A surprising development is the reduction in budget after construction is underway. This causes the original retractable roof to be abandoned, and the stadium to be left open.
Herzog and de Meuron have a very humanistic philosophy to architecture. Starting without preconceived notions, they learn as much as possible about local conditions including site, purpose and cultural values. They try to create not a monument but an anti-monument. Despite its impressive scale they try to incorporate elements to make the stadium human scaled. It is their hope that it will become a sort of public sculptural space after the Olympics much as the Eiffel Tower became a public sculpture one could visit. Whether this happens is out of their hands.
The stadium is not their only project in China. Their town plan design for a new neighbourhood of the small city of Jinhua has run into a bureacratic wall and is stalled in the planning stage. For ordinary Chinese like Fang—a young man living in the nearby village of Yiwu and contemplating a move to Jinhua—this represents a speed bump in the exodus to the city. From the village and the hutong to the city and the high rise, architects like Herzog and de Meuron have an influential role in the transformation of China.
Friday, October 03, 2008
VIFF Review: Faubourg Tremé
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Granville 7 Theatre 5
Thursday, October 2 2008 3:00pm
This is an inspiring and enlightening documentary about the little known history of this New Orleans neighbourhood. Told from the viewpoint of New Orleans journalist Lolis Eric Elie, this film uncovers the spirit and strength of its residents past and present.
Now known as the Sixth Ward, Tremé was established as a faubourg (suburb) of New Orleans in the 18th century. It became the gathering place for freed slaves and thrived as a racially mixed community.
A century before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s there was an altogether too brief flowering of democracy and equality in New Orleans. During the Reconstruction after the American Civil War, free blacks based in Tremé established a period of equal rights for all New Orleanians. Schools and public transit were desegregated, blacks were given the vote, and blacks were elected to city office. But once the Federal troops left New Orleans, the strong Southern racist forces were ready to swoop in and undo the progress. The shocking image of a lynched black man with a sign hung around his neck reading "THIS NIGGER VOTED" tells you what they were up against.
With no other voice to express themselves, the creativity and yearning for freedom of a people would find expression in a new musical form—jazz. New Orleans became the birthplace of the great American music and many of its pioneering practitioners.
With a new appreciation of the history and people of Tremé, the footage of the devastation of hurricane Katrina is all the more gut-wrenching. What the forces of man could not destroy the forces of nature could very well doom Tremé. Elie is fortunate that his home suffered minor damage and was not flooded but most of his neighbours are not so lucky. Many of the documentary's participants are scattered across the country and their return is doubtful.
If you don't get an opportunity to see this film at the festival, be on the look out for broadcast of Faubourg Tremé on a PBS television station.
Granville 7 Theatre 5
Thursday, October 2 2008 3:00pm
This is an inspiring and enlightening documentary about the little known history of this New Orleans neighbourhood. Told from the viewpoint of New Orleans journalist Lolis Eric Elie, this film uncovers the spirit and strength of its residents past and present.
Now known as the Sixth Ward, Tremé was established as a faubourg (suburb) of New Orleans in the 18th century. It became the gathering place for freed slaves and thrived as a racially mixed community.
A century before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s there was an altogether too brief flowering of democracy and equality in New Orleans. During the Reconstruction after the American Civil War, free blacks based in Tremé established a period of equal rights for all New Orleanians. Schools and public transit were desegregated, blacks were given the vote, and blacks were elected to city office. But once the Federal troops left New Orleans, the strong Southern racist forces were ready to swoop in and undo the progress. The shocking image of a lynched black man with a sign hung around his neck reading "THIS NIGGER VOTED" tells you what they were up against.
With no other voice to express themselves, the creativity and yearning for freedom of a people would find expression in a new musical form—jazz. New Orleans became the birthplace of the great American music and many of its pioneering practitioners.
With a new appreciation of the history and people of Tremé, the footage of the devastation of hurricane Katrina is all the more gut-wrenching. What the forces of man could not destroy the forces of nature could very well doom Tremé. Elie is fortunate that his home suffered minor damage and was not flooded but most of his neighbours are not so lucky. Many of the documentary's participants are scattered across the country and their return is doubtful.
