Touch the Sound: A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie (2004) Reviews

• Communicates a total joy and excitement about life and music making

  saareman2004-09-26

  I saw the North American premiere of Thomas Riedelsheimer's "Touch The Sound – A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie" on September 10, 2004 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film had previously World premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and UK premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, both in August 2004. This film should meet with the same success as the director's previous 'Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time' as it again masterfully portrays an artist, perhaps not well known in the mainstream (although within the modern classical music world, Glennie is the foremost exponent of solo percussion performance and of percussion concerti with orchestras), in such a striking and all encompassing manner that it endears them to virtually anyone seeing it. For the first 10-15 minutes or so, I wondered whether the issue of Glennie's deafness was even going to be mentioned (she is famously reluctant to allow it to be used in her music bios, feeling that it detracts from the message of the actual music itself) or whether they would leave it as a surprise revelation for the end. As it happened, it came out quite casually in an interview excerpt. There was a smattering of interview bits throughout the film but for the most part the music and sound experience was left to explain itself. The best (and funniest) thing that Glennie said was something along the lines of... why should she have to explain to anybody how she manages to 'hear', since when she asks other people how they hear and they answer 'with the ear' and when she then asks them to explain how that works, they are at a total loss, so why should she be any different? The film captures about a year of travels in Evelyn Glennie's life but fore goes the above mentioned 'classical' world to instead show her in either solo or group improvisation situations around the planet. The main performance involves her and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Fred Frith (he did the soundtrack for Rivers and Tides) recording an improvised CD in the wonderful sound space of a deserted factory in Germany. Other stops along the way are a NYC street jam with tap dancer/choreographer Roxanne Butterfly, a NYC rooftop jam on full kits with drummer Horatio 'El Negro' Hernandez, a Japanese rehearsal/workshop with the formidable Taiko drummers 'Za Ondekoza', a Japanese café/bar performance with the violin/piano duo 'This = Misa & Saikou' and a cliff side exploration with fog horns (courtesy of Jason the Fogmaster). Various solo bits as well are interspersed such as a snare drum solo in NYC's Grand Central Station, a meditation in a Japanese zen garden, a visit to her brother and the old family homestead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, a teaching session with hearing challenged kids (Glennie's teaching methods involve getting the kids to 'listen' through the sensation of touch), and a solo using only the bits and scraps of cans, plates, utensils and glasses rounded up in the café/bar seconds before the performance itself. No matter what the circumstances you will be amazed at what Glennie can make music with and how intriguing even the most commonplace sounds can be if you really, really listen to them. There is a total joy and excitement in life and music making that is on display in this film and its message is conveyed in a very down to earth manner that is not at all esoteric or high/art culture but rather communicative and people oriented. There is real emotion as well, as my eyes teared up hearing the young girl who was participating in the music training class say as she removed her hearing aids that she could 'hear' the music quite well without them. Highly recommended. 10/10

• "Touch the Sound" Hits the Right Note

  Paul_Deane2007-02-02

  "Touch the Sound" is beautiful in the same way the wind-drifting plastic bag of "American Beauty" is beautiful. It is simple and profound, and even though it is right in front of us, we somehow cannot manage to see it. This movie is an experience, not in the sense of a journey, but rather, something you must feel in order to connect with. Movies like this keep us in touch. Everything has sound, and thus for Evelyn, everything is an instrument. No exceptions. Cans, bottles, rope, sections of aluminum, a snare drum, the sidewalk…everything. Maybe the only thing more impressive than her actual musical abilities is the open-mindedness of the people who watch her play these obscure instruments. The film takes us from Japan to New York to England to Santa Cruz, where we find a diverse group of cultures united by music. Or maybe it is something deeper than that. "We need to eat, we need to sleep, and we need music." This is Evelyn's philosophy, one which she most certainly lives by. Evelyn is a woman who plays her percussion instruments barefooted in order to feel the vibrations they cast, so it is no stretch to say she quiet literally has a feel for what she is doing. She is a wonderful musician, who makes such a connection with her music that it is as if the music is not being heard through her ear, but rather resounding throughout her body. The most engaging moments in the film are found through the improvisations performed by Evelyn and fellow musician Fred Firth, who she has never met before. They create the soundtrack of the film through their willingness to experiment and explore with any and every combination of variances on traditional guitars and percussion instruments. Although I very much enjoyed the film, I did find that there were a few too many visual "sounds" where as a viewer I found the underlying message to be too apparent. Nevertheless, "Touch the Sound" is worth a watch, even if you are not a musician; its is simple, enjoyable and leaves us with a sense of inner harmony.

