Synopses for Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1994)
1.
Leon Theremin was the secret link between sci-fi films, the Beach Boys, and Carnegie Hall. His self-named electronic musical instrument--the first of its kind--took the world by storm in the 1920s and '30s. Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, winner of Sundance's Filmmakers Trophy, explores the inventor's strange life and times, including his mysterious 50-year disappearance beginning in the 1940s. Interviews with theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog, and Theremin's contemporaries, as well as clips from movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, featuring the unworldly sounds of his creation, show an eccentric genius working toward success until his sudden vanishing in the Soviet Union. Footage of Theremin at 94 years old, finally rediscovered and rewarded for his achievements, brings a celebratory ending to what could be a grim or at least uncertain story, but instead is a fascinating documentary. --Rob Lightner
2.
A documentary about the inventor of one of the first electronic instruments, the eponymous theremin (the sound of which quickly became cliched in science fiction films as the accompaniment to shots of flying saucers). The instrument produced its unusual sounds by using the player's hands to control the signals of an electromagnetic field. Its Russian-born inventor, Leon Theremin, went from playing his instrument for Lenin to breaking into show business in New York. Kidnapped by the K.G.B. in the late 1930s, Theremin was spirited back to the Soviet Union and forced to work on more espionage-related technology. The film reunites the inventor with his thereminist-protégée, Clara Rockmore, before his death in 1993. Winner of the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance film festival.
3.
The Music He Created Was Strange. His Life Was Even Stranger.
The stranger-than-fiction true story of the father of electronic music is captivatingly told in this highly acclaimed and "endlessly surprising documentary" (Leonard Maltin) which garnered the prestigious Filmmakers Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. Set against the backdrop of the instrument's ethereal sound, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey is nothing short of sensational!
In the 1920s and '30s, Russian émigré Leonard Theremin - the inventor of the world's first electronic musical instrument - had it all. His self-named theremins were in high demand from filmmakers and musicians around the globe; he was married to a beautiful American dancer; he lived among New York's social elite. And then, in 1938, he mysteriously vanished, not to be seen again for over 50 years!
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