http://flagpole.com/Arts/FilmNotebook/2008-10-01
10/1/08 9:37 AM

Red Heroine will have live accompaniment by Devil

Music Ensemble

News of Athens' Cinema Scene

originally published October 1, 2008

I'm in Heaven: I just woke up after falling asleep last night watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat, so I'm afraid this week's column won't make much sense unless you imagine it being sung in a delicate, genteel tenor. Please do so.

Déjà Vu: It seems like just two weeks ago I was imploring you to go to Ciné

and see an eclectic three-piece jazz band provide live accompaniment to a

classic silent film, and yet... I'm doing it again. In the immediate wake of

Kenosha Kid's successful and tremendously fun encore performance

of their original score for Steamboat Bill Jr., Ciné welcomes Boston's Devil

Music Ensemble, which will accompany the 1929 Chinese film Red

Heroine with their own original music Monday, Oct. 6. The film is one of the

earliest surviving examples of the wuxia (sword fighting) film, and features a

prototypical “woman warrior” as well as “flying” effects. The trailer (available at

www.devilmusic.org) looks great, and the music really cooks - the members

of the group each play multiple instruments (including Chinese lap steel and two-string violin), so it's a pretty rich sonic concoction. Devil Music Ensemble has done this kind of thing with a number of other silent films in the past, including Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu. The group is touring to the West Coast and back with the film, and the Athens date was booked by fellow-traveler Jim McHugh of Athens' own Dark Meat. McHugh was responsible for bringing the documentary My Name Is Albert Ayler to Ciné last November, and he sounds just about as excited about this. It's a onenight-

only engagement, and there will probably be two shows - the band has to pay a royalty to

the Chinese government for each screening, so that's still up in the air. To top it off, the evening will include additional musical entertainment from Athens all-stars The Instruments. Not to be missed. For updated information, go to www.athenscine.com.

I'm Out of Words: Write to film@flagpole.com.

Dave Marr