1969 German opera
Rating: 14/20 (Jen: 8/20)
Plot: Globolinks, spiky ballerinas and warbly chess pieces, have attacked, and some students returning home from a field trip and their chaperone have to find a way to survive.
It was really wild to watch something made by people who felt legitimate opera music/singing (at least it seemed legitimate to my untrained ears) and your typical psychedelic effects from the late-60s was a good idea. Things start out with a frantic newscast announcing the arrival of these Globolinks, and then there's a good five minutes of images of these creatures swimming around with all this blooping and bleeping electronic music. It's 1960's avant-garde, the kind of stuff German kids must really like. From there, things normalize, that is, if opera has ever seemed normal to you. The children and Tony, the chaperone, discover that the monsters are allergic to music before we move to the only other setting for the movie--the principal's office. A quartet of professors and a contaminated professor try to figure out where their students are before venturing out with some instruments. It's all so delightfully absurd, the sort of thing you watch and don't even believe it's actually real. It's all very silly even when a message about the importance of the arts, especially music, attempts to creep to the surface. However, there are some really beautiful moments, including one with a lone student walking through a weird landscape while playing a violin. That and the odd appearance of those Globolinks whenever they're around make this worth checking out, even if opera music isn't your thing.
Actually, I'm not sure it's really worth checking out for most people. I imagine the amount of people who would get as much of a kick out of this as I did would be pretty small.
An even smaller percentage is going to be as aroused as I was watching this.
My wife, by the way, did not like this at all.
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