MERCOLEDì 30 | WEDNESDAY 30

Cineclub Detour Via Urbana 107 Roma, h21.30. Ingresso con tessera Arci / sottoscrizione

THE SOUNDS OF DETOUR
PROIEZIONE CON MUSICA DAL VIVO | SCREENING WITH LIVE MUSIC

Cowards Bend the Knee

di Guy Maddin (Canada 2004, 64′)

 Michael Thieke (De) Clarinetto / Oggetti  |  Mike Cooper (Uk)  Chitarra Lap Steel / Elettroniche  |  Luca Venitucci (It) – Fisarmonica

Michael Thieke (De) Clarinet / Objects  |  Mike Cooper (Uk) Lap Steel Guitar / Electronics  |  Luca Venitucci (It) Fisarmonica

Cowards Bend the Knee è un film interamente muto, in bianco e nero, realizzato dal regista canadese Guy Maddin nel 2003. Consiste in 10 capitoli, ciascuno della durata di 6 minuti e 9 secondi.

Concepito in origine come installazione per un peepshow commissionata dalla Power Plant Contemporary Gallery di Toronto, con ciascuna sequenza ospitata in una apparecchiatura diversa,
è stato in seguito trasformato in lungometraggio cinematografico.

Da diversi anni Michael Thieke propone proiezioni del film con musica dal vivo, in diverse città del mondo con formazioni di musicisti differenti.

La musica è completamente improvvisata, con il solo limite dii rispettare la struttura in dieci episodi del film, in modo tale da creare dieci brani ciascuno della durata di 6’09”.

Tutte le proiezioni/concerti saranno registrate per creare un archivio delle colonne sonore “possibili” del film. Questa repertorio vorrebbe mettere gli spettatori nelle condizioni di creare successivamente la loro propria versione della musica del film, sia selezionando i brani che lasciandoli riprodurre in modalità casuale. 

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La vicenda raccontata nel film: Mentre la sua fidanzata Veronica giace morente nella stanza sul retro del locale parrucchiere / postribolo , la stella dell’hockey Guy la abbandona per una donna misteriosa, Meta. Sebbene Meta restituisca il suo sentimento, lei non si lascerà toccare fino a che un chirurgo non sostituisca le mani di Guy con quelle del padre morto di lei – che sono blu a causa degli anni trascorsi a tingere i capelli al salone . Il chirurgo simula il trapianto dipingendo le mani del ragazzo mentre lui è sotto anestesia. Guy , pensando che le sue mani siano quelle del padre di Meta , non riesce più a toccarla con sensualità . Apparentemente posseduto dalle sue mani , diventa un assassino , soffocando amici e nemici, cercando confusamente  di vendicare la morte del padre di Meta . Nel frattempo, una nuova parrucchiera entra a far parte del personale – è il fantasma di Veronica, di cui Guy si innamora, ignaro della sua vera identità…

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Cowards Bend the Knee is a wholly mute black and white film that came out in 2003. It is 64 minutes long and consists of 10 chapters, each of them 6 minutes and 9 seconds long. It was originally designed to be a peepshow installation, with each of the film’s chapters housed in a separate machine and was shot for the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto. It was later turned into a full length feature for the theatre showings. For a few years now Michael Thieke does screenings of the film with live music, with different group setups in different cities; researching Evan Lurie’s saying: “The truth of film composing is that every piece of music works with every piece of film. But—and this is a big but—every piece of music changes every piece of film.” The music of the live screenings is fully improvised. The only limit for the music is to respect the structure of ten episodes of the film, in order to create ten pieces, each of 6’09” length. All screenings/concerts will be recorded to set up an archive of possible soundtracks for the film. This collection should enable spectators later to create thier own personal version of the film music, either by choice or randomly.

The story: While his girlfriend Veronica lies dying in the back room of the local hair salon/whorehouse, hockey star Guy abandons her for a mysterious beauty named “Meta”. Although Meta returns his affection, she won’t let him touch her until a surgeon replaces Guy’s hands with those of her dead father – which are blue from his years of dyeing hair at the salon. The corset-clad, cigar-smoking surgeon fakes the transplant by painting Guy’s hands while he’s under anaesthetic. Guy, thinking his hands to be those of Meta’s father, can no longer bring himself to touch her in a sexual way. Seemingly possessed by his hands, he becomes a murderer, choking friends and foe alike, vaguely seeking to revenge the death of Meta’s father. Meanwhile, a new hairdresser joins the staff – Veronica’s ghost. Unaware of her true identity, Guy falls for this new beauty. Not interested in Guy, she falls for his father. Once Guy completes his revenge by strangling Meta’s mother, she cools towards him and demands the return of her father’s hands. She and the surgeon forcibly remove them. All this comes to a climax when a handless Guy attempts to conjure the help of forgotten hockey heroes in a wax museum to force his father away from Veronica’s ghost, who has just accepted his marriage proposal. The figures come to life and instead chase Guy. There is a brief reconciliation between Meta and her father, one of these temporarily-resurrected figures. The nearly delirious Guy now learns that the museum was not for heroes but for cowards, men who were not brave enough to face the prospect of living a day-to-day life with a wife and children. The film closes with Guy now part of the museum himself, one wax figure among many.