Movies AND music - Fulcrum Point's Inner Torments

For Fulcrum Point New Music Project, the haunting feel of the fall season extends far beyond Halloween. Last Friday, Fulcrum Point's screening and live accompaniment of the silent film The Golem! at the Chicago Cultural Center drew a standing-room-only crowd. Inner Torments follows a similar format, but explores tension and conflict in modern films indie and mainstream.

The two lesser-known films on the program are Holding Fast and Jacob TV's Grab It! Alexander Hough of Chicagoist previewed both performances in October:

Holding Fast" was a collaboration between Woolf and the filmmakers Mary Harron (director of "American Pyscho") and John C. Walsh. Harron and Walsh visited a Tibetan refugee camp near Darjeeling, India, filming and recording sounds from the village. They then gave Woolf the material, and he used the chanting, speaking, and environmental noise to create an electronic track that gets played alongside a live solo violin. Woolf then sent the music over to Harron and Walsh, who edited their video footage into a short film to accompany what Woolf had written. The piece itself features somber, simple violin lines that slide around the recorded sounds, synthesizing the two in a startlingly cohesive - and beautiful - way.

"Grab It!" is one of Jacob TV's "boombox pieces," which, like "Holding Fast," features a live instrumentalist (in this case, a saxophonist) with an electronic accompanying track (instead of a Himalayan village, they're from the documentary "Scared Straight!"). The piece, written over a decade ago, has been reworked, with new bass and drum parts and an added video component.

Whether you're a classical enthusiast or a pop culture junkie, Inner Torments will defy expectation. Use promotional code 5587 and receive Inner Torments tickets for $10 - that's $20 off the regular price. Offer not valid on previously purchased tickets. Visit the Harris Theater website or call 312-334-7777 for tickets.