If you don't get an opportunity to see this film at the festival, be on the look out for broadcast of Faubourg Tremé on a PBS television station.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
VIFF Review: Café de los Maestros
Café de los Maestros
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Wednesday, October 1 2008 10:00am
Outside of Argentina, tango is mostly associated with dance. But it is more than just dance music. There are vocals as well, and compositions and arrangements for groups ranging from duos to orchestras. This film explores the musical side of tango and the maestros who developed it.
The maestros are gathered together in the studio for a recording of the best of tango. All of these musicians are now in their 70s to 80s. For many of them this is a reunion with colleagues they have not played with in many years.
Several musicians are featured, interviewed, and shown with historical footage of their performances. Virginia Luque is a tango singer and actress with a bigger than life personality. Tango diva would be a more appropriate title as she still looks, acts, and dresses glamorously.
The accordion-like bandoneón is the instrument in tango that contributes hugely and distinctively to its sound. And so it is featured prominently along with its practitioners. The studio orchestra features no less than four bandonéon players.
A side trip to Montevideo, Uruguay reveals that tango is not strictly a Buenos Aires phenomenon. The candombe music of Uruguay which has its origins in the music of African slaves is also an influence on tango. Jazz has also had its influence on tango as one of the pianist maestro's love of Bill Evans is obviously evident in his composition.
The film culminates in a gala concert at the grand Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. The maestros dust off their old tuxedos and gowns to perform to an appreciative full house.
This film was probably made for Argentine audiences as there is little background explanation of tango and only the most basic of biographical information on the maestros. Regardless, the music speaks for itself. This is a fine tribute to the surviving stars of the golden age of tango.
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Wednesday, October 1 2008 10:00am
Outside of Argentina, tango is mostly associated with dance. But it is more than just dance music. There are vocals as well, and compositions and arrangements for groups ranging from duos to orchestras. This film explores the musical side of tango and the maestros who developed it.
The maestros are gathered together in the studio for a recording of the best of tango. All of these musicians are now in their 70s to 80s. For many of them this is a reunion with colleagues they have not played with in many years.
Several musicians are featured, interviewed, and shown with historical footage of their performances. Virginia Luque is a tango singer and actress with a bigger than life personality. Tango diva would be a more appropriate title as she still looks, acts, and dresses glamorously.
The accordion-like bandoneón is the instrument in tango that contributes hugely and distinctively to its sound. And so it is featured prominently along with its practitioners. The studio orchestra features no less than four bandonéon players.
A side trip to Montevideo, Uruguay reveals that tango is not strictly a Buenos Aires phenomenon. The candombe music of Uruguay which has its origins in the music of African slaves is also an influence on tango. Jazz has also had its influence on tango as one of the pianist maestro's love of Bill Evans is obviously evident in his composition.
The film culminates in a gala concert at the grand Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. The maestros dust off their old tuxedos and gowns to perform to an appreciative full house.
This film was probably made for Argentine audiences as there is little background explanation of tango and only the most basic of biographical information on the maestros. Regardless, the music speaks for itself. This is a fine tribute to the surviving stars of the golden age of tango.
VIFF Review: Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gorée
Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gorée
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Monday, September 29 2008 9:30pm
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has an idea to explore the descendants of African music. From playing with musicians around the world, he hears the similarities in his native Senegalese music with the blues, jazz, Cuban, and Brazilian music. He is interested in how his native Senegalese music would be interpreted by the African music diaspora.
Youssou N'Dour assembles an international cast of musicians to record his new project. With his blind Swiss pianist friend Moncef Genoud, he travels to Atlanta, Georgia and recruits a black gospel vocal group the Harmony Harmoneers.
In New Orleans he rendezvous with his spiritual big brother, drummer Idris Muhammad. We get a little taste of the New Orleans jazz scene as N'Dour jams with his prospective rhythm section at the Snug Harbor jazz club.
