A Damned Good Picture

On November 6, the Humanities Department co-sponsored a special screening of F.W. Murnau's silent feature Faust (1926) at the George Eastman House's Dryden theater. The screening was anything but silent, however. The Willem Breuker Kollektief, a ten-piece jazz ensemble from the Netherlands, provided musical accompaniment on instruments including lute, clarinet, tuba, double bass, saxophone, and piano. Humanities professor Reinhild Steingröver introduced the film to an audience of nearly 500. With Murnau's visionary images, the incomparable Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles, and the witty new score, the audience enjoyed a devilishly good time.

Stay tuned for more film and music collaborations sponsored by the Humanities department.

For a trailer of the film with the Willem Breuker Kollektief accompaniment, visit http://www.xs4all.nl/~wbk/FAUSTtrailer.html

For more on the George Eastman House, visit http://eastmanhouse.org