Peter Greenaway says the European Art Cinema tradition ran from 1963 to the death of Fassbinder in 1982. It's hard to hear this CD without thinking of that tradition, if not specifically of Fellini's. Of all the arty auteurs, I found Fellini one of the most difficult to enjoy — and that's saying something. I never made it all the way through Amarcord or Ship of Fools when they were on TV. Ginger e Fred left me nonplussed. La Dolce Vita, too long. I once enjoyed 8½, during my meta/reflexive period, but when I went to see again more recently, it turned out that was too long too — especially with Lucy huffing, puffing and fidgeting next to me.
The music's a different matter, though. This CD turns out to be a cracker, a revelation almost on the scale of that Willie Nelson compilation. For a compilation of pieces from films made over a 25-year period, it hangs together really well, from the cafe-society chamber jazz at the start through to the couple of tracks from the Casanova soundtrack that are more mood-based, less overtly structured. The latter have already sent me off to download a few more tracks from that work.
Aside from the obvious pleasant surprise, I'm also annoyed with myself when I find out that an album I've had for years is actually brilliant and has been unjustly ignored. There is the consolation with a recording that there's still the chance to make up on lost time. But in this case my frustration is compounded by the fact that I went to a Nino Rota tribute concert at the Barbican six years ago. I don't think I did my homework for that one, and all I can remember now is the radical reworking of Satyricon done by David Thomas and Two Pale Boys.
My issue of the album seems to be a rare one (Silva Screen FilmCD 004, I got it as an import for £12.99 in HMV many years ago), but you can download a newer issue
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