Johann Sebastian Bach Movies
Approximately 207 feature films have quoted from the works of this innovative genius of the Baroque era who refined previous musical forms and techniques, synthesized contemporary styles from other European countries, and created many advanced concepts.The famous opening of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565, with its clarion call opening followed by a descent into a spine-chilling low pedal point from which a massive diminished ninth dissonance builds like some Gothic monster rising from the depths only to scurry away in mysterious, quick figurations, has appeared in at least 12 films where it heightened enigmatic moments: from the classic horror of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Raven (1935), Rancho del miedo (1971) (aka The Fearmaker), Tales From the Crypt (1972), and A Refutation of Time (1998); to the sci-fi films 2+5: Missione Hydra (aka Star Pilot) (1965) and Rollerball (1975); to the psychological horror of Sunset Boulevard (1950); to the abstractions of Fantasia (1940) and Escape (1937) (aka Synchromy No. 4); to the surreal serio-comedy of Monty Python's the Meaning of Life (1983).
In The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bach's Italian Concerto is mixed (simultaneously) with the choral piece Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein (Purify Thee My Heart) from the St. Matthew Passion to metaphorically represent the two identities under which Ripley is living in Rome: his own and that of Dickie Greenleaf, the man he recently murdered and dumped into the ocean.
Excerpts from Bach's Goldberg Variations enhance such films as Wim Wenders' subtle study of bizarre behavior in postwar Germany entitled Falsche Bewegung (False Movement, 1974), the Portuguese drama O Ultimo Mergulho (The Last Dive, 1992), The English Patient (1996), and the terrifying The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and its follow-up, Hannibal (2001). Many of the variations are presented in their pure form in Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) and the short Blacktop: A Story of the Washing of a School Play Yard (1952).
The deeply soul-stirring, peripatetically disturbed motion of Bach's St. Matthew's Passion describes a similar emotion in such films as THX 1138 (1970) with its vision of a claustrophobic future; Offret (The Sacrifice, 1986); Zerkalo (The Looking-Glass, 1975); Pasolini's moving Marxist vision of the New Testament Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew, 1964); Des Christs par milliers (1969); and Martin Scorese's gambling family crime film Casino (1995). The entire work was filmed as Passione secondo San Matteo (1949).
Bach's music complements and elevates such films as the touching and mysterious Schlafes Bruder (Brother of Sleep, 1995), about a wholly self-taught and cosmically inspired organist from an Alpine village; the award-winning Schindler's List (1993) which quotes the English Suite No. 2; Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991); Barry Lyndon (1975); Bergman's Hour of the Wolf (1968); Les Enfants Terribles (1950); Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975); The Godfather (1972); and Solyaris (1972) which ethereally integrates the Chorale Prelude in F Minor.
