TJFF 2018: The Ancient Law (1923) Live!

May 7, 2018 | By

 

This past Thursday marked the start of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and I’ll be integrating select reviews into this week’s video offering, starting with this past Sunday’s Canadian Premiere of The Ancient Law (1923), a rare German film recently restored and touring select cities with live score performance by composer-performers Donald Sosin and Alicia Svigals.

Pretty much the inspiration for The Jazz Singer (1927), E.A. Dupont’s film features strong performances, beautiful production details, and a superb score by the pair that really should be experienced live before Flicker Alley’s Blu-ray-DVD combo is released in June.

Svigals’ solos are incredible, mining the already affecting drama about a son who literally escapes the locked house of his rabbi father, and in spite of great success on the Viennese stage, struggles with suppressing his hunger for kinship, culture, and family affection.

Cheers,

 

 

Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

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Category: EDITOR'S BLOG

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