Die Stille vor Bach

"The Silence Before Bach" is a melange of genres including narrative vignettes and documentary sequences on the theme of the transformational power of great music. At one moment his camera records a subway car packed with passionate cello-playing musicians; at another he is following a guide who gives tours of Leipzig dressed in full Bach regalia; and in a third he stages Felix Mendelssohn's discovery of sheet music for the 'St. Matthew Passion' used by a butcher to wrap meat. (Film Forum)