Bad Boy Made Good: The Revival of George Antheil's 1924 Ballet Mécanique

Last weekend I had the honor to view the final cut of a film at the Doc Kountze Film Festival called Bad Boy Made Good. This film brought to life a piece of music that, when it was created in the 1920's, was ahead of its time. What the composer, George Antheil, had in mind when he created Ballet Mecanique, was not possible to deliver to audiences until the 1990s. The work is a composition which includes the following instruments: two grand pianos, three xylophones, four bass drums, and a tam-tam, 16 synchronized player pianos, sirens, bells and 3 airplane propellers. I sh** you not. It is truly a spectacle, er, spectacular piece.

This documentary includes the evolution of the project as well as the evolution of the life of George Antheil. I don't think that I can describe this with any justice, but because this topic was so far outside of my circle of knowledge, I was completely riveted by this film. I was surprised at what an important part of contemporary musical history (something that we don't hear much about in mainstream channels save for Aaron Copeland) that I felt genuinely enlightened. George's life (I feel so connected that I can call him by his first name) held a lot of the same struggles musicians have today and maybe even on a grander scale because of his ingeniousness. Every musician should see this film for obvious reasons and everyone else should catch a glimpse just to be inspired.

Two thumbs up!