November 20, 2019• byMichael Strangeways

We refer to films of a certain era, made before they had synchronized sound, as “silent films” but of course they weren’t actually silent. They featured live accompaniment at the cinemas, by someone playing a piano, or if you were in a fancy movie palace, with a monstrous Wurlitzer organ. The “silent” films were brought to life by these performances, something lost if you just watch them without it.

Fortunately, there are special screenings in Seattle that feature terrific films from the “silent” era on the big screen and with the appropriate live performances. They’ve been doing regular programs of these screenings for years at Seattle Theatre Group’s Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle but once in while other groups also produce these kinds of events including the Seattle International Film Festival which is getting ready for their own very special event this Thursday, November 21st.

It’s for the 1933 Japanese film DRAGNET GIRL by acclaimed director Yasujirō Ozu and it’s a dreamy noir-y, gangster film about Joji, a career criminal who falls for Kazuko, the sister of another gangster and the jealousy that causes Joji’s main gal, Tokiko. If it sounds a tiny bit like a plot line in the American film Scarface….well, that’s just what cinéastes like to call a “homage”! (Or, a coincidence).

This special screening of the film will feature a new score written and performed by the musical cooperative, Coupler headed by musician Ryan Norris along with Rodrigo Avendano and Rollum Haas. Their work on Dragnet Girl premiered at a screening in Nashville in 2018 which was followed by an East Coast tour with an engagement at NYC’s Lincoln Center.

Seattle gets to check it out Thursday, November 21 at 6:30 pm, a ridiculously terrible time to start an event (in my not very humble opinion) since it means rushing about during rush hour to get up to the Egyptian on Capitol Hill but…if you love cool cinema events and classic Japanese films and “electro-ambient” music, you WILL find a way to do it. Go HERE to snag tickets.

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About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.