Orlac, the noted strangler, loses his hands in a train wreck; he receives a transplant of a pair of hands belonging to a recently-executed concert pianist. Then he begins a strange journey of redemption, giving concerts and making recordings. “'L'Isle Joyeuse' has never sounded so convincing as when played by a strangler”, one critic writes. “He wrings a strange passion from Debussy”, etc.

However, our movie will need some sort of peripeteia to be whole. Either: a) He woke up and it was just a dream; or z) He is in another train wreck, this time only his hands survive. Released from the hospital, the two hands tour the country with a novelty act and drum up support for better train safety regulations.

Oh. Probably everyone has heard that “L'Isle Joyeuse” is inspired by a painting of Watteau, but few are aware that Jersey could also be the “Isle” that Debussy was thinking about.

Labels: Cinema