The Man Who Sleeps - Live Rescore

The coolest film you’ve never heard of just got a mesmerising rescore from master musicians Animat.

The Man Who Sleeps (Un Homme Qui Dort) (Queysanne, 1974)

Based on a novel by genius writing innovator Georges Perec, The Man Who Sleeps turns its back on conventional narrative or dialogue instead telling its story through voiceover and stunning, inventive black and white cinematography.

Stunning too is the softened Texas accent of young American actress Shelley Duvall who’s English language version voice-over is an entrancing presence throughout the film. Kept intact by the musicians, Animat have melded Duvall’s voiceover with a new hypnotic, ambient electronic soundscape that fits perfectly with the pace and mood of the film.

“A hypnotic solo by its mute hero, a young man who decides to withdraw from the world and whose mental journal of his experience is confided to us by a girl's voice off-screen, Un Homme qui Dort is an astonishing tour de force. What distinguishes it from all those ventures in spiritual navel-gazing is that his decision to not-be is purely practical, and the parabola he traces from boredom to terror - as he gradually detaches himself to float free within an indefinable menace - is brilliantly conveyed by the other leading character in the film: the city of Paris” (Time Out)

The historic Regent Street Cinema in London’s West End offers the perfect location for this live event, and with permission for the screening and rescore personally granted by Director Bernard Queysanne, Animat must take the plaudits for propelling this forgotten cult classic film back in to the spotlight.

Watch the trailer on the listing page below...