The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes (2005)

Directors:

Stephen Quay
Timothy Quay

Writers:

Alan Passes (writer)
Stephen Quay (writer)

Release Date:

17 February 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Music | Romance

Plot:

Dark fairytale about a demonic doctor who abducts a beautiful opera singer with designs on transforming her into a mechanical nightingale. |

Plot Keywords:

Puppet | Fairy Tale | Surrealism | Dream Like

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Amira Casar	...	Malvina van Stille
Gottfried John	...	Dr. Emmanuel Droz
Assumpta Serna	...	Assumpta
César Sarachu	...	Adolfo Blin / Don Felisberto Fernandez (as Cesar Sarachu)
Ljubisa Gruicic	...	Holz (gardener) (as Ljubisa Lupo-Grujcic)
Marc Bischoff	...	Marc (gardener)
Henning Peker	...	Henning (gardener)
Gilles Gavois	...	Echeverria (gardener)
Volker Zack	...	Volker (gardener)
Thomas Schmieder	...	Thomas (gardener)
Regine Zimmermann	...	Dresser
Emil Petrov	...	Musician

Also Known As:

Der Klavierstimmer der Erdbeben (Germany) (TV title)
L'accordeur de tremblements de terre (France)

Runtime:

USA:99 min | Canada:99 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Germany | UK | France

Language:

Portuguese | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:12A | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva)

Filming Locations:

Leipzig, Saxony, Germany

Company:

Arte

Soundtrack:

Nisi Dominus

Just short of pure cinema. In a word – unmissable

In the second feature by The Brothers Quay, light and sound combine in some of the most distinctive cinematic phrases I've ever seen, harking back to the earliest surrealist films, but unfortunately tacking on needless narrative exposition, causing an interruption to the beautiful flow of imagery which makes this film such a moving experience.

After a speedy beginning during which a beautiful opera singer is stolen away from her lover by an evil doctor, we're transported to what appears to be his private island home, where he plans to put on a performance with his new trophy as the star of the show. He invites a piano tuner to prepare his mechanical automatons for the performance, and the narrative, which unfolds almost incidental to the darkly constructed and impeccably styled imagery, becomes virtually unintelligible until the film ends with a bang, clarifying whatever had been lost in the murk of quiet speech (often buried beneath a thunderous, oppressive and completely brilliant score) and cryptic dialogue. In fact, the film would have been much easier to understand without the problematic exposition and character interactions, because it's clear that these film-makers can tell a story using nothing but imagery.

The film begins with what appears to be a glut of premonitions, which will become more significant later in the film; distorted, broken and beautiful. It's as though the opening few seconds are the dream which the film-makers are attempting to piece together and lend coherence with the rest of the film. Indeed, dreams form the basis for the most stunning scenes in the film, and the attempts by the film-makers to contextualise these dreams within a formal narrative seem half-hearted. It's the dreams that dominate the film, and through which we can grasp the real mood; or, as the piano tuner says at one point, it's as though we've been dropped into someone else's imagination. We're introduced to visions we'd normally associate with waking up in a cold sweat; images rescued from a subconscious with a sick sense of humour. It's phenomenal to look at, and to feel absorbed by, but as narrative film, it doesn't quite work.

If the Brothers Quay allow their imaginations to run riot throughout a feature-length film, and jettison the conventions that, for whatever reason, they try to cling to in The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes, then we could be dealing with the rebirth of cinema.