Aspects of the composer's life are revealed in Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach (1968) and Friedemann Bach (1941). ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2009
Famed classical concert pianist Misha Dacic headlines this concert film, interpreting compositions by Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Scarlatti, Chopin and Bach. Some of the many pieces on display include Chopin's Introduction et Rondeau in E-Flat Major, Op. 16, Liszt's Fantasie und Fuge über den Choral 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam', and Rachmaninoff's The Little Island, Op. 14, No. 2. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Misha Dacic
- 2008
Three kids go on a spree that takes an unusual turn in this exuberant comedy-drama. Ignacio (Ignacio Rogers) is a smart but restless guy in his late teens who will soon graduate from high school if he can bring himself to go to class. Ignacio is dating aspiring actress Ines (Ines Efron), and when she's cast in a play out of town, Ignacio escorts her to the bus station before heading out to a café to meet up with his friends Nahuel (Nahuel Viale) and Julian (Julian Tello). Ignacio, Nahuel and Julian decide to skip off school and hang out in downtown Buenos Aires. The three are in a mood to have fun and begin playing pranks on the passers-by, such as lying on the sidewalk pretending to be unconscious, but after a while Ignacio's paranoia begins to get the better of him and he imagines that truant officers are following them. Wanting the spies to show their hand, Ignacio, Nahuel and Julian's jokes become more and more extreme as they imagine someone will eventually feel compelled to intervene. Como Estar Muerto (aka How To Be Dead) was the first feature film from writer and director Manuel Ferrari. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ignacio Rogers, Inés Efron, (more)
- 2006
After achieving international recognition in the 1950's with such films as Det Sjunde Inseglet (aka The Seventh Seal), Smultronstället (aka Wild Strawberries) and Sommarnattens Leende (aka Smiles of a Summer Night), Ingmar Berman became one of the world's best known filmmakers for his emotionally intense portraits of souls in crisis, but the man himself developed a reputation for zealously guarding his privacy throughout his long and distinguished career. In 2004, Bergman sat for a series of interviews with filmmaker Marie Nyreroed, a longtime friend and confidant, for a documentary produced for Swedish television, and the results became Bergman Complete, a three-part series which explored the man and his work in depth. The first segment focuses on Bergman's life as a filmmaker, as he discusses his best-known pictures and his working methods. Part two concentrates on Bergman's lesser-known career in the theater, which he rates higher than his work in the cinema, and features reminiscences from actor Erland Josephson. In the final chapter, Bergman invites the filmmakers into his home on Faro Island and talks about his private life, including his hobbies, the emotions that drive his work, and his personal weaknesses. After receiving its premiere on Swedish television, Bergman Complete played at a number of international film festivals, including the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
In 1986, many people's greatest fears about atomic energy became a reality when an explosion occurred at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine. When a blaze broke out in the wake of the explosion, firefighters were brought in to contain it, and all of them succumbed to radiation poisoning within three weeks; they were only the first of hundreds of thousands of people who would be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during the crisis. Two decades after the disaster at Chernobyl, the impact of the event is still being felt, and filmmaker Christoph Boekel profiles a number of people whose lives have been touched by the explosion in Chernobyl: The Invisible Thief. Focusing on the story of Dmitrij Gutin, an artist who was part of a military unit sent to the plant site shortly after the explosion and would struggle with radiation-related illness before dying at the age of 39, Boekel allows a number of other victims of Chernobyl speak about their experiences as the artist struggles to survive against long odds. Fevstrahlt und Vergessen -- 20 Jahre Nach Tschernobyl (aka Chernobyl: The Invisible Thief) was screened in competition at the 2006 Chicago International Documentary Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In Battle in Heaven (AKA Batalla en el Cielo), director Carlos Reygadas' searing look at the inherent hypocrisies of Mexico's social structure, Marcos Hernandez is Marcos, an overweight, poverty-stricken chauffeur who longs for a better life for his wife and young son. Desperate, the couple kidnaps an infant child for ransom. When the baby dies in their custody, this simple crime that Marcos hoped would brighten his family's future instead adds a crushing burden to his conscience and will bring dire consequences for Marcos and his wife if discovered. Meanwhile, Ana, an affluent general's daughter whom Marcos chauffeurs from place to place, secretly battles ennui by prostituting herself in a local brothel with her friends. The two confide their darkest secrets in one another, and as Marcos urges Ana to drop out of whoring, Ana tries to convince Marcos to turn himself in. Marcos, however, will not listen, insisting that true forgiveness and redemption must come from above. Batalla en el Cielo marked the second major international release for director Reygadas, after the acclaimed Japon (2002). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marco Hernandez, Anapola Mushkadiz, (more)
