Bochum Welt, aka Gianluigi Di Costanzo, combines day-time toiling in Silicon Valley with nocturnal recordings for the Aphex Twin’s Rephlex label. His music has been described as ‘gloriously melodic lo-fi ditties’, ‘plastic noises’, ‘a sci-fi love story’ and ‘mid-pace electronica’ (Work that thesaurus NME!). A revolutionary games accessory, produced by Nintendo in 1985, inspired the title of his latest album, R.O.B (Robotic Operating Buddy). Among his credits is a remix of Paola & Chiara’s single ‘2nd Life,’ which reached number four in the Italian charts. For more information visit MySpace or the Bochum Welt website. Below, Gianluigi Di Costanzo discusses his 10 favourite movies. Interview by Nick Dutfield.
1- Vertigo (1958)
I love Hitchcock and Vertigo in particular. When I was in San Francisco I spent a night in Nob Hill, in an old hotel where Vertigo was shot. I’ve visited the Psycho set in LA too. That was so well maintained. Bernard Herrmann’s music for these films is intense.
2- Tron (1982)
This is blazingly colourful and geometrically intense. The plot involves the characters Flynn and Tron trying to out-manoeuvre the Master Controller program that holds them captive in the equivalent of a gigantic, infinitely challenging computer game. It may have been made by Disney in 1982 but it’s still visually impressive and I love Wendy Carlos’s moog soundtrack.
3- Giant (1956)
The horizon-to-horizon plain with a lonely, modest mansion dropped in the middle – it’s so striking. It matches the scale of this story with three generations of Texans who love, swagger, connive and clash together. It’s James Dean’s last film. Last summer I spent some time at the Chateau Marmont in LA where James Dean hopped in through a window to audition for Rebel Without A Cause.
4- The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather is one of those rare experiences that feel perfectly right from beginning to end – almost as if everyone involved was born to do it. Marlon Brando played against the author Mario Puzo’s conception of the patriarch Vito Corleone. Time has certainly proven the actor right. An actress friend of mine worked on The Godfather. I love to listen to her Coppola film stories while we drink Coppola’s wine – I visited his vineyard in Napa Valley and picked up some good bottles.
5- Mulholland Drive (2001)
If there was such a thing as an epic horror-soap, this is what it would look like. Many established David Lynch motifs are in place, most of them summoned from one corner of the 50s or another (the innocent blonde, Los Angeles corruption and ambition) to create his voyeuristic universe of desire. I love to drive from Mulholland to Malibu at sunset.
6- Universal Studios Classic Monster Collection
This is a collection of eight iconic titles in the ‘Universal Horror’ pantheon from the 1930s and 1940s. Each DVD comes with original poster art and the films have all been significantly restored.
7- The Gate to the Mind’s Eye (1994)
This is a computer animation extravaganza. Thomas Dolby’s incredible score is one of my favourites.
8- Back to the Future – The Trilogy (1985-1990)
I tried the Back to the Future Ride at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles, it was so much fun. I hope that the recent fire at the studios didn’t ruin it. Robert Zemeckis, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd changed the future of the adventure movie genre with these films. I was having breakfast a few months ago at a table in Hollywood and I caught Christopher Lloyd’s eye. I was distracted so I focused on him for a couple of seconds before I realised it was him – he just watched me, like an interrogation, with that classic Doc look!
9- High Fidelity (2000)
This is a hilarious homage to the music scene. The central character Rob has to face the undeniable fact that he’s growing up. Together with the offbeat clerks who inhabit his shop he expounds on the intricacies of life and song while they all try to have successful adult relationships. Jack Black is so funny.
10- Metropolis (1927)
When Fritz Lang made this in 1927 he must have used contemporary Modernist and Art Deco architecture as the blueprint for his designs in the film. It was made in Germany in the Babelsberg studios.