Mechanical Music in the Movies
By Andy LaTorre
I just saw a video called, appropriately, "The Music Box". It was about a Hungarian Nazi who emigrated to the US 40 years before. The US government discovers him and seeks to void his citizenship. That would mean deportation and certain death for the old man. His daughter, a lawyer, defends him, believing that he could not be the man.
Near the end of the film, where her father's innocence is nearly proven, she redeems a pawn ticket and is given an old music box.
This box is weird. I never saw anything like it. She plays it, and it plays a tune badly. (By the way, all the music in the film, including the folk dancing scene, is entirely made-up modern sounding. I was very disappointed not to hear authentic Hungarian folk music). Then, all of a sudden, the comb and cylinder plate mechanism starts to rotate so that the underside is exposed. There is a crude folk dancer with his legs going up and down.
Then, in keeping with the plot of the film, photos start to slowly rise, like the paper in a printer. One at a time. (Who the heck, in the prop department, thought of that lame idea?) These photos show the old man, when he was young, in compromising scenes about to shoot innocent victims.
Although the film's title is "Music Box", it really does not dwell on the subject for more than 3 minutes.
It is a good film. The acting is excellent. The daughter is played by Jessica Lange.
Andy LaTorre
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(Message sent Mon 17 Mar 1997, 15:34:21 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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