Unearthly delight
The Atmosphere series began at Inspace last night with the screening of Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1994), the definitive documentary upon the life and times of both instrument and inventor, Professor Léon Theremin. Having patented the device in 1928, the mix of mechanical idolatry and entirely human subjectivity resulted in a fitting testimony to a noise as ethereal and transitory as our passage on this Earth. It also focused heavily on enthralling figure and key contributor Clara Rockmore, muse and theremin virtuosa who could tease a concert from the air with her red-clawed fingernails.
A life of champagne and concerts at Carnegie hall challenged societal conventions with a race-defying marriage to an exotic dancer, whereupon Theremin was kidnapped by the KGB, smuggled back to Russia, imprisoned and forced to spend 25 years pursuing espionage technology during the Cold War. The closing scenes of a frail and bent Theremin being reunited with a sparky, sharp-as-a-tack Rockmore felt almost painfully intimate. Oh, and afterwards we all had a go on the real thing, courtesy of FOUND. This is one seriously beautiful film. Or am I just a soft touch? Guilty, m’lud!