Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
Hollywood ruined everything…as usual.
In the 1950s, filmmakers and film composers utilized the Theremin, the iconic electronic music instrument created by the Russian inventor Leon Theremin, for a myriad of sci-fi and atomic age scores that pigeon-holed it as a “spooky” instrument, meaning what started out as a legitimate classical instrument- with performances at Carnegie Hall- with performers playing Bach and the like. But after Bernard Herrmann’s landmark score for the 1951 classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Theremin’s invention became the sound of scary in Hollywood…
…but not everyone was satisfied with that. Not Robert Moog, whose own inventions in the world of musical instruments started the modern trends in electronic instruments we have seen in the last 40-plus years. Not Brian Wilson or other popular artists, who found places for it in their recordings (like “Good Vibrations”). And not Clara Rockmore, who was the world’s premiere theremin performers.
But even more fascinating than the story of this unusual instrument is the story of the man himself, which runs in parallel in Steven M. Martin’s fascinating and rewarding documentary. After the success his invention brought to him in the 20s, something unfortunate happened- in the 30s, Professor Theremin mysteriously disappeared from his New York home. He was not heard from again until, well, pretty much this documentary back in the early ’90s (he was 94 at the time of his interviews for the film; he eventually passed away in 1993).
Throughout the film’s 83 minutes, we hear in interviews from a wide cross-section of people, from Rockmore and Moog to Brian Wilson to Theremin himself. We see news articles and get discussions chronicling his life in Russia after his disappearance. We see clips from films it was used in, from “Day the Earth Stood Still” to Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” to Billy Wilder’s “The Lost Weekend” to even Jerry Lewis’ “The Delicate Delinquent.” We see performances by Rockmore and others, either now or in archival footage.
But best of all, at the end, we see a wonderful reunion between Theremin and Rockmore- his protege from his early years- in modern New York, his first trip back since being forced to leave in the 30s. Backed by Rockmore’s beautiful performances on the instrument, there’s a sense of sadness and exceptional beauty as we see Theremin walk around New York, seeing what the city looks like now. When they finally meet in her apartment, it’s a truly beautiful and touching moment, and- in a documentary of surprising and seemingly unbelievable twists and turns- a fitting coda on a life that might have provided infinitely more accomplishments had things worked out differently.
