“As sonorous and resonant as its title suggests, Music is the latest achievement from German auteur Angela Schanelec (I Was at Home, But…). An oblique take on the myth of Oedipus, in Schanelec’s hands the tragic tale’s sensationalism and violence are wrested into a thought-provoking and sensorial reflection on the nature of fate, the ineffable realms of grief, and our human capacity for persistence. Progressing elliptically across years as it moves from the Greek Peloponnese to post-modern Berlin, the film begins as the abandoned baby Jon is discovered and adopted by a local family. Later imprisoned as a young adult (played by Aliocha Schneider), Jon falls in love with one of the guards, Iro (Agathe Bonitzer); their relationship upon his release begets two children but also devastating revelations.
The Silver Bear winner for Best Screenplay at this year’s Berlinale, this moving portrait of existence in the face of sorrow forges its own rhythmic, cyclical, and intimate path toward harmony. At once dreamy and formally dexterous, stark, and lush, Music is a film that surprises and challenges without ever suggesting any individual element is situated anywhere but its exact, necessary place.” -Andréa Picard, Toronto International Film Festival
