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Alloy Orchestra Presents: Variete
Live at The Englert Theatre
Saturday, October 27 at 7pm (doors at 6:00pm / seating at 6:30pm)
Co-presented by FilmScene and The Englert Theatre
$25 public / $20 FilmScene Members and Friends of the Englert / $15 seniors and students

VARIETE

"Absolutely essential for anyone who cares about silent cinema." - Michael Smith, White City Cinema

A tale of love, deception, revenge and redemption, Variete has long been considered one of the masterpieces of German cinema. Yet it has been almost impossible to see. The film has just been released with an amazing new restoration.

Variete takes place in the circus, with the great Emile Jannings (the first ever recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor) as the "catcher" for a great trapeze act. Jannings falls in love with a beguiling "hoochy coochy" dancer, played by Lya De Putti. All does not end well.

The film is captured with amazing cinematography by Karl W. Freund (Metropolis), breathtaking trapeze stunts, and a story that shines a light on the wonderfully natural acting of the superb cast.

ALLOY ORCHESTRA

"100 Most Creative People in Entertainment…Telluride Film Festival faves, these Boston-based musicians have rejuvenated the art of silent film with thrillingly quirky, percussive scores." - Entertainment Weekly

"The maestros of sproing-and-chunk grandeur." - The Nation 

"Accompaniment is really an inadequate description of the voodoo they do with their strange and wonderful repertoire of sonic surprises." - Detroit Metro Times

Alloy Orchestra has been called "the best in the world at accompanying silent films" by Roger Ebert, and features multi-instrumentalist Terry Donahue, director and percussionist (and former Iowa City resident) Ken Winokur, and keyboardist Roger C. Miller. Past films presented by Alloy Orchestra at the Englert include Metropolis, Nosferatu, The General, Lonesome, Man With a Movie Camera and A Page of Madness.  

An unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Orchestra the ability to create any sound imaginable.

Utilizing their famous "rack of junk" and electronic synthesizers, the group generates beautiful music in a spectacular variety of styles. The can conjure up a French symphony or a simple German bar band of the 20's. The group can make the audience think it is being attacked by tigers, contacted by radio signals from Mars or swept up in the Russian Revolution.