I was really looking forward to the Kino DVD of The Holy Mountain (1926) which I assumed would feature the original music score by Edmund Meisel.
Instead of the grandeur of Meisel, however, Kino treats us to a monotonous, half-baked and often totally inappropriate offering from Aljoscha Zimmerman.
Admittedly, even Meisel may have found it difficult to set Leni Reifenstahl's repetitive posturing (you couldn't call it "dancing") to music, but even a dim reflection of the stark, deadly beauty of the Swiss and Bavarian Alps should have been possible.
Not so, however. The score manages to undermine the luster of everything it touches. An oft-told noirish tale of a love triangle twisted to the point of dementia, The Holy Mountain serves not only as a scenic backdrop but as a murderous participant.
(The Kino DVD rates 10/10 for its superlative preservation of the original's color-tinted photography, but somewhat less for the failure of its music score).
Instead of the grandeur of Meisel, however, Kino treats us to a monotonous, half-baked and often totally inappropriate offering from Aljoscha Zimmerman.
Admittedly, even Meisel may have found it difficult to set Leni Reifenstahl's repetitive posturing (you couldn't call it "dancing") to music, but even a dim reflection of the stark, deadly beauty of the Swiss and Bavarian Alps should have been possible.
Not so, however. The score manages to undermine the luster of everything it touches. An oft-told noirish tale of a love triangle twisted to the point of dementia, The Holy Mountain serves not only as a scenic backdrop but as a murderous participant.
(The Kino DVD rates 10/10 for its superlative preservation of the original's color-tinted photography, but somewhat less for the failure of its music score).