Potemkin and an improvised score
Ingredients. An impending anniversary of revolution, one of the great films of the 20C, an assembled group of musicians, some professional, some not, a beautifully restored 150yr old cinema, a mastermind or two. Mix the ingredients without any rehearsal or predetermination (in the style of Cardew's scratch Orchestra), screen the film and improvise (with collaboration from the audience). Enjoy. Today we listen to an edited recording from this remarkable event, one of many coming up to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution of Oct 1917. Originally conceived as part of a cycle of films commemorating the revolutionary events of 1905, Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin recreates in documentary-style the failed mutiny of the Black Sea fleet and the subsequent massacre of the people of Odessa. Innovative cinematography and editing techniques heighten the horrific nature of events. Although banned outright in many countries outside Soviet Russia, the film became an international sensation, and has had a lasting impact on world cinema. The arresting sequence of the massacre of civilians on Odessa’s steps is one of the most celebrated, analysed, and quoted in cinema history. The screening is accompanied by an entirely original soundtrack, devised and created in a direct response to the film. Late Junction presenter Max Reinhardt will lead an instant orchestra of professional and non-professional musicians, drawn from across London, to bring a contemporary response to an extraordinary piece of Soviet cinema. Isotopica will be performing Spectre, a 12 hour live improvisation based around a Morse code rendering of the Communist Manifesto on October 17th as a part of these centenary events on Resonance Extra. Spectre can be heard here