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Music from the Old and the New Worlds The Film Festival's longstanding tradition of music documentaries is continued this year by four films on music. In addition to documentaries, the Festival offers live music from Friday night to Saturday morning in the traditional Riddim Night happening at Tullikamari. The music documentaries are I Put a Spell on Me, about the blues musician Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Scratch, which deals with the DJ culture. The Irish musical tradition is depicted from two points of view; one documentary is about the group Undertones and the other one about Shane McGowan. A Revealing Documentary about Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Career The Film Festival offers a real treat this year for friends of black blues music. The documentary film Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on Me (Nikos Triandafyllidis, 2001) deals openly with the former Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who was one of the most beloved legends of black blues. The Greek director Nicholas Triandafyllidis' documentary lets Hawkins himself tell broadly about his music and his career. The documentary also features the director Jim Jarmusch, who recounts his relationship with Hawkins and his work in the field of cinema. Other recollectors include Bo Diddley, Eric Burdon and Diamanda Galas. The film contains footage of Hawkins' past performances. Most of the material is from his final show in Paris, France. Hawkins was an orphan raised by Native Americans. He started his career as a boxer and later became an entertainer in the 1950's. During the past decades, several rock artists from Alice Cooper to Marilyn Manson have been inspired by Hawkins' strange music and stage act with its voodoo- and horror effects. The performances were spiced up with skulls and a coffin, from which the singer himself would rise up onto the stage. His greatest classic was the 1954 I Put a Spell on You, which was beyond compare in the history of black blues music with its wild and uncontained screaming and yelling. Even the popular Finnish musician Jukka Kuoppamäki recorded the song in Finnish in 1968 as Sun tahdon tietävän [transl. I Want You to Know]. The song also hit the chbarts as a dance version by Sonique. The best-known rock cover versions of the song can be found in the second Creedence Clearwater Revival album from the 1960's and Marilyn Manson's album Smells Like Children from the 1990's. Hawkins recorded and performed actively around the world all the way up to his death. His cinematic appeal was discovered by many film makers. His most notable performances on film were one in the movie American Hot Wax and a splendid little role as a hotel night porter in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train. The documentary reveals a funny little detail about why Hawkins didn't particularly enjoy the filming of the hotel scene. Additional information about the documentary and Screamin' Jay Hawkins can be
found at http://www.screaminjayhawkins.com/
A Topical Documentary on Scratching and the DJ Culture The younger festival audience may particularly enjoy Doug Pray's music documentary Scratch (USA, 2001), which introduces the turntable as an equal to other musical instruments. The turntable is an essential part of hip-hop music. The Film Festival documentary introduces some of the pioneers in the field, ranging from Afrika Bambaata to DJ Shadow. The electronic music genres house, techno and electro are all based on spinning records and "breaking beats" with samplers, incorporating them into parts of a musical performance. The DJ is the star of the show, keeping the listeners and dancers in the right mood with his turntables. Doug Pray's 2001 documentary uses scratching's splintered editing technique for effect. The film features rare archival footage about DJ artists and the development of hip-hop culture. The documentary sheds light on the influence that scratching and sampling has had on techno-, house- and dance music. The term "scratching" refers to the rhythmic back and forth spinning of a record and the sound that is formed in the process. Echoes and other sound effects can be added to the original sound. Scratching originated in the 1970's New York. It broke through in the 1980's when names like Public Enemy and Run DMC became known among the white population as well. Beastie Boys followed these ground-breakers, creating their own trademark style. In Finland, hip-hop has been in the mainstream of popular music for only the past few years. Hip-hop culture is already a recognised branch of youth culture. The latest star in the Finnish hip-hop sky is Kapteeni Ä-ni, who also perform in the Riddim Night happening at Tullikamari. Exploring the Tradition of Irish Popular Music The Festival features two documentaries that deal with the past two decades' history of Irish popular music. Tom Collins' film tells the story of the Undertones from the late 1970's to the early 1980's. The film If I Should Fall From Grace is about Shane McGowan, the singer of the Pogues. Teenage Kicks is an ode to youth, innocence and catchy guitar rock in the shadow of barbed wire fences. The BBC music journalist John Peel reminisces about the early days and the breakthrough of the Undertones with band members in Derry, Ireland. The documentary includes unforgettable concerts and television shows, spanning the band's whole career. If I Should Fall from Grace is a rough depiction of McGowan's intoxicant addiction and music career. The Irish-born McGowan is one of the most talented songwriters of his generation, and in the documentary he returns to Ireland to perform in 2000. Friends, relatives and fellow musicians give their accounts of him in the film. Nick Cave, a former drug addict himself, gives praise to McGowan's gifts as a songwriter and recounts shared moments with him. In addition to quite recent material, the film also presents footage from the height of the Pogues' career. Riddim Night at Tullikamari – Reggae, Silent Films and Samplers The spirit of the nocturnal events of Tullikamari can once more be discovered on Friday night. The happening is built around rhythm music in the style of reggae. During the night, films and documentaries related to reggae and the Jamaican view of the world are shown. One of the high points of the night will definitely be Mystery of the Leaping Fish (John Emerson, 1916), a half-hour silent film. The script is by a duo no less honourable than misters D. W. Griffith and Tod Browning. Douglas Fairbanks, who plays the heroic detective, is accompanied by Kapteeni Ä-ni and his turntables and samplers in their unique style. Kapteeni Ä-ni consists of Jukka Poika, Nopsajalka and Bommi-Tommi, members of the Finnish reggae group Soul Captain Band. Mystery of the Leaping Fish is a humoristic parody of Sherlock Holmes. The hero's name Coke Ennyday gives away the film's powdery atmosphere. In addition to accompanying the silent film, Kapteeni Ä-ni will also play a full set during the night. Additional live reggae rhythms are provided by Jing & Jangsters and Mellow Mood.
TEXT: Jorma Riihikoski and Marko Saarijärvi |
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Festival News 2002 festnews@uta.fi |