Larvae is a short film that has a running time of just under thirty minutes. Set in Turin, during 1909. Cesare Lombroso, the world-famous founder of the School of Criminal Anthropology, arrives at the isolated mansion of Lazar, an elderly illusionist. Lombroso, attracted to Spiritualism, challenges Lazar: to prove that the supernatural exists and that it may be the cause of a atrocious crime.
What could have unleashed the murderous fury in the young seminarian Tommaso and what binds him to the paranormal faculties of Lazar and his son Lorenzo? Is it illusionism or is there something real? The ancient and decadent house of Lazar hides many truths and Lombroso’s scientific vision will have to open to new perspectives.
The music for the film is the work of Francesco Cerrato, and for a movie that runs for just thirty minutes the Maestro has composed much music which itself runs for twenty-six minutes, and what gloriously affecting music it is. It is a powerful and commanding work that is dark, decadent, mysterious, and at times malevolent and formidable. The score is brimming with a richness that is purveyed via wonderfully thematic and expressive compositions.
The score is as far as I can tell fully symphonic and has to it an attractive and beguiling musical persona, the music being totally absorbing and haunting. The composers use of organ and thundering percussion which he fuses with brass and woods is breathtaking., plus he also utilises solo violin and cello which add a somber but melancholy air to the work. The melodies are infectious as well as entertaining to listen to as they contain a brooding atmosphere in which the music can be both hauntingly beautiful and intensely apprehensive and foreboding.
At times the score erupting into a maelstrom of swirling and driving elements, underlined by hissing strings that purvey darkness and a sense of dread. This is an accomplished work and one that you should check out, available on digital platforms.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 