Lokis. R?kopis profesora Wittembacha

Lokis. Rękopis profesora Wittembacha (Lokis. A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach,1970) is a Polish film directed by Janusz Majewski and is freely based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée. In its essence, a costume drama combined with psychological elements from (gothic and folklore) horror. It follows a professor travelling a long distance to research local written culture and old print. Amidst his travels, he is invited by a governess to visit her estate, where he stumbles upon mysterious events involving a countess presumably attacked by a werebear and shortly after having conceived a child, derived from the same animal and related to folklore.

Although Wojciech Kilar scored few horror films, he did convey portions of its psychological aspect in other works. Whereas Upior is a parody of vampires, Lokis concerns itself with a werebear, while the 1992 Dracula is a more traditional, still clichéd vampire feature film. There are a significant number of parallels to be drawn in between them in terms of music, from the expressive and atonal elements as well as the use of waltzes.

The opening of the film sets the mood with plucked strings indicating rhythm and punctuating accents, playful even, overlaid by atypical Kilerian lighter (and through other registers) strings, and ends the film on the same music as the professor boards a train and leaves, as he sees a trail of dead animals, including a bear. However, the opening music also includes the introduction of an eerie solo soprano, less expressive than in Dracula, which is extremely evocative.

Later on, the mysterious strings gain momentum through relatively louder, but sparse accents of both the percussion and the plucked bass strings section, which reoccur quite often, as well as a few more brief moments for the solo soprano. Given the nature of this folk horror, all their renditions allude mostly to perhaps incidental, but pertinent, short moments of estrangement regarding the behaviour of people, intercrossing with the mythical fear of the werebear and a disturbance of normal life. At times, the composer is overtly expressive through orchestral, dissonant power, but they are sparse. There is also the hypnotic 'whirling, dissonant ticking' idea from Upior returning, serving a similar incidental purpose.

Kilar wrote some excellent waltzes for Upior and Lokis, as well for a wealth of others. Even though the ballroom dances in Loki absorb limited time, they serve as an important illustration of normal life amongst the wealthy. However, the only waltz for Dracula, a variation on a theme, was unused in the film. The composer's waltz for the 1975 film Ziemia Obiecana remains his most memorable, but the one for Lokis is notable as well. In fact, it was tracked into the 1976 film Trędowata, which also contains an original score by the composer. The waltz in Lokis first appears in the playing between characters on a piano on screen, and quickly afterwards it is presented in full orchestral form as people dance, both expressing rural, aristocratic life and serving a transitional purpose regarding the first sign of blooming love between Julia and Count Szemiot.

There is a backstory to the love between the Count and Julia, first expressed as a witch predicts he could never marry her, underscored by orchestral, full-fleshed discomfort. Yet, through a connection in the ceremonial dance, they eventually marry. The wedding portends Julia's death by the werebear after the wedding through disconcerting organ music as the ceremony commences and concludes.

The most accomplished elements of the composer's intent are heard in music for the wedding and all related to the mythology of the werebear. Despite the uninteresting content of the film, Wojciech Kilar wrote a very good score.


(08-09-2025)