REVIEW: Electric Silents: La Antena - Sun 6 July
Merlin Theatre
Access the latest reviews here.
Review Published: 17 July 2008
Author: Anthony Lacny
[ See full event listing information ]
Frome Festival has developed some fine traditions. One of the best is FilmFrome's silent movie workshop. In past years, musicians have improvised moving and unexpected soundtracks to Murnau's Sunrise (1927) and Flaherty's Man of Aran (1934).
This year saw a new approach in two respects. The closen silent was modern rather than classic, and the musicians had spent more time on their score, except for the sax player, who performed it cold.
In the week that a rare, complete print of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) turned up in Buenos Aires, a rare UK screening of Argentina's La Antena (The Aerial) (2007) proved a perfect choice. 
La Antena is a beautifully-photographed fantasy that pays reverent homage to the wonderful tricks and techniques used in the classics, such as expressionist special-effects and animated subtitles. One reviewer compared the film to “a black-and-white illustrated pop-up book”.
The characters and images in the film have informed my dreams and quiet moments ever since. The captivating and topical story features a city whose inhabitants cannot speak. We join a group of free-thinking rebels, who fight back against evil Mr TV, who controls the population via hypnotic television broadcasts and edible merchandising.
Frome's musical giants added colour to the experience in the form of sound, guided by a large digital clock and an innate sense of atmosphere.
With particular credit to Adrian Smith & Joseph Hyde, this performance represented a most accomplished marriage of sound and image. Though no recording was made of the event, discussions have begun to revive it at a future event. If this happens, go and see it like your life depended on it.
