Cinema

(de voertaal van deze avond is Engels).

Jeffrey's Underground Cinema has been showing neglected and forgotten films for the last decade. This night:  

DEVIL’S BRIDE 1974
(Velnio nuotaka)
Directed by Arūnas Žebriūnas
80 minutes
In Lithuanian with English subtitles

At the present moment the Baltic countries have joined the neoliberal consumer world of the west and have modernized… any yet previously during Soviet times they were offering something different, their culture had a kind of poetic fairytale aspect that was lyrical and distinct. The tone was light as a breeze, spiritual, and deeply tethered to the whims of nature. This Lithuanian movie was made during that era. Bizarrely, it is a psychedelic folk-musical based on a book called ‘Whitehorn’s Windmill’ written in 1942 during the German occupation. Like I said, it has a crazy 60’s psychedelic vibe, but its spirit is also is tied with Lithuania’s ancient folklore and pagan roots.

As far as the story goes, it’s set in the rural countryside, focusing on the people who live there and deals with themes of love, fallen angels, revolution, seduction, and pacts with the devil. It’s romantic, absurd, supernatural, and fatally tragic. Like I said this bizarre flick fuses together past tradition with the modern, and the same goes with the musical score which incorporates psychedelic rock with pagan chants. The music composer was Vyacheslav Ganelin and the lyrics were penned by Lithuanian poet Sigitas Geda.

A love story that unfolds like a hallucinatory rollercoaster ride. Needless to say, this is an extremely rare screening of this bizarre East-bloc psychedelic trip.

With a short introduction by Jeffrey Babcock

20:30 (doors and bar open at 20:00)
Free entrance / no reservations
We advise you to come early: max. 70 people /
no admittance after 20.30