It's then on to a New York recording studio where he signs on a French harmonic player, and a young female African-American singer. From there it's off to Luxembourg to round out the band with a guitarist, and a trumpeter.
They finally assemble in a recording studio in N'Dour's home town of Dakar, Senegal. For most of the musicians this is their first visit to Africa so it is important for them to explore and be inspired by Africa. They visit Gorée which was the main port for the slave trade. It is a very poignant experience for the African-American musicians whose ancestors passed through this port. Seeing and hearing the Harmony Harmoneers singing a cappella in the confines of the slave ship passage is a particularly moving moment.
The musical moments are the best part of the film, as the film seems to meander through the various side topics it tries to touch on.
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Monday, September 29 2008 9:30pm
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has an idea to explore the descendants of African music. From playing with musicians around the world, he hears the similarities in his native Senegalese music with the blues, jazz, Cuban, and Brazilian music. He is interested in how his native Senegalese music would be interpreted by the African music diaspora.
Youssou N'Dour assembles an international cast of musicians to record his new project. With his blind Swiss pianist friend Moncef Genoud, he travels to Atlanta, Georgia and recruits a black gospel vocal group the Harmony Harmoneers.
In New Orleans he rendezvous with his spiritual big brother, drummer Idris Muhammad. We get a little taste of the New Orleans jazz scene as N'Dour jams with his prospective rhythm section at the Snug Harbor jazz club.
It's then on to a New York recording studio where he signs on a French harmonic player, and a young female African-American singer. From there it's off to Luxembourg to round out the band with a guitarist, and a trumpeter.
They finally assemble in a recording studio in N'Dour's home town of Dakar, Senegal. For most of the musicians this is their first visit to Africa so it is important for them to explore and be inspired by Africa. They visit Gorée which was the main port for the slave trade. It is a very poignant experience for the African-American musicians whose ancestors passed through this port. Seeing and hearing the Harmony Harmoneers singing a cappella in the confines of the slave ship passage is a particularly moving moment.
The musical moments are the best part of the film, as the film seems to meander through the various side topics it tries to touch on.
Monday, September 29, 2008
VIFF Review: Trip to Asia—The Quest for Harmony
Trip to Asia—The Quest for Harmony
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Sunday, September 28 2008 6:45pm
This is a surprisingly candid, and incisive documentary about the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra filmed on their historic 2005 tour of Asia. The story follows the itinerary of the trip as they visit Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo. Each city provides a unique experience with different audiences and challenges.
Being out of their regular environment in foreign lands, the orchestra members have their guard down with the filmmakers. Between the jet lag and the communications barrier, there's few other outlets for the musicians to vent other than themselves and the filmmakers. Thus the interviews with conductor Sir Simon Rattle and a selection of the orchestra musicians are an incisive and frank look into the life of a professional musician, and the inner workings of one of the world's best orchestra.
The youngest and newest members are on a year long probation to determine if they will become full members or be released. Being young and inexperienced, they reveal their insecurities and hopes. The oldest members have been around since Karajan and are close to retirement. Being older and wiser they reveal their insights and experiences.
The reaction to the BPO in Taipei is amazing. For the Taiwanese who could not get into the Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Centre's auditorium, gigantic screens and speakers are set up in the open square outside. After the concert the orchestra members are lead onto the outdoor stage to a cheering crowd of tens of thousands. The clear and loud chanting of "Simon, Simon!" when Rattle takes the microphone is an amazing moment.
The modern, sampled and electronic soundtrack is composed by Simon Stockhausen, the youngest son of great 20th-century music composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. It stands in contrast to the BPO's concert repertoire of Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss, and Thomas Adès.
As skilfully realized as this film is, it feels like it runs slightly too long. As interesting as the locales and personalities are, by the end, like the musicians on tour, there is a hope that the journey will wrap up soon.
Granville 7 Theatre 7
Sunday, September 28 2008 6:45pm
This is a surprisingly candid, and incisive documentary about the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra filmed on their historic 2005 tour of Asia. The story follows the itinerary of the trip as they visit Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Tokyo. Each city provides a unique experience with different audiences and challenges.
