| Song of the Fishermen: A Review |
|
|
|
| Culture | |
| Monday, 05 May 2008 | |
|
Ask creative director David Tse Ka-Shing, who, having seen the Pet Shop boys play their own version of the soundtrack of the famous Battleship Potemkine in September 2004 in Trafalgar Square, decided to explore the possibility of a similar performance, this time with a Chinese twist. All eyes were on the quartet of musicians as they slowly and gently started with the playing of the piano and both Chinese and European string instruments. As the storyline developed, the percussion (traditional and modern) was introduced with the use of electronic sounds accompanying it. The musicians captured both the mood and spirit of Song of the Fishermen with the touching and melodramatic soundtrack, reflecting the tragedy playing out before our eyes. It has to be said, Song of the Fishermen is a sad movie and the musicians did not miss an opportunity to skilfully play on the audience's emotions with their violins. The icing on the cake was the delightful rendition of the song that gave its name to the movie by Wang Shunli, who is classically trained singer. This was the final touch that made the whole performance a truly unforgettable evening, as it brought back memories of the times when as a little girl in Suzhou, I watched this classic piece of early Chinese cinematography. As time went by, slowly my attention switched from the musicians on stage, to the actual movie. Guilty of being too good in a way, the musicians and their performance started to feel more like going to a movie with musical accompaniment rather than a concert with a film in the background! During Fisherman, there was the odd moment there and then, with some mistimed and even ill judged laughing on the part of the audience. Such response is expected though, given this was a 21st century crowd watching a movie dealing with extreme poverty, survival, and injustice in the 1930s. Beyond the beautiful musical performance, a stamp of approval must be given for the choice of movie as the film deeply touched me as a viewer, as it made us, the audience, think about issues facing people 75 years ago that are still very much relevant today, long after the stage lights had been switched off.
|
|
A sweeter treat could
not have started the weekend, as the Song
of the Fishermen, a film with live musical accompaniment, presented by the Chinatown
Arts Space, took place on Friday 18 April at the Royal Opera House in Covent
Garden. How do you get 4 musicians, each distinctive in their Chinese roots, to
come together and perform seamlessly for over an hour? | < Prev | Next > |
|---|
