The sound of silence

By Zsarlene B. Chua

Film Festival
10th International Silent Film Festival
Aug. 25 to 28
Shang Cineplex, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City

Der Balletterzherzog from Austria

MUSIC AND SILENT FILMS are inseparable, and while silent films went out of style after 1927 when The Jazz Singer introduced the idea of talking movies, it seems that the movement is getting a second wind — at least in the Philippines — as the 10th International Silent Film Festival is rolled out this week.

Unlike the previous years which featured film screenings accompanied by live original music played by local bands, this year’s film festival will also be hosting lectures, a round-table discussion on Silent Cinema, and an exhibit located at the mall’s Grand Atrium.

The exhibit was curated by Filipina photographer visual/graphic artist Nikkorlai Tapan and will illustrate the journey of the festival. It includes a movie set, an interactive photo wall where one can create their own movie poster, drawing sessions with visual artists, and a trivia game conducted by the story tellers of Manila Who, known for their story-driven walks through Escolta Street in Manila.

Der Letzte Mann from Germany

The festival opened yesterday with Play On! Silent Shakespeare from the United Kingdom at 7:30 p.m. The film is a compilation of silent shorts based on Shakespeare plays and “includes the world’s earliest surviving Shakespeare adaptation” King John (according to a press release) and an early version of Hamlet. The film scoring was done by the Tago Jazz Collective.

The Philippines’s contribution to the festival is the 2005 Raya Martin semi-silent full-length feature titled Maicling Maicling Pelicula nang Ysang Indio Nacional which is about the Spanish-ruled Philippines and the bloody fight for the country’s emancipation from its colonizers. The film’s music will be provided by the indie rock band, Oh! Flamingo.

Maciste All’Inferno is Italy’s entry for the festival. The 1925 movie, whose music will be done by music icon Ely Buendia, tells the story of Maciste — one of Italy’s oldest recurring heroic characters in cinema — who was brought down to hell by the devil in an attempt to corrupt his soul. The screening will be introduced with a lecture by film expert Nick de Ocampo.

Muteki from Japan

The Spanish zarzuela, La Revoltosa, was first turned into a silent film in 1924 by Florian Rey and the film’s screening for the festival will be using its original musical score, to be performed by the DingDong Fiel Music Ensemble and tenor Miguel Angel Lobato.

Japan will be presenting Muteki, a tragic story of forbidden love scored by the Makiling Band.

For Heaven’s Sake, a 1926 American film about a sheltered uptown boy who is smitten with a downtown girl who also happens to be a priest’s daughter, will be screened along with music provided by “10-piece genre-bending band Brass Pas Pas Pas.”

Maicling Maicling Pelicula nang Ysang Indio Nacional from the Philippines

France, the so-called birthplace of cinema, will be screening two shorts: Le Pied de Mouton and Le Petit Soucet with music composed and arranged by Felipe A. Latonio, Jr. of the Executive Band.

Another Filipino music icon will be scoring a festival entry — Basti Artadi of rock band Wolfgang, will provide the music for Austria’s Der Balletterzherzog, which is about a love triangle between an Archduke, a Count, and young ballerina.

Finally, Germany’s entry is Der Letzte Mann, a 1924 work by prominent German filmmaker F.W. Murnau. Many consider this film — about a nameless doorman who loses his job and is demoted to being a wash room attendant — as the director’s “most important work and one of the most revolutionary works in film history” as it was one of the first attempts to use a moving camera. The film, which will also be closing the festival, will be scored by famed local band, Up Dharma Down.

Attendance to the 10th International Silent Film Festival is free and is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and inquiries call 372-2500 loc. 597 or visit the mall’s social network pages.