There are a lot of excellent articles appearing about SOMNILOQUIES, the Verena Paravel/Lucien Castaing-Taylor film featuring Michael Barr’s dream recordings of Dion McGregor (eg, Patrick Gamble’s review at CineVue). To read more, follow @TorporVigil on Twitter.
In his THR review of somniloquies, Jordan Mintzer refers to Dion McGregor’s slumbrous vocalizations as “a cross between the somnambulist poems of Robert Desnos and the standup of Lenny Bruce,” while invoking movie director David Lynch and painter Francis Bacon in reference to the film’s imagery. Nicely done.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/somniloquies-review-975922
Bert Rebhandl at Frieze Magazine offers insights into two Berlinale films by directors from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab—”probably the most influential ‘school’ in contemporary world cinema.” Somniloquies is “brilliant” and “haunting.”
https://frieze.com/article/desert-sleeps
Using a soundtrack that is pure vintage Dion McGregor—somnolent orations recorded in the 1960s by his roommate Michael Barr—Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor have created a film that has critics talking (and not just in their sleep). More reviews will be posted soon, but for now here’s David Jenkins article at Little White Lies.
http://lwlies.com/festivals/somniloquies-first-look-review/
Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor are premiering their Dion McGregor movie somniloqiuies today at the prestigious Berlinale international film festival in … where was it again … oh yes, Berlin! This project—featuring an all-Dion soundtrack—has been in the works for some time and it’s very exciting to see it emerge into the world. A glimpse can be had through the link in the photo above, along with a nicely synthesized account of Dion McGregor’s sleeptalking history (download “additional information” at the bottom of the page) .
An unreleased Dion McGregor somniloquy, recorded a half-century before Hillary Clinton’s run for the USA’s top office. (Click on image for audio.)
Thanks to David Robson for doing a splendid job sharing the story of legendary sleeptalker (and Torpor Vigil recording star) Dion McGregor!
The Dark Tales of the World’s Most Epic Sleep-Talker (BBC article by David Robson)
