Oh, Christ, What's Coming?

Undoubtedly, listening to music is a visceral experience. For so many of us, we experience a full range of emotions and reactions upon listening to any given piece. That is one of the joys of music, whether it's a perfect 3-minute pop song like we talk about so much here or a 10-minute organ piece composed in 1931.

Filmmaker Paul Festa attempts to document the reactions of 31 people as they listen to the latter.

...the music is Olivier Messiaen's monumental organ work Apparition of the Eternal Church, which the composer wrote in 1931 when he was 24 years old. A devout Catholic and the organist at the Church of the Trinity in Paris, Messiaen wrote a piece that sends some listeners to the heights of spiritual and erotic ecstasy.

I'm thoroughly intrigued by this experimental documentary and kick myself for not thinking of it. Watch the trailer here. I have to admit that I was a bit irritated by the overwrought personalities of some of the cast, but I'm sure that's part of the experience. Perhaps I'll film a documentary of 31 people watching Apparition of the Eternal Church. Perhaps not.

Buy the DVD here.