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Trying to find an obscure film...

Earth

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Probably one of the most unusual films that has never left me, the type where you've wandered back in at 3AM, put on the TV and some weird film is playing...
Or maybe it was a TV program, anyway I think it was made in the eighties, maybe the nineties that it was produced:

The general pitch of the film is about a retired rockstar trying to communicate with whales using his studio gear to send out a call. He lives in a lush pad in decline, it's in an elevated coastal location, there are younger parties involved, there's struggle and all the stuff you might expect in pursuits of the seemingly impossible.

No, it's not Star Trek IV, but may have been inspired it.

If you know what that film is, or what it's called, I'd love to know...

This thread is dedicated to obscure films as unique as this, with music at their core... and if we can ease off war/politics/religion/or AI, it should make for an interesting thread.
 
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Claude thinks it’s this:

That’s Whale Music (1994), a Canadian film directed by Richard J. Lewis, based on Paul Quarrington’s award-winning novel. Every detail lines up: a burned-out rock star, Desmond Howl (Maury Chaykin), who has retreated to a run-down manor where, amid the decay, he’s installed a state-of-the-art recording studio and devotes himself to a symphonic piece for whales — until a young woman on the run from the law invades the estate . It was shot around the coastline of B.C.’s Howe Sound , which explains the elevated Pacific coastal setting you remember.





The Desmond Howl character is loosely inspired by Brian Wilson, and the original songs were done by the Rheostatics. So you were close on the era — early nineties rather than eighties, but it very much has that hazy late-night-TV quality you describe.
 
RIP r/tipofmytongue
Yeah!
"It" even threatens forums like these... and even age-old socializing called 'sharing'. :(

ADD: So, I realized I should give a Like to OP, because he shared!
 
"It" directly threatens the mental capacity and spiritual development of our species

not to mention our physical survival

IMO
 
#2
"Whale Music (1994)"

That's it!
Thanks man. Amazing seeing it again. Can't be many unique films out there...
...still, they weren't brave enough to cut off the narrative after the 'reunion' and just let it run it's course, that would have been really interesting.
...an ace glimpse of what creativity is and why most just don't get it.

It's on You Tube in full
 
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Here's another from passing encounters with a TV long ago:

It's a 1960's/ 1970's film/TV prog, lead actor possibly Michael Lonsdale playing a character who lives in remote Alpine/ Swiss type cabin/ location.
His role is to sit beside a machine at a certain time of day, that produces questions about the fate of the world that must be answered with in a given time frame...

would love to know...
 
No war/politics/religion/or AI please.

#11 Haven't seen that before, excellent suggestion
So 50% of films ruled out right away? :)
 
Not specifically about music, but sound design, and most definitely better to watch in surround sound if possible...
(As are most films obvs.)
 
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#19 Yeah, perfectly aligned for this thread. That diminutive sound effects guy who finds himself in Italy and all the bizarre goings on.
 
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