Being out of their regular environment in foreign lands, the orchestra members have their guard down with the filmmakers. Between the jet lag and the communications barrier, there's few other outlets for the musicians to vent other than themselves and the filmmakers. Thus the interviews with conductor Sir Simon Rattle and a selection of the orchestra musicians are an incisive and frank look into the life of a professional musician, and the inner workings of one of the world's best orchestra.
The youngest and newest members are on a year long probation to determine if they will become full members or be released. Being young and inexperienced, they reveal their insecurities and hopes. The oldest members have been around since Karajan and are close to retirement. Being older and wiser they reveal their insights and experiences.
The reaction to the BPO in Taipei is amazing. For the Taiwanese who could not get into the Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Centre's auditorium, gigantic screens and speakers are set up in the open square outside. After the concert the orchestra members are lead onto the outdoor stage to a cheering crowd of tens of thousands. The clear and loud chanting of "Simon, Simon!" when Rattle takes the microphone is an amazing moment.
The modern, sampled and electronic soundtrack is composed by Simon Stockhausen, the youngest son of great 20th-century music composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. It stands in contrast to the BPO's concert repertoire of Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss, and Thomas Adès.
As skilfully realized as this film is, it feels like it runs slightly too long. As interesting as the locales and personalities are, by the end, like the musicians on tour, there is a hope that the journey will wrap up soon.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
VIFF Review: süden
süden
Vancity Theatre
Sunday, September 28 2008 1:15pm
This documentary is an account of the Argentinean born conductor and composer Mauricio Kagel's first concert appearance in his birth land in over 40 years. Kagel has spent most of his professional career and life in Germany, but a recording of the Ensemble Süden (named after one of his pieces) performing his works impresses him so much that he returns to Buenos Aires to perform with them.
The film focuses mainly on the rehearsal process for the concert. It is an intensive week leading up to the concert. Kagel pulls the best out of the young musicians with candor, and precise direction. The music is evocative and modern with interesting color. There is some unusual instrumentation including the use of dropped books, ripping pages, horns, bells, and vocal sounds. A baritone and a mezzo-soprano also join the ensemble with singing and spoken parts.
One of the pieces entitled 24.xii.1931 is a symphony of the day of Kagel's birth. From the short excerpts in the film it seems to be a dark but subversive piece with the concept that each movement is about the world events on that day. There is an unflattering portrayal of a pompous Japanese general leading the Japanese invasion of China. The military ridicule continues in a funny portrait of drunken Nazis stumbling through the night.
In addition to the concert pieces there is also a conceptual art piece Protest Action for 111 Bicyclists. With their voices, bicycle horns, and bells, each bicyclist has a part to perform as they ride past the audience outside the concert hall in a parade reminiscent of the monthly Critical Mass protest rides through downtown Vancouver.
There is an unusual side trip to the dentist with mezzo-soprano Klara Csordas. She needs to have a filling reattached. There is a communication problem as she does not speak Spanish so they use French. The dentist advises her problem is more serious, and that she requires a root canal. She puts that off of course since would stop her from singing.
It is fortunate that this film was made because Kagel passed away earlier this month on September 10, 2008. But it leaves several questions unanswered. Why did he stay away from Argentina for so many years? What inspired his compositions? What drew the members of the Ensemble Süden to Kagel's works?
Vancity Theatre
Sunday, September 28 2008 1:15pm
This documentary is an account of the Argentinean born conductor and composer Mauricio Kagel's first concert appearance in his birth land in over 40 years. Kagel has spent most of his professional career and life in Germany, but a recording of the Ensemble Süden (named after one of his pieces) performing his works impresses him so much that he returns to Buenos Aires to perform with them.
The film focuses mainly on the rehearsal process for the concert. It is an intensive week leading up to the concert. Kagel pulls the best out of the young musicians with candor, and precise direction. The music is evocative and modern with interesting color. There is some unusual instrumentation including the use of dropped books, ripping pages, horns, bells, and vocal sounds. A baritone and a mezzo-soprano also join the ensemble with singing and spoken parts.
