A portrait of Meredith Monk, the New York avantgarde icon who inspired Philip Glass and David Byrne.
You might be familiar with Meredith Monk’s music without knowing it. This key representative of the New York avantgarde scene is featured on the soundtracks for The Big Lebowski, True Detective, and Baby Reindeer. However, fame did not come to Monk—a composer, vocalist, choreographer, and interdisciplinary artist—straight away. Her work was, and continues to be, too unusual. Her vocal improvisations sound like ancient spells or messages from the future. Critics denounced her early 1960s performances as a disgrace to the art of dance and her music as horrifying sounds that «made my cats bite each other.» But, having been bold enough to have remain true to herself, today Monk is in her 80s and an acclaimed creator. In this film she helps the directors assemble a colorful and inspiring kaleidoscope of her life, sharing her childhood memories and videos from her archive and inviting them to her loft in Tribeca and to a rehearsal of her new performance. They, in turn, complement the movie with comments by her admirers and collaborators, from David Byrne and Björk to Philp Glass.
The film will be screened in English with Russian subtitles.
Monk in Pieces
Directors: Billy Shebar, David C. Roberts
USA, German, France, 2025. 94 min. 18+
