LE CHANT DES ONDES / FILM SCREENING
7pm
Presentation of the film “Le Chant des ondes” (2012, 107 min.), by Caroline Martel, co-produced and distributed by the National Film Board of Canada.
Presence of the director Caroline Martel
Synopsis: Unveiled in 1928, the ondes Martenot were invented by Maurice Martenot. This particularly fragile electronic instrument appeared in many Hollywood films and in compositions by various musicians, including the wave player Suzanne Binet-Audet. A new generation of artists, such as Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, seems to be rediscovering them. Rare and difficult to perfect, a few people are trying to perfect them, be it the luthier Jeanloup Dierstein or the very son of their creator, Jean-Louis Martenot. Artists and scientists are trying to unravel their mysteries, to find the soul hidden in their sounds.
Synopsis © Cinoche.com
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“This intriguing feature-length documentary plunges us into the musical and human universe of the most sensitive of electronic instruments: the ondes Martenot. Integrating direct cinema, unpublished archives and a colorful musical repertoire, this choral film follows a circle of enthusiasts seeking to unravel the mystery of this instrument”.
Mystérieuses ondes Martenot – Jean-Christophe Laurence (LaPresse)
With music and archival films to support it (…), [Martel] tells (…) a unique story that goes back to the First World War. Between an artistic and a scientific quest, the result is surprisingly profound and even beautiful, especially when the camera goes through the bowels of the instrument…. -March 13, 2013
A music lover’s mystique – Odile Tremblay (LeDevoir)
This beautiful documentary, which skillfully blends archival photos and films with interviews and concerts, is a plunge into the universe of the ondes Martenot. (…) Almost a sect of initiation, that of the wave makers? Caroline Martel plays with this parallel dimension, giving the film a mystical music-loving quality. – March 16, 2013
