Tributes - Pulse

Tributes - Pulse motion picture, a "requiem for the 20th century."  Bill Morrison, New York based, made the video. He uses mostly black and white images of decomposing nitrate film (see thumbnail) together with some original art and a sobering segment he photographed himself (from a helicopter) of a Staten Island salvage yard for decommissioned tugboats and ferries.  Simon Christensen wrote the music. It's performed by a group called Kundi Bombo. This band has three members:  Christina Åstrand playing violin; Peter Navarro-Alonso playing soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones; and Christensen himself on percussion, zither, and electronics. This film is split into four sections - each a tribute to a 20th century composer: Charles Ives, Conlon Nancarrow, Steve Reich, and Trent Reznor. There is no text for this movie. There is a helpful keep case booklet in English only. All aspects of disc authorship and production are excellent.  Released  2011, disc has 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: X-D

My son (a contemporary popular music fan) and I both found this movie unpleasant and stressful to sit through. We wondered why this is called a "requiem." A better subtitle might be "permutations and combinations of lamentation and self-flagellation." Still, this movie is a fine-art HDVD that should be reported on this website; in fact, it would probably be unwatchable if not rendered in high-definition video. This title will probably be interesting to those who are fans of or curious about experimental contemporary visual arts and music; it will probably be inscrutable to all others. Because it will probably have such limited appeal, we give it the grade of "X-D." But we hasten to say that the folks who made this title worked hard to produce a carefully made product, so don't be afraid to give it a try.

If you like Tributes - Pulse and/or are familiar with experimental contemporary visual arts and music, please help us by writing a comment that extols this title and maybe explains it to the rest of us. We would make your contribution the primary review of Tributes - Pulse. We acknowledge the hard work and artistry that went into making this movie. We understand that Bill Morrison is trying to urge us to do better in the 21st century. We want to avoid condemning Tributes - Pulse out of ignorance.