The Silence Before Bach (Die Stille vor Bach) (2007)

82% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
66% of users liked it
(375 ratings)

Looks at the profound relationship between image and music where the latter is not merely conceived as subsidiary to the image but as a subject of the narration in its own right. It springs from a previously defined musical structure, and the soundtrack feeds on works by J.S. Bach and two of Felix… More Looks at the profound relationship between image and music where the latter is not merely conceived as subsidiary to the image but as a subject of the narration in its own right. It springs from a previously defined musical structure, and the soundtrack feeds on works by J.S. Bach and two of Felix Mendelssohn's sonatas; a promenade through the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries led by the hand of J.S. Bach.

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Pere Portabella
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International

In Theaters: Dec 21, 2007 Wide
Studio: Film Forum

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
The Silence Before Bach is a movie in which to take refuge, and it abjures the summer heat of pop culture for a cool and lasting immersion in the miracles that people are and can create.
Jan Stuart, Newsday
The demolition of the music bio-pic as witnessed by Todd Haynes' I'm Not There and the parody Walk Hard continues robustly with this time-tripping melange from Spanish director Pere Portabella.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Provide[s] gorgeous lensing and art direction and some of the world's most beautiful music.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Like the music it celebrates, this is a film made in glory of the world.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Arguably stronger conceptually than visually, surreal mix of the unexpected and the banal is definitely not to everybody's taste. But the music is inarguably sublime.
J. Hoberman, Village Voice
At once cerebral film essay and unsweetened ear candy, Pere Portabella's The Silence Before Bach is nearly as tough to categorize as its maker.
Ted Fry, Seattle Times
The engaging enigma of The Silence Before Bach demonstrates an artistic wisdom that is as satisfying as it is challenging.
Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A dog watches its blind master tune a piano. It's only 10 minutes into The Silence Before Bach and already I am bored as that dog.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
Think of it strictly as a wonderful music video. Hey, Pink Floyd has a movie, so why not Bach?
Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
Driven solely by the filmmaker's prosaic associations. Portabella does not discover the composer through his music.
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
About as far away from a conventional composer biopic as Kraft's products are from real cheese.
Maitland McDonagh, Time Out New York
A slippery formal exercise of the kind that divides viewers into the enthralled and the infuriated.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
The film swings back through history with its own delicate meshing of enchantment and mystery, contemplating a planet whether before Bach or in our own time 'of emptiness with no resonance.'
David Phelps, Slant Magazine
Twaddle pitched somewhere between a music appreciation class and a modernist experiment attesting to art's ability to ennoble the quotidian.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"The Silence Before Bach" is a partially successful attempt at showing the journey that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750) has made from the 18th century to the present day, as displayed in a series of vignettes starting and ending with a… More
[font=Century Gothic]"The Silence Before Bach" is a partially successful attempt at showing the journey that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750) has made from the 18th century to the present day, as displayed in a series of vignettes starting and ending with a player piano. In fact, there are a wide variety of musical instruments used in this film including a harpsichord(which I've always liked the sound of), a kickass organ, a wind instrument, a harmonica and cellos played on a subway train. [/font] [font=Century Gothic]The journey started with Bach working as a cantor in a church in Leipzig, so it may not be a surprise that the one continuing thread throughout is the importance of religion in his work, even in this thankfully more secular age. For example, one character drives a truck cab decorated with Virgin Mary's on the side. While seamless transitions happen throughout, a graceful segue from one definition of passion to another is particularly of interest. But the one element missing is the creative spark. And if you say that it is divine, I will scream.[/font]