I will be workin’ it at the Bell Museum this Saturday — New Year’s Eve! I hope to see you there.

Bash at the Bell: New Scores for New Year’s

Following last year’s unforgettable performances by Spaghetti Western and Dosh, Minnesota Film Arts (MFA), the Bell Museum of Natural History, and The Whole Music Club will ring in the New Year on December 31st with the second annual BASH AT THE BELL: NEW SCORES FOR NEW YEAR’S. This year, MFA unearths the 1960 Japanese near silent film The Naked Island and F.W. Murnau’s Tabu, A Story of the South Seas and pairs them with original scores by local favorites the Fog and Traditional Methods.

Kaneto Shindo’s The Naked Island, a near silent film made in 1960, was shot on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in southwest Japan. The Naked Island tells the story of a small family unit, the only inhabitants of an arid, sun-baked island. Daily chores, captured as a series of cyclical events, result in a hypnotizing and beautiful film that harkens back to the silent era. The film’s stark cinematography will be accompanied by the minimalist soundscapes of Minneapolis’ The Fog. Combining dreamy suspended keyboard noises and sedately grooving acoustic guitar, the Fog’s sound will shed new light on this award-winning gem from one of Japan’s unknown masters.

Tabu, A Story of the South Seas brought F.W. Murnau and pioneering documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty together to create the last film of the silent era. Also Murnau’s last work, Tabu is a tale of forbidden love between a young native fisherman and an island maiden. Murnau suggested that the film was about the way men feel compelled to create tragedies when life goes too smoothly. Twin Cities beloved Hip-Hop group Traditional Methods will bring their raw and instinctive rhythms to this timeless classic of the silver screen.

Sound for the event will be provided by The Whole Music Club. A New Year’s Eve Bash hosted by the Bell Museum will follow in the museum’s historic diorama halls, with complimentary food and drink provided, plus music, and films from Minnesota Film Arts’ Search & Rescue archive.

Doors for the event open at 7pm with Tabu, A Story of the South Seas screening at 7:30pm and The Naked Island starting at 9:30pm. Tickets to the screening are $15 general / $12 MFA and Bell Museum members. The Bell Auditorium is the nation’s only dedicated year-round non-fiction film screen and is located at 10 Church Street SE in Minneapolis inside the Bell Museum of Natural History. More information can be found at www.mnfilmarts.org/bell or by calling 612.331.7563.