The Orchestra - 3 stars out of 10

The Orchestra - 3 stars out of 10

Zbig Rybczinski's "The Orchestra" is likely unlike anything that you have ever seen before.  The entire thing is completely bizarre.  Some of the sequences are cool, others are more along the lines of the creepy-nightmarish-type of bizarre.  When one of the least peculiar things in the film is a guy getting shaved and dressed amidst a bunch of dancing soldiers in an art museum, you know that you are in for a treat.  Through its extensive use of blue screen and layering multiple scenes (and multiple versions of the same characters) on top of each other, "The Orchestra" has a unique look of its own.  Chopin's Funeral March is probably the best-known sequence from this film and is quite chilling as it explores the cycle of life, from death to childhood to seduction to growing old and back to death.  It perfectly fits Chopin's music and brings the piece to life.  And then there's the half-naked bride and groom floating around in a church and doing flips to the tune of Schubert's Ave Maria.  Aesthetically, it is very beautiful.  But it is just one of the most obscure things that I have ever seen in my entire life.  The Bolero is really impressive.  I can't really comprehend how they could create such a seamless shot when logic dictates that there have to be cuts hidden somewhere in this 14-minute sequence.  "The Orchesta" is an interesting artistic expression in several segments, but each segment has a tendency to grow monotonous within itself.  Rather than watching this entire film for an hour, I would recommend watching one segment at a time since they are so loosely tied together anyway.  Regardless, the cinematography is incredible (as we would expect from one of the modern forerunners in this field) and the layers of special effects will blow your mind.