The Jascha Ephraim Memorial Library

Maggots and Men

Maggots and Men, written and directed by Carrie Cronenwett, is an absolutely gorgeous independent film and massive labor of love. I was asked to compose a score several years into the film’s production and, about three years later, it was completed. The music, which is almost continuous throughout the film’s 45-minute running time, is written for piano, harp, oboe, bass, and percussion. Here you can view a trailer for the film which includes an early outline of some of the music performed by me on piano, guitar, and percussion.

Synopsis

Maggots and Men is an experimental historical narrative set in a mythologized, post-revolutionary Russia that re-imagines the story of the Kronstadt uprising with a subtext of gender anarchy. The film dramatizes the events of the 1921 rebellion and pays tribute to the Kronstadt sailors’ earnest pursuit of communist ideals. Agit-prop theater group Blue Blouse guides us through the story, which is narrated by fictionalized letters written by Stepan Petrichenko, the leader of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee.

About

Maggots and Men positions the struggle for gender equality within a larger struggle for peace and justice. Cast with female-to-male transgender actors, the film documents a rapidly evolving transgender community and illuminates the gender revolution currently taking place in our society.
Painting the brief success of communal society at Kronstadt as a fanciful utopia, Maggots and Men transports us to a realm where we can dream of alternatives to capitalist society.

History

The Kronstadt sailors had a long tradition as radicals and fierce warriors, which began with the failed revolution of 1905 (the subject of Battleship Potemkin). Maggots and Men recounts the tragic events of March 1921 that ensued when the Kronstadt sailors drafted a resolution that supported the factory workers on strike in St. Petersburg. In addition to echoing the starving workers’ demand for food, the resolution called for a re-election of the soviets and demanded greater autonomy from an increasingly authoritarian government. The Bolshevik government destroyed public support for the sailors by launching a propaganda campaign that falsely labeled them as counter-revolutionaries. Rather than de-escalating the situation Trotsky, Minister of War, ordered the sailors to be taken by force. After heavy losses on both sides the two-week long battle ended with victory for the Bolsheviks and death or exile for the sailors.