Stephan Graf v. Bothmer: THE LOST WORLD

Bothmer's archaic film score on the CineTronium seems to bring the lost world to life. With elemental rhythms, massive soundscapes, and finely nuanced arcs of tension, he creates a musical cosmos beyond the realm of classic silent film accompaniment. Music and image merge into a primal, immediate live experience.

The contemporary press was almost breathless: "And now he [the Brontosaurus] races through the streets of the metropolis. Panic everywhere. Cars, streetcars in wild flight. Apocalyptic atmosphere... The prestissimo of this sequence of scenes is unprecedented, unique in American and European cinema."

"The Lost World" leads an expedition to a remote high plateau where prehistoric times have survived: dinosaurs, volcanoes, landslides, and chases.[H.O. Hoyt, 1925]

Besides the spectacular effects, the film is driven by the adventurous spirit of its time. The finale, in which a dinosaur is brought to London and wreaks havoc, demonstrates early cinema's fascination with spectacular destruction—and with the question of whether nature can truly be tamed.

Stephan v. BothmerThe young Willis H. O'Brien's dinosaurs are brought to life so brilliantly that he later goes on to animate King Kong. Steven Spielberg cites the film as the inspiration for his "Jurassic Park."