There was a palpable anticipation as the house lights fades and hush fell across the auditorium.
Asian Dub Foundation’s back-lit silhouettes shuffled onto the stage to an impromptu round of applause. Within moments ADF’s sonic onslaught kicked off as the closing credits of THX 1138 rewound to their kick-ass signature dub.
This is a tried and tested format for ADF. La Haine and Battle of Algiers were proven successes and garnered critical acclaim, this was their eagerly awaited hat trick; so audience expectations were high.
But there was nothing easy or safe about this project.
George Lucus’ film made in 1971 was a bleak dystopian fantasy and had inevitably dated. It was strangely simultaneously both futuristic and a retrospective!
It was also ADF’s first English language film, already heavily populated by Walter Murch’s celebrated electronic score. By consequence, without the help of sub-titles, the nuances of meaning carried by dialogue occasionally got lost.
Poor old THX 1138 – the worse it got for this protagonist the better it got for us. The beats escalated in direct response to his deterioration.
As Lucas descended into his cinematic expression of nihilism, fantasy and anti-disestablishmentarianism our musical experience peaked - right up to the moment of narrative climax when THX 1138’s liberation, into the gorgeous glowing golden break of day meant that the gig, sadly was over.
Four stars
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