Customer Reviews

Le Voyage Dans La Lune [CD+DVD]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a great idea! The concept of giving living composers a crack at historic film refreshes the excitement that must have been felt when this film was originally conceived. Bravo! It makes a fuller, richer experience for this important classic.

Although all the compositions are fun and are unique takes on the story line, I fully enjoyed Robert Ian Winston's evoking the sense of being in an old movie house; and especially the score by Don Myers, who highlights the brashness of these first explorers, the danger of the trip and the wonder of the universe. Each music section blends and builds the absurdity of the plot as if it was always intended to be the original voice of Verne's classic story and Melies' extraordinary film. Myers refreshes the sense of wonder, and his is the only uninterrupted full score, actually written in a concerto style. Now I can't imagine watching this movie without Myers' music.

The booklet promises more new/old works from these noted composers, Mr.Winstin and The Millennium Symphony. There's something to look forward to!

An excellent concept is ruined by the use of a poor (and incomplete) print of the film. Compare this over-contrasty and blurred image to the balanced gray-levels and sharpness of the same film (with extra scenes!) in the Flicker Alley Melies box set (Georges Melies, First Wizard of the Cinema). There is simply no comparison. And no matter how interesting the music, it cannot compensate for the duped, spliced, and scratched print that you are forced to squint through.
James Guymon's score is the stand-out. He has plainly taken pains to study the film and build his music around it. The Hurwitz/Spinosa score, by contrast, is simply too lightweight and frivolous. The liner notes say that some areas of this score are completely "ad-lib." I believe it. Improvisation, when done well, can be excellent, but these folks just needed to do their "homework" first (as the previously mentioned James Guymon plainly did). I quickly tired of the Don Myers score, as it's accordion-based timbres never varied - a little tone-color, please!
So, the only reason for purchasing this DVD/CD set is to hear Guymon's rendition of the soundtrack. See the film in the excellent Flicker Alley Melies box set. Don't settle for this version!

I got this DVD because my BF went to school with one of the composers; the music is very different from anything I have heard before... I liked it a lot thoughh but, how do you score it? :)
If you are at all adventurous in your musical taste this is a must see!

This project is so very clever. It's amazing to be able to watch a high quality print of the 1904 Georges Melies classic film "Le Voyage dans la lune" with a choice of four musical scores by five composers. Most of us have seen clips of this film many times - especially the scene where the rocket lands in eye of the Man in the Moon. Now we have a chance to watch this pioneering Science Fiction classic in its 12-minute entirety, with the freshness that the new scores bring to the experience.

ERM media has provided both a DVD with the four versions of the film, and a CD with the complete scores. As to the various soundtracks, it's really hard to choose a favourite. Robert Ian Winstin's version for prepared piano and percussion is impressive. (It was Winstin who put the project together.) I like the intimate and immediate sounds Winston provides to accent the action in the film, but also the dramatic sweep he introduces for various scenes: especially the two minutes of music for the Final Credits. Louie Hurwitz & Marie Spinosa provide a clever, post-modern twist on the story, with fun, spaced-out Hammond organ licks and the odd vocal contribution. This is likely to be the score I would most often listen to as a stand-alone work.

James Guymon's full orchestral score (complete with wordless choir) adds a layer of awe to what is basically a comic film, though he also underlines the odd bit of slapstick in the film. Listen especially to the beautiful "Mushrooms and Stars" cue (track 23). Don Myers provides a suite for accordion and various instruments that is full of unexpected sounds.

Perhaps that's what I liked most about this package: at every turn I was surprised, while I watched the film four times over, and then while I listened to the music at my leisure afterwards.