Perhaps better known for their dark haunting scores to Vampire classics such as Faust and Nosferatu, The Ang Fang Quartet have brought their composing talents to the silent comedy. At this year’s festival, they present an encore performance (it has played at Fringe and MICF in years past amongst other outings) of their score of Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 film “The Gold Rush”.
The film itself his highly amusing on it’s own and has retained it laughs despite it’s age. It’s the story of Chaplin’s Little Tramp character as he braves the cold Alaskan Gold Fields. He faces storms, bears, bullies and romantic infatuation.
The Fangsters build upon this filmic base to further bring the action to life through their orchestration. Scenes of tension, sadness and joy were expertly scored to emphasize the mood. They also knew when to bring in the wacky music for the many sequences of slapstick that populated the film.
In an interesting twist, several contemporary songs were slipped into the score for added comedic effect. In the Monte Carlo Dance Hall scenes, dance numbers such as “Stayin’ Alive”, “Funky Town” and even “Popcorn” got a giggle out of me as they were given a bit of a hillbilly or polka treatment. Modern songs were also used in the more atmospheric sense. In particular the swirling introduction to the Door’s “Riders on the Storm” was used to fantastic effect in the first storm scene.
The guys also did a great job inserting sound effects at appropriate moments. The slapstick action was accentuated well with slide whistle, snare drum and duck call. Additionally, the slide whistle and kazoo were used hilariously as cartoonish dialogue in a couple of scenes ala Charlie Brown’s adult characters. The scene with the supposedly drunk old miner singing Auld Lang Syne was a classic.
The print of the film used was a DVD copy and by the occasional interference, it appeared to have been transferred from a VHS copy. While this may upset the film snobs who only want to view it on film stock, it was fine. The only gripe would be that the screen is positioned quite high above the band on the stage. It would be quite a problem if you were sitting towards the front, so sitting further back is probably the best bet.
For booking details go to The Ang Fang Quartet present Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush