Messiah/Complex gives Handel's holiday masterpiece a multilingual makeover, at The Cinematheque December 14
Diverse singers from across the country reinterpret the choral work amid spectacular Canadian settings
The Cinematheque screens Messiah/Complex on December 14 at 7:30 pm
VANCOUVERITES have a chance to experience a different kind of Messiah this holiday season.
The Cinematheque is going to screen Messiah/Complex, the internationally lauded filmed interpretation of George Frederick Handel’s monumnetal choral work, produced by Against the Grain theatre and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
It’s a unique re-envisioning of the work through a postcolonial lens, featuring the voices from every province and territory, and translating it into languages from Dene to Arabic. The singers perform amid cathedrals, snowscapes, skating rinks, and forests, caught in gorgeous cinematography by a staggering 16 production teams.
Look for some familiar faces and voices: recent Early Music Vancouver artist-in-residence, Cree-Métis baritone Jonathon Adams performs a resounding solo by an open fire; and exciting young tenor Spencer Britten represents BC in the opening recitative. Yellowknife’s Leela Gilday also performs a moving Dene translation of “I know that my Redeemer liveth”, set against a snowy backdrop.
Joel Ivany and Renellta Arluk direct while Johannes Debus conducts.
You'll find it just as exultant, if not more so, than the original English choral version; check out the trailer below to see what we mean. The New York Times perhaps puts it best, calling it a “Messiah for the multitides”.
Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.
Related Articles
Subtitled Beauty Between the Lines, the film by Danny Berish and Ryan Mah digs deeper than the architect’s portfolio
White rabbits and Magritte clouds, as Visions Ouest presents film of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s epic and affecting multimedia performance
Featuring film offerings from all 27 European Union members, festival opens with Hungary’s Some Birds and closes with Ukraine’s The Hardest Hour
They’ll be competing in juried Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature at event December 4 to 8
Boldly pushing the documentary form, Vancouver director tracks a story that involved guns, drugs, money laundering, child abuse, and even murder
Canada-wide opportunity connects aspiring filmmakers with established industry professionals
In this classic of German expressionism screening at the Shadbolt, “Every frame is like an album cover,” says the postrock band’s Simon Dobbs
The Cinematheque curator Sonja Baksa delivers a week of programming centred on celluloid witches, just in time for Halloween
Photographer Kiliii Yuyan will be live on stage for the film’s visually stunning exploration of the Arctic
Inay (Mama) wins the Arbutus Award for best B.C. film; Summit award for best Canadian film goes to Universal Language