Shy People

With the intention of writing an article for the New York Times, a New York journalist sets off with her daughter for the swamplands of Louisiana. There she finds a widow in extreme poverty, living with her two sons and a daughter in nearly stone age conditions.

The film shows the collision of the modern "American way of life" with the behaviour patterns of a lifestyle rooted in nature. Both families become enmeshed in situations which are completely foreign to their normal way of life.

The often mysterious, mystical world of the wide, misty swamp landscape creates a fantastic setting.

Tangerine Dream composed and produced the music in 1987, in West Berlin. The director, Andrei Konchalovsky, had achieved world-wide recognition with his previous film, Runaway Train.

In his new film, Shy People, Konchalovsky wanted to create an extra dimension through the music. This would make his visuals more dynamic. What began for Tangerine Dream as a typical assignment then became a very complex and time consuming engagement -- the lengthiest of any of their works up to that time: composing and producing 84 minutes of music took two months.

Konchalovsky, himself a classically trained musician and conductor, placed the highest level of requirements on the technique and imagination of the musicians. A full workday from nine in the morning until 1 am in the night was not unusual. Just before the completition the director decided to allow Tangerine Dream to write the title music with only four days remained available until the music was required for the final mixing in LA. In a last ditch effort the band dispersed and hunted through various studios, agencies and addresses to come up with Jacquie Virgil, a black American singer who was able to optimally interpret the lyrics and music they had created.

With no more than three hours remaining before his flight, Konchalovsky had the finished masters in his hands! That's the Hollywood way of life.