Short Fuse (1992)

Sonbert was also a noted opera critic and he frequently theorized about the relationship of film to other art forms in particular music He analogized the notes chords and tone clusters of music to the progression of shots in film The shot was the building block upon which Sonbert created the musical rhythms of his films Sonbert published excerpts from his featurefilm screenplay adaptation of Strauss Capriccio his favorite opera in 1986 Short Fuse completed six years later can be seen as a return to Capriccios themes including Nazism and eroticism beauty and force detail and structure William Graves Underscoring a question raised by Capricciowhether in opera the music or the libretto takes priorityShort Fuse is replete with a soundtrack that counterpoints the films visuals prompting the viewer to ask whether the music or the imagery predominates Jon Gartenberg