One of the pieces entitled 24.xii.1931 is a symphony of the day of Kagel's birth. From the short excerpts in the film it seems to be a dark but subversive piece with the concept that each movement is about the world events on that day. There is an unflattering portrayal of a pompous Japanese general leading the Japanese invasion of China. The military ridicule continues in a funny portrait of drunken Nazis stumbling through the night.
In addition to the concert pieces there is also a conceptual art piece Protest Action for 111 Bicyclists. With their voices, bicycle horns, and bells, each bicyclist has a part to perform as they ride past the audience outside the concert hall in a parade reminiscent of the monthly Critical Mass protest rides through downtown Vancouver.
There is an unusual side trip to the dentist with mezzo-soprano Klara Csordas. She needs to have a filling reattached. There is a communication problem as she does not speak Spanish so they use French. The dentist advises her problem is more serious, and that she requires a root canal. She puts that off of course since would stop her from singing.
It is fortunate that this film was made because Kagel passed away earlier this month on September 10, 2008. But it leaves several questions unanswered. Why did he stay away from Argentina for so many years? What inspired his compositions? What drew the members of the Ensemble Süden to Kagel's works?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
VIFF Review: The Young Romantic
The Young Romantic: A Portrait of Yundi Li
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Saturday, September 27 2008 3:00pm
This film starts with an amazing statistic. There are 20 million budding concert pianists in China. And they all aspire to be like 25 year-old Chinese concert pianist Yundi Li. Because he is the first Chinese gold medal winner of the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, and the first gold medalist since 1985. The gold medal was not awarded in 1990 or 1995 (the competition is held every five years) because no entrant was judged good enough.
We meet his parents who have all his memorabilia proudly displayed in their home. The walls and shelves are packed with gold records, trophies, awards, newspapers, and magazines. Their pride in his achievements is tempered by their sadness at his absence as he tours China and around the world.
We also meet several of his music teachers, including Mrs. Tan, his first teacher who taught him accordion and sparked his love for music. She is a passionate and intense music teacher. The sweat drips from her brow as she vigorously conducts her young pupils who look no older than 5 or 6.
Li is no less passionate or intense. The sweat runs down his cheeks as he rehearses for his debut concert performing Prokofiev's technically demanding Piano Concerto No. 2 with Maestro Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Ozawa is very warm and encouraging with Li, and mentors him as he was mentored by the legendary Herbert Von Karajan.
Li has rock star status in China. In one remarkable sequence, he appears as a guest at the concert of Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou. It's not every concert pianist other than maybe Elton John who gets risen up on a platform from under the stage to play piano duo with Chou in a Hong Kong stadium filled with thousands of screaming fans.
We really only get to see one side of Li's life. His life seems to be exclusively focused on the music. He is a dedicated performer who spends most of his hours practicing. The only relationships documented are with his family, teachers, and musicians.
The film ends as Li and Ozawa hug and take the stage at the Berliner Philharmonie.
If you can't make it to the final screening at Granville 7 Theatre 2 on Friday October 3 10:30am, you can catch this film on Bravo! channel Sunday October 12 5:00pm PST.
Granville 7 Theatre 1
Saturday, September 27 2008 3:00pm
This film starts with an amazing statistic. There are 20 million budding concert pianists in China. And they all aspire to be like 25 year-old Chinese concert pianist Yundi Li. Because he is the first Chinese gold medal winner of the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, and the first gold medalist since 1985. The gold medal was not awarded in 1990 or 1995 (the competition is held every five years) because no entrant was judged good enough.
We meet his parents who have all his memorabilia proudly displayed in their home. The walls and shelves are packed with gold records, trophies, awards, newspapers, and magazines. Their pride in his achievements is tempered by their sadness at his absence as he tours China and around the world.
