Originally created in the 1920s, A Page of Madness (Kurutta Ippeiji) was long believed lost until the creator, Teinosuke Kinugasa, rediscovered it hidden deep in his garden shed.
A masterpiece of Japanese silent cinema, Kinugasa uses a striking array of expressionist and surrealist filmmaking techniques to evoke the inner thoughts and feelings of patients in a mental hospital.
A jazz soundtrack was later added to the film when it was first rediscovered in the 1970s. When I first discovered the movie I was really drawn to all the beautiful visual elements and the emotions that were involved. The 70’s jazz soundtrack that was later added seemed to detract rather than add to the overall mood. I kept imagining a very dark sound to equal the dark story and decided to create one myself.
The results were so moving and I am hoping to share this experience with others at ADE this year.
Houle’s live performance premiere of A Page of Madness will form part of the Films @ ADE programme, a series of documentaries and films hosted at Melkweg Cinema.
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