Pierrot Lunaire

Arnold Schönberg's ‘Pierrot lunaire’ is considered one of the most innovative musical works of the 20th century: commissioned in 1912 by the avant-garde stage artist Albertine Zehme, the atonal piece borrows its text from Albert Giraud's cycle of 50 poems of the same name from 1884. Bruce LaBruce transports Schönerberg's innovative work to the streets of Berlin and into a queer story about longing and love: a young woman who regularly disguises herself as a man falls in love and seduces a young girl who has no idea that her lover is of the same sex. When the girl introduces her new boyfriend to her father, he becomes sceptical, uncovers the deception and forbids the lovers to see each other again. In an angry frenzy, the ‘boy’ develops an adventurous plan to prove his ‘manliness’ to his lover's father. Conductor Premil Petrović has reinterpreted Schönberg's melodramatic music for the film's soundtrack. A visionary film, honoured with the Special Jury Teddy Award 2014!