The Music He Created Was Strange.
His Life Was Even Stranger.
A documentary about the amazing life of Leon Theremin,
inventor of the theremin, the electronic musical instrument so beloved of 50s sci-fi movie music. Theremin amazed America
with his instrument until his kidnapping by Soviet agents in the mid-30s. Upon his release from a labor camp, he worked on
surveillance devices for the KGB. Almost 60 years later , he is brought back to America for a touching reunion with his
friends and colleagues.
Includes scenes and music from The Lost Weekend, Spellbound, The Day the Earth
Stood Still, and The Delicate Delinquent
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
From Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
Items & Reviews for Theremin : An Electronic Odyssey
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