Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1995)

While not a landmark in documentary filmmaking, Steven M. Martin's 1993 documentary, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, is almost the documentary Kijack's is, as it has a far worthier subject- electronic musical pioneer and inventor Leon Theremin, but a bit more scattershot execution, cinematically. The 83 minute long film mixes traditional biography of Theremin's life, his loves (marrying a black ballet dancer in the 1930s), his political persecution in the Stalin era Soviet Union, details on the history, construction, and musical influence of the theremin, and a summary of it all.The film features interviews with Todd Rungren, Robert Moog, who discourses on Theremin's role in electronic music, his own influential career, and has a number of lesser known talking heads, and one transcendently silly interview with a literally batshit insane Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys fame), who speaks wanderingly of how he got the idea to use the theremin for his hit song Good Vibrations. Archival footage and audio only clips of theremin music, as well as clips from many films- including 1940s A films like Spellbound and The Lost Weekend, and 1950s B and sci fi films, like It Came From Outer Space and The Day The Earth Stood Still, testify to the influence of the film.However, the film's star is not Leon Theremin, but his younger protégé, the great theremin player, Clara Rockmore. And when I state that this woman was great, I mean it. Her handling of the theremin dwarfs all the other players. This virtuoso could literally make the instrument, which could range from producing eerie to barely tolerable sounds, into an instrument of, well, to beg the cliché, genius. In Rockmore's air divining fingers, the theremin could sound like the most virtuoso female singing voice ever recorded. Her talent level, on this instrument, is so staggeringly far above any of the other on screen players that it is akin to watching humans and a cvreature from another species do the same task.Additionally, this film, unlike the first, is much more dependent upon the technical aspects to cohere it into a narrative and artistic whole. Aside from director Martin, kudos must go out to cinematographer Robert Stone and, especially editor Robert Greenwald. Rare is the film where the editor plays a larger role than the cinematographer, but this is one of those films. By the end of the film, we get to see the long awaited reunion of Theremin and Rockmore- who long feared Theremin was dead, after he was kidnapped in 1938 and forcibly returned to the Soviet Union. The film deserved its many honors at film festivals.

The theremin is one of the first electronic musical instruments invented and I can't say I was ever crazy about it. I always thought of it as something used to add an eerie quality to certain psychological films like Hitchcock's "Spellbound" or science-fiction films such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still".As it turned out, the theremin had an enormous influence on the later history of electronic music.Named after its creator Léon Theramin (Lev Sergievich Terman), it was treated by others as a serious musical instrument especially when played by its greatest exponent, Clara Rockmore, She, as a matter of fact, happened to be the sister of my last piano teacher, Nadia Reisenberg, who often accompanied her but I knew nothing about this during my piano studies.One of the problems with this documentary would have been very simple to remedy: it is usually impossible to know who is being shown without a caption though that could usually be worked out by the context. In the case of Clara Rockmore, there was a family resemblance and Nicolas Slonimsky had a familiar face. But another problem has been mentioned often enough: the aged Theremin's speech in the English language is incomprehensible and should have been subtitled (Only when he spoke Russian were subtitles included.). In fact, an English subtitles option would have been very welcome throughout.I also think, in view of various questions which have come up, that the "abduction" of Theremin from the United States in 1938 seems too much of a whitewash. In view of his invention of a bugging device which was used for espionage against the United States, one wonders where the real allegiance of the inventor lay.It was thought, for many years, that Theremin had been executed by the Soviet government but in a real "believe it or not" story, he turned up late in life and eventually went back to the U.S. for a time. His unexpected reunion with Rockmore made for a very touching ending for the documentary.Another not very user-friendly DVD and, I would hope if it is ever reissued, that these problems could be remedied.

Underfire apparently did see this documentary but does not remember Clara Rockmore's name. Yes, Brian Wilson was annoying and rambled too long. Maybe a psychological study of excessive partying and drug abuse would make for another documentary on rock stars. Seeing Professor Theremin was richly rewarding to me. Clara Rockmore was wonderful to watch. Her mastery of the Theremin is amazing. It took me awhile to make up my mind but I purchased the DVD and I'm glad I did.

Spoilers herein.What lovely women! What strange political machinations, politics of country, music, science, history. What vile conspiracies.What a story about how a new sound gets transformed from its intent as a source of beauty to the very icon of spookiness. Sound is like food, perceived as we learn.The pathos of a branch of evolution choked.How cool that Moog has the pocket full of pens. The early Theremin the white lab coat, and the old one the tape on the glasses. And this has Brian Wilson too! Anything with him is worth spending time with.