About Me

I ramble about a number of things - but travel experiences, movies and music feature prominently. See my label cloud for a better idea. All comnments and opinions on this blog are my own, and do not in any way reflect the opinions/position of my employer (past/current/future).

04 February 2012

Improvisations on Nosferatu

The 1922 German silent horror movie, Nosferatu, has an interesting history (as per the Wikipedia article), and is one of the earliest adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula. As part of the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival, pianist Paul Hammer and saxophonist McCoy Mrubata, performed a musical score (don't think it was unrehearsed) accompanying the screening.

As a movie, Nosferatu was interesting in it self (though it seems the translated version does use the Dracula names and not the German substitutes). It does not come across as terrifying; and a lot of that is due to the explosion of vampire lore. The music was not terrifying either; and in fact made the movie a lot more comical than what was intended.

The venue was The Bioscope, an independent movie theatre in downtown Jo'burg (near Ellis Park). It's part of a wider artistic community including cafe's and a hotel. There are some interesting movies on their lineup ... thinking of exploring further on what it has to offer.

This is a great idea, and hopefully future editions of the festival showcase more of these collaborations.

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