Step Across the Border (1990) [Review]
| Category | Reviews |
| Written by | Brian Dorsey |
| Published on | August 30, 2011 |
Summary:
A cinematic portrait of English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, Step Across the Border is a mixture of improvised music and cinema direct. Shot in black and white on [...]
A cinematic portrait of English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, Step Across the Border is a mixture of improvised music and cinema direct. Shot in black and white on 35 mm film, this “avant-garde documentary” was made between 1988 and 1990 in Japan, Italy, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, England, the US and Switzerland.
There is no narration and the musicians, the music and locations are also not named. Those musicians who do appear, however, include Iva Bittová. Tom Cora, Pavel Fajt, Tim Hodgkinson, René Lussier, Bob Ostertag and John Zorn. Frith and others are seen rehearsing and performing, interspersed with moving images (cars, grass, people, trains) blending into the music. More an art film than simply a documentary on a musician, one of its most impressive scenes shows Frith on a rocky sea coast surrounded by sea gulls, imitating their squawks with his violin and bow. Step Across the Border won “Best Documentary” at the European Film Awards in 1990.
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