SHORT FUSE (US, 1992, Warren Sonbert)
/SHORT FUSE is informed by [Sonbert’s] awareness of his own mortality following his HIV diagnosis… The opening of the film explodes with a sea of turbulent emotions, underscored by the gripping sound track from Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto. Shifting musical passages collide against images of leisure, war, and protest. —Tate Modern
STILL: WARREN SONBERT’S SHORT FUSE (1992). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.
As noted by Jon Gartenberg: “In addition to his work as a filmmaker and film critic, Warren Sonbert was also a noted opera critic, and he frequently theorized about the relationship of film to other art forms — in particular, music. He analogized the notes, chords, and tone clusters of music to the progression of shots in film. The shot was the building block upon which Sonbert created the musical rhythms of his films. Sonbert published excerpts from his feature film screenplay adaptation of Strauss' CAPRICCIO, his favorite opera, in 1986. SHORT FUSE, completed six years later, can be seen as a return to Capriccio's themes, including “Nazism and eroticism, beauty and force, detail and structure” (William Graves). Underscoring a question raised by CAPRICCIO — whether in opera the music or the libretto takes priority — SHORT FUSE is replete with a soundtrack that counterpoints the film's visuals, prompting the viewer to ask whether the music or the imagery predominates.”
In SHORT FUSE, an undercurrent of rage seeps through the cracks of its ebullient surface. —Steven Holden, critic
STILL: WARREN SONBERT’S SHORT FUSE (1992). SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.
SHORT FUSE
(US, 1992)
Director: Warren Sonbert
- 37 minutes
- 16mm
- Color and B&W
- Sound
Distribution Format/s: DSL/Downloadable 1080p .mp4 file on server
Published By: GME
Institutional Price: $250
To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.