- 2004
Iran has been ruled by an Islamic fundamentalist government since 1979, but there is one area where they've been unwilling to allow Shiite citizens to express their faith. Imam Hussein was a Shiite Muslim holy man who became a martyr to his faith, and a sacred shrine to his life's work has been established -- in Iraq. Given the political tensions between the two nations, the Iranian government has not been willing to allow its citizens to cross into Iraq, even for a religious pilgrimage, while Iraq has shown no greater willingness to allow Iranians to visit their nation. Despite this, nearly every day more than a thousand Shiite Muslims attempt to cross into Iraq to pay homage to Imam Hussein, and many will go to remarkable (and dangerous) extremes to make the voyage. Some will cross desert minefields, others will ride through in the backs of covered trucks, and while a good number are captured by border patrols, many slip through undetected. Being captured generally means serving at least a year in prison, but the faithful press on, believing that Allah's law trumps the Iranian legal system. Pilgrimage (aka Ziarat) is a documentary that takes a sometimes witty but always respectful look at this legal and spiritual paradox, and the travelers who are caught in the middle. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mohammed Barani, Ayatollah Montazeri, (more)
Directed by James Toback, the erotic drama When Will I Be Loved? revolves around Vera, the debutante girlfriend (Neve Campbell) of a fast-talking hustler (Frederick Weller) who is on the verge of making millions through a big-money gambling venture. Feeling undervalued, Vera explores her sexuality through whatever means she can think of, including explicit discussions with a potential employer, picking up random men, and videotaping steamy trysts with her female lover. When Ford (Weller) proposes that Vera spend the night with Italian media mogul Count Tommaso (Dominic Chianese), who is willing to put up 100,000 dollars for the occasion, Vera concocts a scheme to show both men what her true worth really is. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neve Campbell, Dominic Chianese, (more)
- 2004
A couple drives their Humvee into the California desert. David (David Wissak) is ostensibly working, scouting locations near Twentynine Palms for a photo or film shoot. His girlfriend, Katia (Katia Golubeva from Leos Carax's Pola X), is along for the ride. David is American; Katia is French and speaks little English. The couple travels through the desert, meandering through the vast, empty landscape. They argue. They make love. Writer/director Bruno Dumont (whose previous film, L'Humanité won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival) uses long takes and an elliptical structure to frame the action as these two characters struggle to communicate while traversing the long, dusty roads. The trip includes a stop for Chinese food, a brief encounter with a belligerent motorist, an argument over ice cream, a painful run-in with a three-legged dog, and a huge argument in the middle of the night, during which the two come to blows. Katia and David reach an uneasy reconciliation, but their strained, though passionate, relationship, is pushed to the breaking point when a terrible, traumatic incident unexpectedly occurs on the road. But the ultimate horror of their little excursion is yet to come. Twentynine Palms was shown at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, and was shown by the Lincoln Center Film Society in 2004 as part of their annual Rendez-vous With French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yekaterina Golubeva, David Wissack, (more)
French director Alain Corneau delves into the painfully irrational world of office politics, which are further complicated by a severe case of culture clash in his 2003 comedy, Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling). Based on the similarly titled memoirs of author Amélie Nothomb and her employment experiences with a Japanese mega-corporation, Fear and Trembling begins with Amélie (Sylvie Testud) landing in Tokyo shortly after receiving her college education. The young Belgian chose to return to Japan -- where she spent the first five years of her life before her family relocated back to Europe -- for her first job in an entry-level position with the Yumimoto Corporation. Amélie diligently accomplishes her daily tasks with invention and ambition, but her work ethic proves threatening to her immediate supervisors who single her out as a deviant within the corporation's firmly entrenched power hierarchy. As she is led through a series of humiliations and demotions designed to destroy her individuality, Amélie is forced to submit to an endless stream of unreasonable demands issued by nearly every supervisor with seniority over her. Determined to complete her one-year contract with the company in spite of the vicious power struggles, Amélie wages a kind of culture war from her irreversible position as lowest rung on the power ladder. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, (more)
