I was disappointed with this "film" for many reasons. First, it was impossible to understand the interviews with Leon Theremin. The version I watched had no English subtitles, so most of the last third of this "film" was useless. Also, they interviewed a woman with short, brown hair that spoke Russian with no subtitles. Another problem is that most of these people are not introduced or have their names on the screen. I had no idea who these people were and why they were being interviewed. (My opinion is the director didn't know why these people were being interviewed either.) Anyway, the last third of this "film" just drags on and on because you don't who the people are, and you can't understand what they're saying. It's so bad, it's really annoying.Another problem is the look and feel of this "film". It was made in the early 90's, but has the look and feel of a 70's documentary. It appears that the director had no preconceived plan of what he wanted, so he went out and filmed all this footage and then tried to make a story out of it when he got back to the editing suite. I've worked on documentaries, and that's NOT how you should do it. The director had 15-20 years to improve upon the look of his "film", but did not. This leads me to think that he was very inexperienced. The "film" looks very amateurish and dated. Is it all bad? No. The first 2/3 are fairly interesting and tell a good (if disjointed) story of Theremin and his inventions. I loved the performances by Clara Rockmore. They were moving and beautiful. All the archive footage was pretty cool. And Brain Wilson's interview is something you just have to experience for yourself - it's classic! I also enjoyed the interviews with Robert Moog - very enlightening. All in all, this is a decent "film" (God, I hate it when they say "A Film by ______" in the credits. It sounds so pompous!) But, it suffers from a lack of direction which makes the last third so bad, it's painful. Plus, we can't understand what happened after Theremin was kidnapped and brought back to Russia. It's really frustrating.

THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY is a documentary on both the Theremin, the instrument, and Prof. Leon Theremin, the inventor. The film follows both through a strange sequence of events and interweaves these stories with those influenced by the machine and the man. Some of the interviewees include Clara Rockman, a virtuoso Theremin player, and one time love of Prof. Theremin. Robert Moog, who went on to create the massive Moog synth--and it turns out, who started out by building Theremins himself. Nicolas Slonimsky, a composer who studied the work of Prof. Theremin. And Brian Wilson, which brings me to my first problem with the film: Even though Wilson is amusing with his burned out rambling, his interview goes on far to long and adds little to the flow of the story. I can see why the director, Steven M. Martin, wanted to use this footage, however it is obvious that Wilson can neither play the instrument nor knew what one was until Phil Spector brought it to him. I would have much rather seen more about Bernard Herrmann's score for THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, which, sadly, has not had the lasting impact of "Good Vibrations". Anyway... Well it turns out that at one point midway through his life, Prof. Theremin was kidnapped by the KGB and brought back to Russia. Second problem: those shadowy years are explained by Theremin himself, however being in his mid-nineties and speaking broken English. It is very hard to tell what happened and when, although some other sources flesh it out to a certain degree. Subtitles or a better microphone would have helped. He apparently was involved with electronic listening devices and received an award from Lenin himself. Heady stuff for a single man's journey through life. Although, the film remains too aloof to capture the whole scope of Theremin's story.That is not to say that the film does not have some great moments. The scenes of the elderly Russian inventor wandering, alone, through the busy streets of an urban sprawl are haunting and sad. And simply to witness Rockman performing on the instrument is incredible, the way the smallest movement to her fingers creates an unique sound. I was familiar with the story before I saw the film, but it did not shed much light on the questions I had. It is a good film for someone who has never even heard of the Theremin before, but I felt it fell short of it's promise of really delving deep into the story and casting light on corners that will more than likely remain shrouded with gloom. 6/10.

A film about Professor (Theo?) Theramin, inventor of the Theramin. Includes a very bizarre interview with "Founder of the Beach Boys" Brian Wilson, who rants for six or seven solid minutes about how people liked his song "Good Vibrations" and also about a lot of things that don't make much sense......"Teenagers..... the children of God" (?!?) Also features some pretty good music, but not a great documentary for non-music fans.

The story of Leon Theremin does not require more than 60 minutes. That is the hurdle this film tries to get around by spending way too much time talking to those whose lives have crossed paths with Theremin or his device. Theremin himself is barely intelligible, mumbling on about his recollections that have already been explained by the filmmakers. The use of the theremin in 50's sci-fi and horror films is glossed over and the film spends no more than a few minutes talking about this famous application of the musical instrument.I love documentaries and Theremin seemed like one of those offbeat documentaries that I so love (Errol Morris'), but it is merely a pretender. Truth be told I caught myself skipping through the last few minutes of the film because it just DRAGS on and on and on. Not recommended.