The Unsophisticates Update #3

The Sydney Film Festival is no longer coming soon - it's finally here!

There are many great film line-ups if you haven't yet checked out the website - including the SFF 'Sounds on Screen' program.

Whilst music may not always be at the forefront of consciousness during a film experience, a great musical score can enrich your emotional experience or help add significant context to the story. In fact, music and film are integral to each other. Afterall, would ‘Jaws’ have been as full of suspense or have felt quite so relentless without John Williams musical score? Or would the shower scene in ‘Psycho’ have felt as terrifying or as shocking without Bernard Hermann’s musical score? Or would you have recognised quite so quickly what era ‘Forrest Gump’ was experiencing without the mood swinging soundtrack? Even back in the days of silent film, Charlie Chaplin just wouldn’t have been the same without his happy, bumbling music to accompany him.

There are movies about musicians (The Doors, Walk The Line, Nowhere Boy), there are movies about music (Almost Famous, High Fidelity, The Commitments), there are musical docos (Dixie Chicks: Shut up Sing; The Rolling Stones: Gimme Shelter; Don’t Look Back: Bob Dylan), and then there are movies that aren’t about music at all but have soundtracks that end up leaving an equal, if not more lasting impression than the movie itself (Reality Bites, The Big Chill, Once). I for one can’t listen to ‘Mrs Robinson’ by Simon & Garfunkel without visualising Dustin Hoffman in ‘The Graduate’ or ‘Up Where We Belong’ by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes without feeling emotional about Debra Winger and Richard Gere in ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’!

This year SFF celebrates the tradition of “Sounds on Screen” at the Playhouse with several films that totally rock. If you love music, you might want to check out all seven films in the program, but if you’re short on time, I’m most enticed by -

• Lemmy – A doco about the legendary frontman of Motorhead which promises to cover the highs and lows of a real rock & roll life. Includes an amazing interview line up with self professed fans such as Metallica, Alice Cooper, and Dave Grohl.
• Rock Steady: The Roots of Reggae - Just cause I love a bit of reggae and any chance to hear Bob Marley’s back up singers reminisce about the 60’s is enough to draw me in! Also followed with a live performance by Sydney band King Tide.
• Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll – A film starring Andy Serkis about Ian Drury, a UK chart topper in the 60’s who’s most famous hits include ‘Hit me with your Rhythm Stick’ and ‘Sex Drugs & Rock & Roll’. Sounds like a fascinating story about a fascinating guy who suffered polio during childhood, was both a successful musician and actor, a heavy drinker, and a difficult personality. All the right ingredients for a gripping soap opera! Serkis even performs with Dury’s original band, The Blockheads.

So get involved in the 'Sounds on Screen' program at the Sydney Film Festival and tune your conciousness to focus on both the music and the film during this year's festival - it'll be sure to add to your SFF experience.

And I hope you've all got your tickets to the rest of the festival - it's opening night tonight!! Finally...0 sleeps to go!