Wednesday was Day 13 of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. It was a day of contrasts, the concrete and the surreal.
- Pianomania, Austria. This documentary follows a year in the professional life of Stefan Knüpfer, a piano technician and tuner who works in concert halls and venues in Austria. (MSPIFF link) His pursuit of the ideal piano sound is truly geeky, in large part because “ideal” depends on the pianist, the music, the piano (we learn quite a bit about Steinway serial numbers #109 and #245), the piano’s many parts, and the concert hall. Near the end, we get to see the music duo Igudesman & Joo (of “Rachmaninoff Had Big Hands” fame) work with Knüpfer on some new jokes. Recommended. Not showing again.
- Presque Isle, USA. Weird, dreamy, surreal, dreamy, what-the-****, arty. And a bit cool at the same time. Skip. Not showing again.
