Tuesday 19 January 2010

Amsterdam Gloomy Sunday 1956


Home movie made in Amsterdam in 1956 by Michael Rogge. Extremely atmospheric art movie in miniature ! It's very original and foward looking - made forty years before the Kronos Quartet made their fairly bland film version. Rogge's is much more artistic and gets the mystery in the song. He uses the Billie Holliday performance. This is the original and first recording made in 1933 and sung in the original Hungarian. There are lots of legends about this song, which claim there is a curse, but that's urban myth. The composer committed suicide, but not for another 36 years. Read what I dug out about it earlier, and the original text. Link HERE. (there's a much better recording of the Hungarian song there, too). You can also watch Rogge's film with Holliday off and the original on, it works too, though the original text is infinitely more depressing. It's wonderful how ordinary people can make such excellent movies.

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