F.W. Murnau's original vampire classic, NOSFERATU, returns on 8th June with improvised LIVE SCORE from the brilliant Hugo Max! Plus, Hugo Max takes on more Silent Classics, including Benjamin Christensen's HÄXAN on 18th May and 29th June, and F. W. Murnau’s FAUST on 25th May and 23rd June!
After mesmerising audiences over the last couple of years, while providing multiple stunning live scores to F.W. Murnau's 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, NOSFERATU, the multi-talented composer, violinist, violist, and pianist Hugo Max returns for another soul-stirring live score to go along with Murnau's original vampire classic on 8th June!
These performances are part of Hugo Max’s second UK Tour this April – July accompanying a daring triptych of films from F.W. Murnau with live solo viola. Two of these films will screen here at The Prince Charles Cinema. For all the latest updates, be sure to follow @hugo_max_scores_silents on Instagram.
NOSFERATU is known for being the first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and was recently remade into a smash-hit from director and friend of the PCC, Robert Eggers! Shot in an era when cinema was still finding its footing, NOSFERATU was a cinematic marvel that pushed the boundaries of expressionism and storytelling. The film's use of shadows, eerie landscapes, and Max Schreck's Count Orlok created an atmosphere of dread that continues to captivate audiences to this day.
Hugo Max will also return to the Prince Charles Cinema on 18th May and 29th June, with a film that debuted back in January to an ecstatic response. Showing from a new restoration, Hugo will perform an improvised live score during Benjamin Christensen's 1922 silent masterpiece, HÄXAN. A series of eerie vignettes depict images of sorcery and evil on screen, from representations of occultism and religious hypocrisy to a chilling witch hunt in the Middle Ages. Directed by and starring Benjamin Christensen as the Devil, Häxan mixes documentary and fiction forms to create an unsettling brew that prefigures everything from Gothic horror to the found footage film.
Due to the success of our previous Hugo Max Silent Film Live Score performances of both NOSFERATU, HAXAN, THE LODGER & THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI, we’ve expanded the repertoire even further and are very excited to announce a screening of another F.W Murnau classic, his 1926 adaptation of FAUST.
Hugo himself has this to say about the screening:
“F. W. Murnau’s 1926 reimagining of the Faustian legend narratively draws upon the dramas of Goethe and Marlowe while blazing with a singular visual power. Epic in scale and breathtakingly fantastical, Faust is propelled by tragic urgency and romance. An ode to the triumphant power of love, this film explores themes that permeate and unite Murnau’s oeuvre. My viola soundtrack combines the expressionistic gestures of central European music from the 1920s with references to the treasure trove of Faust-inspired compositions”
Let this daring silent film masterwork into your life with a beautiful live score accompaniment from Hugo Max on 25th May and 23rd June. GET TICKETS HERE!
