Beijing

An open-air screening of German silent classics will be part of a unique blending of film and music in the modern architectural setting of one of Beijing's most outstanding landmarks.

BC MOMA Beijing will host this unusual marriage of events. The Metropolis on the Roof , an outdoor film festival and music carnival, will allow aficionados access to three German silent film masterpieces - Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, Metropolis and Faust: a German Folk Legend - accompanied by three top-notch Chinese bands.

The sprawling BC MOMA rooftop with its surrounding panorama of skyscrapers and city clamor will be the stage for these films which transport the audience back to the slower pace of Berlin in 1927, while the bands provide live music playing the soundtracks.

Aug 31 will see the screening of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, an experimental documentary by Walther Ruttmann. It follows the life and rhythm of Berlin from dawn to midnight, capturing Berliners hard at work and enjoying boisterous nightlife. The film will play to the accompaniment of FM3, a Beijing-based band pioneering in electronic music since 1999.

When Metropolis was first screened in Germany, audience and critics alike panned it. To cater to the market, its producer then cut some key scenes. After a long restoration, the uncut version was first publicly shown in Berlin in 2010. Seen as the mother of sci-fi movies, Fritz Lang's awesome futuristic thriller, the uncut version, will be shown here for the first time.

The sci-fi epic was the most expensive picture of its day and was set in a futuristic city-state where the upper classes amused themselves in luxury while the working class slaved away underground. Popular Chinese band Shanshui Records will play the score.

Another silent masterpiece is Faust: a German Folk Legend, a blend of the legendary tale of Faust and Goethe's classic version, directed by F.W. Murnau at the height of his career. As a classic German silent film, Faust tells the battle between good and evil in the era of Middle Ages. An ethnic band, Da Wang Gang, will add new dimension to the score with its mix of Mongolian instruments and Peking Opera percussion.

The screenings begin on Aug 31 and end on Sept 11, including three outdoor screenings and three indoor screenings. The subtitles will be in Chinese, English and German.

You can contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/28/2011 page15)