ROAD MOVIE:
A PORTRAIT OF JOHN ADAMS
AN EXPLORATION OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF AMERICAN COMPOSER JOHN ADAMS, ONE OF THE US’S LEADING MINIMALISTS
“A RADIANT AND JOY-FILLED ENCOUNTER”
-Télérama
Influenced by the rhythm and swing of jazz, John Adams rapidly abandoned what he experienced as the cold abstraction of the avant-garde, throwing himself into more traditional classical sounds. The film focuses particularly on Adams’s operas, notably “Nixon and China”, “The Death of Klinghoffer” and “Dr Atomic”, as well as the creation “The Gospel According to the Other Mary”, all of which reflect engagement with history and society, and are the fruit of collaborations with Peter Sellars. Jon Else’s sublime photography of the American West – forests, mountains and deserts – accompanies Adams’s lush music and provides a key to understanding some of the essential the sources of his inspiration. The film is a kind of companion piece to Mark’s “A Journey with Peter Sellars”.
CREDITS
Written and Directed by Mark Kidel
Produced by Marie Balducchi
Camera by Jon Else
Edited by Cyril Leuthy
Agat Films, ARTE France
2013
Running time: 60 mins
“This beautiful film manages to be very informative, thanks to a major interview with the composer as well as aesthetic, thanks to stunning landscape images that punctuate it”
- Le Monde