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When Germaine Dulac premiered his film
The Seashell and the Clergyman in 1928, playwright Antonin Artaud, who
penned the half-hour short's original scenario, is said to have heckled
the screen, going so far as to call its director a "cow". If
such confrontational behaviour sounds like a precursor to punk's assault
on culture half a century later, a new score to the film by former
Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin is all too appropriate.
Making his first solo appearance,
Severin performed Music for Silents, a compendium of soundtracks for
Dulac's film and six contemporary extrapolations of the surrealist spirit.
Black-clad and sat stage-left with his laptop on a table in front of him,
Severin provided a very 21st-century version of the silent-movie
accompanist responding to the images onscreen - which, in The Seashell and
the Clergyman, concern the erotic fantasies of a priest lusting after a
general's wife, with all the sexual symbolism (and maid's uniforms) one
might expect. Severin's electronic twinkles moved from moodily sombre to
more playful piano runs for the chase scenes. The second half of the
programme plugged into similar ambient dynamics to accompany black-leather
voyeurism, fairground sideshows and explicit animations, all mixed up with
visual collages and optical illusions.
In the speakeasy confines of a
Saturday night Voodoo Rooms, it was a treat to see Severin's new direction
treated so seriously. It's a shame such a unique event wasn't tagged with
next week's Diversions season of experimental cinema at the Filmhouse.
Either way, the avant-garde underground looks safe in Severin's hands.
Neil Cooper
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