We also meet several of his music teachers, including Mrs. Tan, his first teacher who taught him accordion and sparked his love for music. She is a passionate and intense music teacher. The sweat drips from her brow as she vigorously conducts her young pupils who look no older than 5 or 6.
Li is no less passionate or intense. The sweat runs down his cheeks as he rehearses for his debut concert performing Prokofiev's technically demanding Piano Concerto No. 2 with Maestro Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Ozawa is very warm and encouraging with Li, and mentors him as he was mentored by the legendary Herbert Von Karajan.
Li has rock star status in China. In one remarkable sequence, he appears as a guest at the concert of Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou. It's not every concert pianist other than maybe Elton John who gets risen up on a platform from under the stage to play piano duo with Chou in a Hong Kong stadium filled with thousands of screaming fans.
We really only get to see one side of Li's life. His life seems to be exclusively focused on the music. He is a dedicated performer who spends most of his hours practicing. The only relationships documented are with his family, teachers, and musicians.
The film ends as Li and Ozawa hug and take the stage at the Berliner Philharmonie.
If you can't make it to the final screening at Granville 7 Theatre 2 on Friday October 3 10:30am, you can catch this film on Bravo! channel Sunday October 12 5:00pm PST.
VIFF Review: The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Friday, September 26 2008 9:30pm
This documentary is director Denny Tedesco's loving homage to his father guitarist Tommy Tedesco and the musicians he worked with—collectively nicknamed the Wrecking Crew. The name was given to this loose group of 30-40 musicians by older session musicians from a more formal time who were not so appreciative of their casual dress and behaviour.
The Wrecking Crew occupied a unique period in American popular music. During the formative golden age of rock and roll in 1960s Los Angeles, these talented studio musicians created many of the great hits of the era. Older and more experienced than the bands that they recorded for, they had the skills to create performances which combined with the image of the band that would sell the records. While the record labels were happy to produce the next one hit wonder, the more talented bands could learn to play the music that was created for them and move beyond to really establish themselves. The Wrecking Crew were in effect mentors to the bands.
Tedesco interviews and showcases several surviving Wrecking Crew members as well as the stars they worked with. Nancy Sinatra could not have made her boots walk without the Wrecking Crew. Brian Wilson used the Wrecking Crew for the Beach Boys albums most notably to greatest effect on Pet Sounds. Phil Spector's signature "Wall of Sound" was shaped by the Wrecking Crew.
They not only worked in rock and roll, but also TV and movies. Tommy Tedesco's guitar can be heard on the Hawaii Five-O theme. Carol Kaye's electric bass on the Mission Impossible theme. Plas Johnson's saxophone on the Pink Panther theme.
Most of the musicians worked in obscurity. Only Glen Campbell broke out to became a country music star. The Wrecking Crew's glory days were numbered with the changing style of popular music as more mature bands entered the system who could perform their own music.
The credits for the music reads like a greatest hits of the 60s collection. At the time, they had no idea that they were creating the sound of a generation. Some who were jazz musicians looked down on the simplistic music. It was just a job, but a very lucrative job. Being a studio musician paid well enough to buy expensive houses, cars, and boats. For the musicians, it really was the golden age of rock and roll.
Tedesco has done a great service to the memory of his father and all the musicians who anonymously created some of the greatest music of their time.
Stay until the end after the credits for a little bonus feature.
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Friday, September 26 2008 9:30pm
This documentary is director Denny Tedesco's loving homage to his father guitarist Tommy Tedesco and the musicians he worked with—collectively nicknamed the Wrecking Crew. The name was given to this loose group of 30-40 musicians by older session musicians from a more formal time who were not so appreciative of their casual dress and behaviour.
The Wrecking Crew occupied a unique period in American popular music. During the formative golden age of rock and roll in 1960s Los Angeles, these talented studio musicians created many of the great hits of the era. Older and more experienced than the bands that they recorded for, they had the skills to create performances which combined with the image of the band that would sell the records. While the record labels were happy to produce the next one hit wonder, the more talented bands could learn to play the music that was created for them and move beyond to really establish themselves. The Wrecking Crew were in effect mentors to the bands.
