Stéphane Scharlé
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
What happens when a centuries-old French silent film meets a futuristic soundtrack? The Édouard Michelin Auditorium at Alliance Française de Madras will transform into a space where cinema and sound collide this weekend. French percussionist and composer Stéphane Scharlé brings Paris Qui Dort (The Crazy Ray), René Clair’s 1924 silent sci-fi classic, to life through a live soundtrack performed entirely on his self-created augmented drums.
Set in Paris, the film follows Albert, a night watchman who wakes atop the Eiffel Tower to find the city mysteriously immobilised by a mad scientist’s ray. What unfolds is a city without motion, time or consequence, explored through images from the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde and the Opéra Garnier. Restored in 4K by the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation, this early work of science fiction in French cinema still retains its beauty and social satire — a reflection on freedom, power and human conscience in times of conflict.
The augmented drums blend acoustic drumming with loops, electronic textures, and improvisation, turning the centuries-old film into a sensory experience. The screening of Paris Qui Dort, a surreal black-and-white masterpiece, is often hailed as the first French science fiction film. “When the film was first shown a hundred years ago, in 1925, there was no sound — the technology simply didn’t exist yet. Back then, musicians often performed live alongside the screen, and sometimes even narrators would explain what was happening on screen,” says Stéphane.
“The augmented drum is an instrument that I created a few years ago — it lets me play regular drums, but also launch many electronic sounds, loops, and effects at the same time. So I can basically create a whole orchestral soundtrack during the film. Every time I compose the soundtrack, I do it differently because I like to improvise,” he added. He weaves a soundscape that draws on minimal electro, improvisational jazz, and cinematic ambience, capturing the frozen world of Paris in the 1920s.
A founding member of jazz collective OZMA, Scharlé has performed over 600 concerts in over 45 countries. His foray into solo performance marks a new chapter. “In France, cine-concerts are quite common. I am happy to bring this to the Indian audience, which is different from my usual jazz quintet.”
The evening is presented by the French Institute in India and the Alliance Française network.
On November 7, from 7.30pm onwards at Édouard Michelin Auditorium, Alliance Française de Madras, Nungambakkam. Entry free.
Published – November 04, 2025 03:06 pm IST