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nlf3 (trio) - Sergeï Eisenstein

Que Viva Mexico !
Cine-concert — École des beaux-arts de Toulouse

nlf3 (trio) et Sergeï Eisenstein, Que Viva Mexico !, 2004,

Le printemps de Septembre / Les Soirées Nomades 

© Photo : David Brunner

nlf3 (trio) et Sergeï Eisenstein, Que Viva Mexico !, 2004,

Le printemps de Septembre / Les Soirées Nomades 

© Photo : David Brunner

nlf3 (trio) et Sergeï Eisenstein, Que Viva Mexico !, 2004,

Le printemps de Septembre / Les Soirées Nomades 

© Photo : David Brunner

nlf3 (trio) et Sergeï Eisenstein, Que Viva Mexico !, 2004,

Le printemps de Septembre / Les Soirées Nomades 

© Photo : David Brunner

Ludovic Morillon: drums
Fabrice Laureau: bass, casiotone.
Nicolas Laureau: Fender Rhodes, electric guitar and synthesizers

 

Commissioned by le Printemps de septembre, this ciné-concert brings together the French instrumental trio nlf3 (trio) and Eisenstein's unfinished masterpiece, Que Viva Mexico ! (1931). This fictional documentary with masterful images retraces the history of the Mexican Indians, from their origins to the revolution of 1910, through several stories accompanied by folk songs. The shooting of this sound film, commissioned by Paramount during his stay in Hollywood at the end of the 1920s, was quickly interrupted for financial reasons. Forced to return to Russia, Eisenstein left the rushes behind and did not have access to them again until his death in 1948. It was not until 1979 that a version of the film faithful to the director's intentions was finally discovered, thanks to an edit made in the 1960s by Gregori Alexandrov, Eisenstein's former assistant.

 

The instrumental group nlf3 (trio) was originally intended to play live music to accompany screenings of experimental silent films. On record and in concert, the group's brief soundscapes, which combine psychedelic loops, Brazilian rhythms and Afro-jazz sounds, recreate cinematic atmospheres. Although the two albums resulting from their sound experiments have been very well received, the trio had never before had the opportunity to try their hand at a real cine-concert. This commission is an opportunity for the group to apply their meticulous compositions to one of the masterpieces of pre-war cinema.

Co-production: le Printemps de septembre, Fondation Cartier pour l'art, cinéma le Méliès integrated to the Rose des Vents Scène Nationale de Villeneuve d'Ascq and Musée d'art moderne Lille-Métropole (as part of the Musée d'art moderne's exhibition "Mexico-Europe Allers-Retours 1910-1960").


Acknowledgements: the Cinémathèque de Toulouse.