By Danielle Gabriel
FROM hard rock to jazz, the ninth Silent Music Film Festival will be filled with an eclectic group of bands that will be providing the musical score to some of the best movies from the silent era.
Silent films, dating back as far as the 1920s, get a new take by acquiring soundtracks and sound effects from the likes of iconic rock bands The Dawn, Kjwan, and Razorback, along with jazz acts, like The Executives, Big Jazz Balloon and Hidden Nikki.
Running from August 27 to 30 at the Shangri-La Plaza, this year’s installment of silent films offers a promising mix of audio and visual by having bands complement the movies either through contrast between the band’s musical genre and the film’s storyline or through similarities in concept.
The film festival will open with one of its new members, Austria with Orlacs Hände (The Hands of Orlac). Music for the horror film will be provided by the big-band jazz act The Executives, which was founded by the late Sen. Raul Manglapus in 1957.
The band, initially a group of amateur musicians getting together after office hours to jam, soon gained a big and loyal following in the country with their brand of jazz and swing music. It led to tours all over the Philippines, Europe and the United States.
Another jazz group will be showcasing their tunes for Japan’s four short silent comedy features on the second day of the festival. Indie jazz-pop band Hidden Nikki said their group is not new to scoring movies, but the difference in culture and comedy standards poses a challenge for the four-man band.
“Comedy is very linked with culture. We are Filipinos, so we have a different understanding of comedy. We had to research a little on Japanese culture on what should and should not be funny,” Hidden Nikki bassist Jason Conanan said.
Known for their modern and upbeat take on jazz, the band claims that the challenge also lies in making their style fit the Japanese visuals and complement the comedy involved in the film.
Providing the score for the Philippines’s entry, Brides of Sulu, is hard-hitting rock band Kjwan. The band, which was formed in 2003, made waves with their rock anthems “Daliri” and “Boomerang,” giving music aficionados a new take on rock music
Fans of the band may or may not hear their signature growling, but the band’s keyboardist Enrique de Dios said they will try to infuse their sound as much as possible to the film’s archetypal love story.
“It is a Filipino film so we will be able to use some of our existing music which is appropriate in the scenes. I do not think there will be any growling. But I cannot promise that,” de Dios said.
Brides of Sulu, a 1934 film directed by John Nelson, depicted an us-against-the-world story between a Moro princess and a pagan pearl diver and their forbidden love. Filmed in an actual Moro tribe location, Brides of Sulu takes viewers back to the old culture of arranged marriages and balances it with the epic romantic gesture of running away with one’s true love.
The Philippines’s longest-running rock band, The Dawn, will be lending its musical expertise to the Italian film The Last Days of Pompeii with a few tricks and twists.
After more than 25 years in the business and a slew of award-winning hits like “Salamat,” “Enveloped Ideas,” “Iisang Bangka” and “Love Will Set Us Free,” The Dawn is set to release their 15th studio album later this year.
The Dawn said they are reworking old songs, extending it and even changing some of the words to fit the movie. The band’s vocalist, Jett Pangan, said they are working close with the organizers of the event in crafting the music, and fulfilling their roles as “sonic narrators” of the Italian silent film.
“It is challenging because you have to support the movement of the film with the lack of script. In a way, we are the narrators of the film and we need to guide the viewers to where the movie is headed,” Pangan said. “We need to match our music with the personalities involved and what they are going through.”
The 1924 film The Last Days of Pompeii revolves around themes of love and lust between four characters amid the destruction of the city of Pompeii due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
While other bands focused on the theme of the movie and played their way through the storyline, some acts preferred to be more spontaneous in their scoring, veering away from traditional mood music and dramatic scales.
Another rock band will be scoring the festival’s last film entry, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. The 1927 American silent film by German Director F.W. Murnau will have its soundtrack done by the wild boars of Pinoy Rock, Razorback.
Formed in the 1990s, the band’s no-holds-barred hard-hitting sound will make itself evident in the film by infusing a rock show in the midst of a cheesy tale of rekindled love.
“It is a love story, but Razorback is going to put a twist to it. It is going to be loud. It is going to be electric. It is going to be rock. Love does not have to be sweet, does not have to be quiet, it can be exciting and fun,” Razorback Manager Patrick Pulumbarit said.
Now on its ninth edition, the Silent Film Festival brings classic silent films from different countries with live musical accompaniments.