• Contemplative and beautiful.

  rustin-22005-06-06

  Thomas Redelsheimer's beautifully crafted documentary is patient, precise, and exquisitely tuned into the subject matter. It's so refreshing to see a masterfully shot and thoughtfully edited documentary, especially after sitting through such overrated, uninspiring, and clumsily shot and edited mediocrities like Control Room and Born into Brothels. Redelsheimer is, like Errol Morris, one of the few documentary filmmakers today who seem to truly care about the art of non-fiction cinema. He also believes an audience can make intuitive leaps, guided by sound and images, that bring them so much closer to the soul of his subject. In this case, Evelyn Glennie, a deaf master percussionist, invites the director and his crew into her meditative world that allows her to literally "hear" with her body. Redelsheimer captures some unbelievably beautiful natural moments of picture and sound, and juxtaposes them with his own soulful artistic skill. A must-see for lovers of documentaries who appreciate the potential of the genre.

• A Brilliant Follow Up To 'Rivers & Tides'

  Seamus28292009-01-08

  After Thomas Riedelsheimer turned the film going public on it's ear with his portrait of Andy Goldsworthy in 'Rivers & Tides:Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time',he next turned his camera lens on Evelyn Glennie, a classically trained pianist,who lost something like 80% of her hearing at an early age. This would have swayed most "would be" musicians away from music,but not Glennie. She managed to switch from piano studies to percussion,as percussion instruments are louder than the piano. As a result,Evelyn Glennie has become one of the most respected (and busy) musicians around. There is a bounty of footage of her rehearsing for various performances,as well as film footage of her recording a CD with Fred Frith (who also contributed original music for 'Rivers & Tides'). The end results is a well crafted documentary that like Rivers & Tides is breath taking to look at,as well as to listen to. This film opened to both praise,as well as scorn (mostly from the hearing impaired community,who's main complaint was that the film had no subtitles to translate the spoken text). Still,a film to seek out. I eagerly await any & all future offerings by Thomas Riedelsheimer (and would also love to see any of his older films,as well). As is with 'Rivers & Tides',no MPAA rating,but nothing to offend anybody (unless one is adverse to new & experimental musics)

• Amazing Lady, But A Disappointing Documentary

  ccthemovieman-12007-07-23

  Boy, did I get suckered into watching this disappointing DVD. I should have remembered that when you see a ton of complimentary comments by critics all over the DVD cover, you can be almost guaranteed the film is a stinker. "A feast for senses" - New York Daily News, was the one that got me. Being someone who is in love with cinematography and has a decent surround system to enjoy good audio, this documentary intrigued me. "Filled with gorgeous music." - The Chicago Tribune. People - do not pay attention to these morons. Yes, there is some nice visuals in here but none of the music is beautiful unless you a huge fan of percussion (drums, mainly.) Yet, rarely do you think of someone beating on a snare drum as "gorgeous music." This is a story of a Scottish woman, Evelyn Glennie, who is almost deaf but has a tremendous appreciation for sounds, almost any kind of sound. She also is an outstanding percussionist. Since she has a major hearing problem, she has learned to "hear" through vibrations and hears more, as they would say, than we unimpaired people. Evelyn is definitely talented and unique. I wasn't impressed with the DVD but I was with her, and who wouldn't be?? She's an extraordinary human being. She loves to converse on the subject. Sometimes she's interesting, other times she goes on too long on a subject. The same applies to most of the "chapters" on this DVD. Some are good but most get tedious after the first half dozen. It's simply too repetitive and boring. If you doubt this, ask yourself: would I watch someone pounding a stick on some object for several minutes? That's what you have in many, many scenes here. Oh, the instruments and the sounds are all different, but it is anything but a "thrilling audio and visual experience." To sit through this for 100 minutes - now THAT is a challenge!