Review of the show NOSFERATU / HISTOPLASMOSE at MUSICA NOVA 2011 in Helsinki / Finland

The symphony of horror. Now.
12.2.2011, Auli Särkiö, www.amfion.fi

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu
Live music: Interzone perceptible

[...] The German experimental duo Interzone perceptible was responsible for the film's music. Sven Hermann and Matthias Hettmer conjured up a floating soundscape that penetrated the pores of the image, creating new layers and shrinking the temporal difference of almost 90 years to a minimum. [...] Nosferatu is [...] located between human and animal. Humanity/non-humanity was one of the themes that Interzone perceptible tackled. The sound cloud expressing foreboding horror and suspense made use of human-like sounds, croaking laughter, sighs, hisses and moans, albeit in a far more reworked form and thematizing artificiality, animality and machine-like qualities. At the interface of humanity and artificiality, the ambiguous human voices associated with the facial expressions of the characters seemed barely tangible, clinging to the image, bringing the silent film close to the viewer in a way that makes one wince. [...]The interpretation that explores the identity of the vampire Nosferatu is aware that it looks at the images through layers of text spanning several decades. The soundscape made use of various auditory intertexts: from the beginning, the echoing, rushing space was united with ghost trains and computer games. The magic was emphasized with beeping space music, while the plague alarm music referred to the sounds of war and airplanes. The modern reference objects refreshed and condensed the film experience, emphasized surprising details and brought out subtle nuances. In contrast, the traditional whining of violins, the wailing of organs and the horror strumming obstruct, obscure and dull the old image, at least from today's perspective. A new music track always means a rebirth for a movie. Interzone perceptible has also embraced the traditional horror effects. The creaking of the doors, the squeaking of the locks, the rattling of the chains and the ghostly howling became abstract components with which the music operated. Effectiveness, a certain "musique concrète" was then also the main principle, even if the instrumental characteristics of the electric accordion and guitars were mainly used in the chaotic climax (which consists of Nosferatus' fateful voyage towards Wisborg). In the darkest scenes, the figure of Nosferatus pursuing the humans was elevated with strong effects that were not easy to localize: Clattering, perhaps of fire, water or plastic, clanking rattles that only forebodingly suggested metal. Timeless sound effects reinterpreted traditional horror meanings. [...] Interzone perceptible did not form an "intermediate zone" between music and image in keeping with its name, but instead made the image vivid, multi-layered, fresh and extremely frightening. The performance clearly showed the importance of the music for the film: it structured the narrative structure of the film through climaxes and quiet moments, it outlined the characters, developed the theme and created new meanings (e.g. fixing black magic and Transylvania through sci-fi connections with the familiar cyber-sound world). Recognizing this can open up new dimensions when watching any film imaginable. And above all, one would love to experience more silent films boldly reinterpreted with the help of music.