{"id":12476,"date":"2023-06-09T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=12476"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:17:03","slug":"review-love-you-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2023\/06\/09\/review-love-you-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Review :: Love You to Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Paul Newsom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Park Theatre is not quite packed as Love You to Death<\/em>\u2019s first film begins, yet the venue feels no less alive<\/em> for that fact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The commonalities with the last show I saw here – Godspeed You! Black Emperor<\/em> – are several: both rely on live music and film as fundamental performance features; each show\u2019s respective band is composed of brilliant, multi-instrumental performers; both crowds cheer ecstatically at pivotal moments while waiting in rapt silence through the tension-building bulk of the performance. Though Love You to Death is uniquely punctuated by laughs – some of which might not have been shared at the time of the films\u2019 debut – there is also a deadly seriousness to the vibe of appreciation underlying it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where GY!BE\u2019s projectionist was ever adaptive to the band\u2019s performance; the inverse is true for Love You to Death: the drummer taps a cymbal in unison with a wee skeleton knocking glass on a grandfather clock during Nosferatu<\/em>; bass notes swing along with one of the doctor\u2019s contraptions during Bride of Frankenstein<\/em>; theremin swells and guitar notes shimmer through Metropolis<\/em>\u2019s climax, as throngs of on-screen people thrash around in electric panic. Every scene is coloured by enough musical vision to be captivating by itself, yet never so much as to distract from the films. As someone who hasn\u2019t seen any of the films before, I am awestruck by the film quality, practical effects, and, in particular, the use of aerial shots. The past revealed by these movies feels grand and soulful, at least as often as it feels naive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inter-film breaks feel memorable thanks to a sardonic-spooky narrator, whose vibe gradually morphs from eerie deadpan to existential-nostalgic. Attendees are reminded of the evening\u2019s extra offerings: tarot cards, spooky art for sale, and even having one\u2019s portrait taken with Chalice, the Undead Bride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the emcee has said his piece, modern blockbuster movies\u2019 soundtracks fill the dead space during intermissions, providing ample inspiration for reflection on the era of the three films\u2019 release. Were they seen as goofy? Were they startling? How many friends walked out of the same theatre with mixed reactions to the bold new offering from Lang or Murnau? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite showcasing genres which developed well after the films\u2019 debut, it is also easy to see how audiences might have appreciated the evening\u2019s soundtracks had they somehow been included with their original release. The music runs the gamut from classic country through post-rock through classical through reflective guitar and cello solos. Some of the theremin-heavy songs feel decidedly 60s, in the vein of the Tornados. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his final reflective spiel, the emcee notes how being remembered and celebrated 100 years post-release speaks to the power and endurance of films. I can\u2019t disagree. From the genuine horror of Hutter discovering Count Orlok sleeping in his coffin to the anguish of the monster as he destroys the laboratory, these films are filled with moments as genuinely moving as they are memorable – and made all the more so in this case by loving accompaniment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Paul Newsom The Park Theatre is not quite packed as Love You to Death\u2019s first film begins, yet the venue feels no less alive for that fact. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[1548,796],"class_list":["post-12476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-live-bait","tag-love-you-to-death","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12476"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12479,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476\/revisions\/12479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}