BOD OBNOVY
RESTORE POINT — TEASER
A world where murder can be reversed still has to feel like it costs something. That was the unifying emotion I wanted the score to carry from beginning to end.
The film moves fast between contrasting places, emotions and people, and the score had to hold all of it together without becoming one flat colour. It is built from synthesizers, sampled metal instruments, a live orchestra and abstract acoustic sources closer to industrial noise than to music — the machines carry the world, the orchestra carries the people in it. In the few places written to reach the audience directly, voices rise above the instruments and the score stops hiding. Getting all of it to live next to the sound design instead of fighting it was the hardest and most rewarding part of the work.
The metal instruments were not instruments at all. They are eight sculptures by the Bulgarian sculptor Martian Tabakov, sampled and turned into a playable set — objects that were never built to make music, giving the score a metallic voice that exists nowhere else.
The electronic layer draws on the architecture of instruments that shaped the sound of science fiction: the Yamaha CS-80, the Moog modular, the ARP 2600 and the Synclavier. Most of them exist today only in a handful of working units, or as faithful software recreations — which is how they entered this score, and in that form I could push them further than the originals would allow. They were chosen for what they carry with them. The CS-80 and the ARP belong to the sound of the future as it was imagined decades ago — in a film about reversing death, that memory of an older future is part of the meaning.
The live parts were recorded in the largest music studio at Czech Television, Kavčí Hory in Prague. Players came from several local ensembles: a full string section, alto and bass flute carrying the darkest melodic lines, and contrabassoon for the lowest rhythmic accents and sub-bass weight.
For the teaser I recomposed Ode to Joy. For the trailer, an old Czech folk song. Both were written exclusively for this film.
Directed by Robert Hloz. Produced by Jan Kallista, Film Kolektiv Prague. Released autumn 2023. Available on Netflix and VOD.
The film moves fast between contrasting places, emotions and people, and the score had to hold all of it together without becoming one flat colour. It is built from synthesizers, sampled metal instruments, a live orchestra and abstract acoustic sources closer to industrial noise than to music — the machines carry the world, the orchestra carries the people in it. In the few places written to reach the audience directly, voices rise above the instruments and the score stops hiding. Getting all of it to live next to the sound design instead of fighting it was the hardest and most rewarding part of the work.
The metal instruments were not instruments at all. They are eight sculptures by the Bulgarian sculptor Martian Tabakov, sampled and turned into a playable set — objects that were never built to make music, giving the score a metallic voice that exists nowhere else.
The electronic layer draws on the architecture of instruments that shaped the sound of science fiction: the Yamaha CS-80, the Moog modular, the ARP 2600 and the Synclavier. Most of them exist today only in a handful of working units, or as faithful software recreations — which is how they entered this score, and in that form I could push them further than the originals would allow. They were chosen for what they carry with them. The CS-80 and the ARP belong to the sound of the future as it was imagined decades ago — in a film about reversing death, that memory of an older future is part of the meaning.
The live parts were recorded in the largest music studio at Czech Television, Kavčí Hory in Prague. Players came from several local ensembles: a full string section, alto and bass flute carrying the darkest melodic lines, and contrabassoon for the lowest rhythmic accents and sub-bass weight.
For the teaser I recomposed Ode to Joy. For the trailer, an old Czech folk song. Both were written exclusively for this film.
Directed by Robert Hloz. Produced by Jan Kallista, Film Kolektiv Prague. Released autumn 2023. Available on Netflix and VOD.
RESTORE POINT — TRAILER
"Veers from elegant heart-breaking cello to pulsing sub bass electro."
— Starburst Magazine (UK)
"Jan Sleska's score is an integral part of the film's immersive experience."
— Fears Magazine (US)
"A dark, murmuring score adds to the sombre mood."
— MovieSteve (UK)
"A strong electronic musical score."
— Every Movie Has a Lesson (US)
"A fantastic soundtrack."
— Totalfilm.cz (CZ)
"Composer Jan Šléška did his job to perfection."
— NerdFix.cz (CZ)
Nominated — Best Music, Czech Lion Awards 2023