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| Goethe-Institut Director, Dr. Richard Künzel and wife Ricarda |
My
Cinemalaya experience this year wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I decided that
I would make up for it with the next film festival that I would be able to
attend. And that film festival happened to be the International Silent Film
Festival, the only silent film festival in Asia now on
its 6th year. The main draw in this unique film festival is that
while silent films are being screened, a music act performs and scores the film
live. It’s this combination of old films from many decades ago that are
screened only once and for free along with contemporary music acts that drive
people to the Shang Cineplex over at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall. And this year
was no exception as people patiently lined up for every screening during the
festival’s run.
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| US Embassy Cultural Officer Alan Holst, Stephane von Bothmer, Dr. Richard Künzel and Ricarda Künzel |
During
the opening cocktails, I noticed that the director of the Goethe-Institut Philippinen, Dr. Richard Künzel was taking a lot of photos of the event. It’s
not surprising considering that this was going to be his last festival since he’s
retiring about a month later. But during the press conference that was held
about a week before, he hinted that he might drop by next year, not as a
Goethe-Institut official but just as a regular member of the audience.
Metropolis
The
opening film for this year presented by the Goethe-Institut was the newly restored
Metropolis with live music accompaniment by Rubber Inc. composed of Malek Lopez
and Noel de Brackinghe, and supported by Germany ’s
most celebrated silent film accompanist Stephan von Bothmer. Before the
screening, Dr. Künzel told the audience a brief background about Metropolis
which was directed by Fritz Lang and was first shown back in 1927. He informed
us that the version that we were about to see that evening included about 20
minutes worth of footage that were thought to be lost but was found in Buenos
Aires, Argentina just a few years ago. The film told the story of a sheltered, young
man named Freder who trades his life of comfort and luxury for a life of an
ordinary, nameless worker in perpetual service to the machines running the city
Metropolis. I am not entirely sure but this might be one of the earliest
science fiction movies that were made. And for a very old film, it’s very
impressive that the themes presented in the movie still hold up to the present.
It was also very amazing when I saw some shots of Metropolis during the earlier
part of the film that looked eerily like present day EDSA.
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| Noel de Brackinghe and Malek Lopez of Rubber Inc. |
As
for the music, Rubber Inc. made heavy use of thumping, electronic, techno beats
that one might hear at a rave whenever they showed the workers or the depths of
Metropolis where the machines are. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard in a
couple of occasions portions of Gustav Holst’s The Planets specifically Jupiter
and Venus. These two famous tunes were used in a couple of key scenes like the introduction
of Maria, the female protagonist and the end when everything gets wrapped up
nicely.
La Casa dela Troya
I
thought that I was off to a good start but things didn’t go my way on the
second day of the festival. Despite timing my journey well, I got stuck at such
horrible traffic that made me miss the screening of La Casa dela Troya, the
film presented by the Instituto Cervantes. What made me feel more disappointed was
that the music act accompanying the film, Sinosikat? along with Spanish
musician Ignacio Plaza was among those that I was looking forward to the most. I was
really interested to hear how the two acts would collaborate since I had no idea how
Lopez’ music sounds. It didn’t make me feel better at all when I heard some
feedback from the people regarding the screening. While some people had some reservations
about the film, like it being too long, I heard generally positive buzz about
the music.
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| Kat Agarrado of Sinosikat? and Ignacio Plaza |
I was Born, but
My
friend Roland Samson from the Japan Foundation, Manila
would be very disappointed if I failed to catch the screening of I was Born,
but featuring the music of reggae band Tropical Depression. This film, directed
by Yasojiru Ozu was first shown back in 1932. The Japan Foundation’s director, Mr. Shuji Takatori
told the audience before screening the film that Ozu’s masterpiece, Tokyo Story
has been regarded by the British Film Institute as one of the best films ever
made. And that the film to be screened marked the beginning of Ozu's maturity as a film maker.
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| Japan Foundation, Manila officers and Tropical Depression |
When
I first read the synopsis of the film which is about bullied brothers who get
disappointed and disenchanted upon learning that their father wasn’t as great
as they thought he should be, I found it hard to imagine how all this would fit
with the type of music that Tropical Depression plays. Seeing the actual film itself
made me think otherwise. There were a handful of kids aside from the brothers who
practically stole the whole film with their antics, pranks and naughtiness.
Somehow, reggae music did become the perfect musical accompaniment for this
screening. I asked members of Tropical Depression their initial impression of
the film was and how they were able to come up with the music for it. They
confessed that the first copy that they were able to see had no English
intertitles at all so they had no idea what was happening. Later on, one of the
members was able to find a copy of the film that not only had English
intertitles but also had piano music that was similar to those heard in Charlie
Chaplin movies. And from then on, they viewed the film numerous times and came
up with the music that somehow fit with the movie. The only thing that didn’t
fit well during the screening was the aspect ratio which was stretched too wide
to the point that the people in the film, especially the kids, had deformed
bodies.
I
really felt bad that I missed Spain ’s
entry during the second day. But there was nothing that I could do about it
since the festival only screens movies once. I just had to let it pass and
focus my energy on catching up on the second half of the film festival.
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