Cursed Moloch
At the intersection of two art forms, a film accompanied by music provides an opportunity for contemporary artists to confront silent masterpieces and for music-lovers to meet cinema-lovers. We continue to work with the Cinémas du Grütli and are screening two films that are related to mechanisation and robotisation. Maudite sois la guerre is a little-known pacifist film coloured by hand and directed by Alfred Machin (1877-1929) in 1914, just before the World War, the first conflict where the mechanisation of arms stopped men. Accompanied by music written by the great Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth (1968) and interpreted by the 2e2m ensemble, this is our participation in the commemoration of the
1918 armistice.
Produced in 1927, Metropolis is Fritz Lang's (1890-1976) cult film. In a futurist megapolis divided between idle masters and oppressed workers, the machine 'M' has two facets: a starving Moloch who devours the workers and a gynoid robot, an imitation of the good Maria, who promotes social rebellion and the destruction of the machines. This masterpiece of German expressionism, like a crazy machine, was the ruin of the European film industry for a long time. We are screening the long version, accompanied by a live remix by Xavier Garcia who combines yesterday's futurism and today's techno, sampling Xenakis and DJ Richie Hawtin (1970), an eminent figure of electronic music.
Marc Texier - director of Archipel