Tedesco interviews and showcases several surviving Wrecking Crew members as well as the stars they worked with. Nancy Sinatra could not have made her boots walk without the Wrecking Crew. Brian Wilson used the Wrecking Crew for the Beach Boys albums most notably to greatest effect on Pet Sounds. Phil Spector's signature "Wall of Sound" was shaped by the Wrecking Crew.
They not only worked in rock and roll, but also TV and movies. Tommy Tedesco's guitar can be heard on the Hawaii Five-O theme. Carol Kaye's electric bass on the Mission Impossible theme. Plas Johnson's saxophone on the Pink Panther theme.
Most of the musicians worked in obscurity. Only Glen Campbell broke out to became a country music star. The Wrecking Crew's glory days were numbered with the changing style of popular music as more mature bands entered the system who could perform their own music.
The credits for the music reads like a greatest hits of the 60s collection. At the time, they had no idea that they were creating the sound of a generation. Some who were jazz musicians looked down on the simplistic music. It was just a job, but a very lucrative job. Being a studio musician paid well enough to buy expensive houses, cars, and boats. For the musicians, it really was the golden age of rock and roll.
Tedesco has done a great service to the memory of his father and all the musicians who anonymously created some of the greatest music of their time.
Stay until the end after the credits for a little bonus feature.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
VIFF Review: Old Man Bebo
Old Man Bebo
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Thursday, September 25 2008 6:45pm
Just days away from his 90th birthday, Bebo Valdés has earned the moniker of old man with his storied life, and solid musicianship. That musical talent earned him the nickname of Big Stallion in his younger days in 1950s Havana.
As a great pianist, arranger, and composer he fused together traditional Cuban music with jazz and classical influences. His skills put him in the position of band leader at the legendary Tropicana Club during the golden age of Cuban music. The Tropicana played host to many American jazz greats like Stan Getz, Josephine Baker, and Nat King Cole. For Cole's Latin music album, Bebo teaches Cole to sing in Spanish, but as he wryly comments Cole could never quite get his pronunciation of T's and O's right.
In this age of air travel hell it is amazing to find out that the Tropicana chartered flights between Miami and Havana with their musicians and dancers on board to entertain the passengers. A hardly imaginable party in the sky as warm-up to your visit to the Tropicana Club.
Bebo's celebrity life ends with the Cuban Revolution. His reluctance to get involved politically and join the Communist Party causes him to be shunned and unable to work. The last straw is a bomb going off in the night club nearly killing him. He leaves Cuba penniless with some other musicians for Mexico.
Being famous, he lands on his feet playing in Mexico and touring Europe. He winds up in Sweden where he meets his wife Rose Marie and settles down. For over 30 years, he lives a life of contented domestic obscurity playing in restaurants and bars, and working as a pianist for a ballet school.
He is rediscovered by a record producer in 1994 and goes on to record several Grammy Award winning albums. His release from obscurity also allows him to reunite with his estranged children left behind in Cuba. This culminates with performing and recording with his equally talented son Chucho Valdés.
Approaching his 90th year he is vital and leads a band of New York's finest Latin and jazz musicians on an album. He stars in the film Miracle of Candeal documenting his journey to Brazil to discover the African ancestry of his music.
The first half of this film documenting the earlier part of his life is a bit dull. There are interviews with family and friends which results in lots of talking heads, but barely any music. It may be there were no recordings of his early works but it would have been more interesting to have period Cuban music in the background to flesh out the narrative.
The second half of the film documenting his rediscovery and triumphant rebirth is very enjoyable for both the fantastic music, and Bebo's passion for life. The sparkling Cuban jazz performances are worth sitting through the school lecture.
Granville 7 Theatre 2
Thursday, September 25 2008 6:45pm
Just days away from his 90th birthday, Bebo Valdés has earned the moniker of old man with his storied life, and solid musicianship. That musical talent earned him the nickname of Big Stallion in his younger days in 1950s Havana.
