Very popular in the 1950s, documentary films had the advantage of taking viewers on a journey to wild and sometimes inhospitable lands, without leaving their armchairs. It was against this backdrop that Enrico Gras, Leonardo Bonzi and Giorgio Moser made THE LOST CONTINENT (ital : CONTINENTE PERDIDO). Winner of several awards, notably at Berlin and Cannes, this first Italian film in CinemaScope described a number of maritime scenes in South-East Asia, including the island of Borneo, its wildlife, its inhabitants and their customs.
As with documentary films of the period, music was an essential ingredient, and the richness of Lavagnino's music was linked to montages of different cultures, religions and dances. His score has an inherently dreamy quality, and in his best work he was less dependent on themes, and seemed to take pleasure in creating atmospheric music that plunged the listener (or filmgoer) into as deep a place as possible.
In this score, there are dreamlike hints, evocations of Polynesian ceremonial sounds, and slight allusions to other ethnic cultures (South Asian, Asian). There are also subtle tones, chimes and orchestrations, where the xylophone and shimmering flutes engage in a dreamy dialogue of tones, echoes and gentle clarinet rises.
THE LOST CONTINENT can easily be described as exotic, but the score is exceptional. The film was seemingly devoid of plot, and its three directors created sequences linked to the main theme of cultural links from a lost land bridge between Australia and Asia. Lavagnino's role was to bring all the scenes together in a mystical journey, propelling the listener on a long journey to the end of the world.
Негізгі бет Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - The Lost Continent
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