Beasts of the Barbican
For those of you who missed it this past week, the Queen’s Guard was kind enough to indulge a group of tourists with their own rendition of the Game of Thrones theme song outside Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard. Although people come from far and wide to witness this event, I’m sure it caused many to wish they could just have their favourite show projected on a big screen while the band played along behind. Many people forget (and rightly so because most anyone who remembers is probably long dead) that this used to be the norm. Much like opera and theatre, silent films once had anything from a lone piano man to an entire pit orchestra to play the full score of a film while the audience sat, watched and pretended not to notice them.
Although I’m sure we’d all be thrilled to have a live orchestra, dressed to kill and perched behind our television set to play along with our favourite shows each evening, the chances of it happening seem unlikely. We can however get off the sofa next week and head to the Barbican in the heart of London for a similar and arguably far more cultural experience.
On July 30th the critically acclaimed 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild will be screened at the Barbican with live music. The performance will feature composer Dan Romer as well as the film’s director and noted co-composer, Benh Zeitlin. They will be joined by the Serious Orchestra, conducted by Ryan McAdams.
For those of you not familiar with the film, Beasts of the Southern Wild is an American drama/fantasy set in the Louisiana Bayou in a fictional community known as The Bathtub. The film follows a six year old girl called Hushpuppy in the days before, during and after a horrific storm as she attempts to survive the ordeal with her ailing father.
One of the most powerful things about the film is the juxtaposition of a six year old girl being forced to act like an adult, to survive like an adult and deal with life and death the way an adult does and her ability to still have very child-like thoughts, dreams and experiences that ultimately give the film its wonderful edge of magical-realism. It’s painful to see a child treated the way her father does but somehow we’re persuaded into thinking that he’s doing out of his own, bizarre version of love.
Much like the film itself, the score instils feelings of childlike optimism, wonder and a willingness to believe in anything. There really is nothing like hearing live music along with a fantastic film to suck you in for the ride and leave you wanting more.
This event is highly recommended for anyone looking for a truly authentic film and musical experience that is also, unfortunately, incredibly underrated. Grab your tickets now, on sale online from the Barbican.
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