As a great pianist, arranger, and composer he fused together traditional Cuban music with jazz and classical influences. His skills put him in the position of band leader at the legendary Tropicana Club during the golden age of Cuban music. The Tropicana played host to many American jazz greats like Stan Getz, Josephine Baker, and Nat King Cole. For Cole's Latin music album, Bebo teaches Cole to sing in Spanish, but as he wryly comments Cole could never quite get his pronunciation of T's and O's right.
In this age of air travel hell it is amazing to find out that the Tropicana chartered flights between Miami and Havana with their musicians and dancers on board to entertain the passengers. A hardly imaginable party in the sky as warm-up to your visit to the Tropicana Club.
Bebo's celebrity life ends with the Cuban Revolution. His reluctance to get involved politically and join the Communist Party causes him to be shunned and unable to work. The last straw is a bomb going off in the night club nearly killing him. He leaves Cuba penniless with some other musicians for Mexico.
Being famous, he lands on his feet playing in Mexico and touring Europe. He winds up in Sweden where he meets his wife Rose Marie and settles down. For over 30 years, he lives a life of contented domestic obscurity playing in restaurants and bars, and working as a pianist for a ballet school.
He is rediscovered by a record producer in 1994 and goes on to record several Grammy Award winning albums. His release from obscurity also allows him to reunite with his estranged children left behind in Cuba. This culminates with performing and recording with his equally talented son Chucho Valdés.
Approaching his 90th year he is vital and leads a band of New York's finest Latin and jazz musicians on an album. He stars in the film Miracle of Candeal documenting his journey to Brazil to discover the African ancestry of his music.
The first half of this film documenting the earlier part of his life is a bit dull. There are interviews with family and friends which results in lots of talking heads, but barely any music. It may be there were no recordings of his early works but it would have been more interesting to have period Cuban music in the background to flesh out the narrative.
The second half of the film documenting his rediscovery and triumphant rebirth is very enjoyable for both the fantastic music, and Bebo's passion for life. The sparkling Cuban jazz performances are worth sitting through the school lecture.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fringe Review: A Man, A Magic, A Music
A Man, A Magic, A Music
Granville Island Stage
Sunday, September 14 2008 9:15pm
Movin' Melvin Brown brings the history of Black Music to life in his one man show. He's got the rich soulful voice, the athletic moves, and the red satin tuxedo to bring back to life Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, The Temptations, James Brown, Gregory Hines, and many other legendary Black performers.
The history of Black music from the 1950s onward is also Brown's personal history. As a young boy he discovers his calling for performing and his life parallels the development of Black music and dance. With a warm, personable delivery he tells his life history with all its ups and downs, but its the music which keeps him and us coming back for more.
This year's Fringe ends on a high note.
5/5
Granville Island Stage
Sunday, September 14 2008 9:15pm
Movin' Melvin Brown brings the history of Black Music to life in his one man show. He's got the rich soulful voice, the athletic moves, and the red satin tuxedo to bring back to life Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, The Temptations, James Brown, Gregory Hines, and many other legendary Black performers.
The history of Black music from the 1950s onward is also Brown's personal history. As a young boy he discovers his calling for performing and his life parallels the development of Black music and dance. With a warm, personable delivery he tells his life history with all its ups and downs, but its the music which keeps him and us coming back for more.
This year's Fringe ends on a high note.
5/5
Fringe Review: The Movies (Abridged)
The Movies (Abridged)
Granville Island Stage
Saturday, September 13 2008 9:00pm
A young man working for Bigbuster video rental store wants to pass the management exam. To prepare for the exam he watches the management training video. The corporate training video on the limited genres that Bigbuster carries is a send up of lesser Hollywood movies and actors.
Popcorn fare.
3/5
Granville Island Stage
Saturday, September 13 2008 9:00pm
A young man working for Bigbuster video rental store wants to pass the management exam. To prepare for the exam he watches the management training video. The corporate training video on the limited genres that Bigbuster carries is a send up of lesser Hollywood movies and actors.
Popcorn fare.
3/5
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