Two young women try to climb the corporate ladder using their feminine wiles in this erotic melodrama from French director Jean-Claude Brisseau. At the beginning of the film, Nathalie (Coralie Revel) and Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou) work in a strip club, where Nathalie wows the customers with her dancing while Sandrine tends bar. After a fight with their boss, both of them are tossed out late one night. Sandrine, a newcomer to Paris, is late paying her rent and can't go back to her apartment, so Nathalie invites her to move in with her. They become lovers, and after occupying themselves for awhile by behaving very naughtily in public, decide to conquer the working world with their powers of seduction. They both find jobs at a seemingly normal company and choose as their target a mild-mannered middle-aged bureaucrat named Delacroix (Roger Mirmont). But the company has some kinky secrets of its own, personified by the owner's son Christophe (Fabrice Deville), a decadent nihilist with a very close relationship with his sister, in whom the women might have met their match. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Coralie Revel, Sabrina Seyvecou, (more)
- 2000
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Recorded at the historic Church of Saint Thomas, this concert film captures a performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor conducted by Georg Christoph Biller. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
The beauty of both vocal and sacred music combines as Bach's "Mass in B Minor" comes alive at the Wieskirche, Bavaria in a performance that features conductor Enoch zu Guttenburg leading the National Choral Society and the Orchester der Klangverwaltung. Soloists Anna Korondo, Deon van der Walt, Dietrich Henschel, and Albert Dohmen also contribute to this monumental performance of Bach's sublime composition. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
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This program features the beloved tenor offering a variety of sacred songs during an Easter concert in 1998. Recorded live at the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, selections include compositions by Bach, Handel, Schubert, and Mozart. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The Paris-based photographer-painter-actor-filmmaker William Klein looks back on five decades of his life and multi-careers in this French documentary. Born in 1926, Klein is a native New Yorker who began living in Paris in 1948, studied painting with Fernand Leger, photographed for Vogue from 1955 to 1965, dropped out of the fashion world for 15 years, and directed hundreds of commercials (from soup to hosiery). He was seen onscreen as an actor (People Will Talk, La Jetee) and worked offscreen as a visual consultant (Louis Malle's 1960 Zazie dans le Metro). Klein made both short and feature documentaries (from fighters to fashion), including and Far From Vietnam (1967) and Muhammed Ali, The Greatest. His dramatic film Who Are You, Polly Magoo? (1966) won the 1967 Prix Jean Vigo. Also excerpted here is Mr. Freedom (1968), a fable about America's intervention in Vietnam. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Seyrig, Sami Frey, (more)
- 1998
Avant-garde filmmakers Gyorgyi Szalai and Istvan Darday made this 143-minute excursion into fringe borderlands of the mind, depicting the death in Venice of a hospitalized astrologer, while a famous female vocalist loses her child in an automobile accident. Shot in video with a transfer to film, Reflections was described by Variety as "like being suspended in a water tank for two and a half hours." Also known as Reflections, the film was made over an eight-year period (1990-98). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teo Fabricius, Agens, (more)
- 1997
Quirky Canadian director Atom Egoyan helmed this, the only fictional entry in a series of six films, titled "Yo-Yo Ma Inspired Bach." The story centers on the world-renowned cellist and is a free-form series of unrelated connections between people. As the story begins, Ma is flying to Toronto via Canadian Airlines. Meanwhile, his limo driver Sammy Angelopoulos patiently waits for him at the Air Canada terminal. Their connection, needless to say, is going to be delayed. Real estate agent Sarah is trying to find someone to buy the home of the aged Dr. Kassovitz. The trouble is, the good doctor refuses to sell unless the buyer promises to keep the furniture and his art collection intact. Sarah has a bad cough and goes to see the attractive Dr. Angela France, an amateur cellist who is attending one of Ma's master classes. Dr. Kassovitz later gives Sarah tickets to Ma's concert while her sweetie Max pays Dr. France a visit himself. Max hates classical music, but Sammy, another of Dr. France's patrons adores it and hails Ma "an ambassador of God." In the midst of all the connection making, Ma can be heard playing Bach's Suite No. 4 for cello. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yo-Yo Ma, Lori Singer, (more)
