South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Kozintsev and Trauberg’s Silent Film, “The New Babylon”

Sponsored by the Griffith Education Fund.

Live performance of the original score by Dmitr Shostakovich.

The South Dakota Symphony presents this timeless classic with live music. The film is set in the spring of 1871 during the time of the Paris Commune and immediately after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Louise is employed as a salesperson in a wholesale store in Paris named “The New Babylon.” She is involved in the Commune, against which Jean, a young man from the countryside with no political affiliations, has to fight as a soldier in the army controlled by the French government. Louise and Jean are in love with each other although they are on opposing sides, but their love has no place in a time of political turmoil. At the end of the film, Jean is ordered to dig a grave for Louise, who has been sentenced to death by the court.

Cultural historian Joseph Horowitz will also be on hand to provide introductory remarks.