ART-ZINE REFLECT

REFLECT... КУАДУСЕШЩТ # 27 ::: ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ

Еlvina ZELTSMAN, Rafael LEVCHIN. CINEMA vs. THEATRE…

aвтор визуальной работы - A.Ocheretiansky

Last year, 2007, was very special – actually, as every year in Chicagoland.
For example, there was Antoniony festival in Gene Siskel Film Center, and it was possible to see all this: ZABRISKIE POINT, STORY OF LOVE AFFAIR, LA NOTTE, L’ECLISSE, THE LADY WITHOUT CAMELLIAS, THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD, RED DESERT and so on, all! Thank you, GSFC, that was something, especially for us, because we can remember, what normal American people can not imagine: almost all Antoniony films were not permitted in USSR, especially with nudity. Unfortunately, we couldn’t watch all now, only THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD, sad and ironical story about queen and anarchist – and this is not what we expected from master, that something like Durrenmatt or Brecht; so M.A. is much more, than we knew. And also we watched EROS; that’s tryptych: melodramatic “The Hand” by Wong Kar-way, “Equilibrium” by Steven Soderbergh, and between them Antoniony’s “The Dangerous Thread of Things”, a lot of nudity and landscapes, both great and mysterious. Oh, Antoniony really knew, how to work with nudity and space!
Onion City Festival give to us an INSTRUCIONS FOR LIGHT AND SOUND MASHINE by Peter Tscherkassky (Austria).
At BLOCK CINEMA (Northwestern University) was CREATING THE ALFRED HITCHCOKH FILM; and we watched THE RING (1927). We never would expect this kind of movie from famous Hitchcock – simple, painful, and wonderful.
We missed The 11th Annual New French Cinema Festival, and 8th annual Chicago Irish Film Festival, and 11th Annual Festival of New French Cinema, and REELING. Well, that’s bad, but nobody can get everything, right? But we didn’t missed CUFF, CIFF, and CIDF – Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, and Chicago International Documentary Festival.
On CUFF we started with ORCHARD VALE by Tim Kinsella, about five survivors after some cataclism, slowly dying without food, but trying to live as usually, because what else to do? And we're really loved this! Especially the "theatre" inside of movie.
Than was poetic/experimental/documentary MILK IN THE LAND by Ariana Gerstein and Monteith McCollum; and PRIMATE CINEMA by Rachel Mayeri about lust, sex and violence in primate society, translated to human social language; and wonderful, sad and funny, VIVA by Anna Biller (she’s also starring) about sexual revolution in 70-x.
On CIFF were about 160 films from 37 countries, but the best was THE MAN FROM LONDON by Hungarian master Bela Tarr (on a Georges Simenon novel). Well, Tarr is a genius, that how it is. Black and white, slow, without pushing, with strange marginal characters… that dance in café – why it is? Do we need it for this story? No. But whithout it this film would be not so misterious. Quote from Tarr: “The camera is inside and outside at the same time.”
Also we must mention FARO: GODDESS OF THE WATERS (FARO, LA REINE DES EAUX) by Salif Traoré (Mali/France/Canada/Burkina Faso/Germany); about the tensions between tradition and modernity in Africa today, modern and archaic in one man and in one village; and MEN IN THE NUDE (FÉRFIAKT), love story of writer-bisexual and young male prostitute, by Károly Esztergályos (Hungaria); and also OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES (OSS 117: LE CAIRE NID D'ESPIONS), a parody on French spy film, mixed up with exotic foreign women, Nazis bent on revenge, and scores of murderous fundamentalists.
On CIDF the best were HEBREW LESSON by David Ofek, and Ron Rotem (Israel), on the immigrant experience through the eyes of multiethnic students in a language class in Tel-Aviv; CHERNOBYL: THE INVISIBLE THIEF by Christoph Boekel, about victims of radioation poisoning; and especially ROW HARD NO EXCUSES by Luke Wolbach, on Atlantic Rowing Challenge, the world’s toughest rowing race, between men and women, young and old, sad and funny; and especially THREE COMRADES (DRIE KAMERADEN)
by Masha Novikova (Netherlands): friends Ruslan, Ramzan and Islam from Grozny in the early 90's, entered the war together, but two of the young men never saw their 30th birthdays and the third was wrongfully convicted of terrorism and forced to flee his homeland. Oh, and almost forgot THE MONASTERY – MR.VIG & THE NUN, by Pernille Groenkjaer (Denmark), the funny and sad story about eccentric person, who wants to establish Russian orthodox monastery in the old Danish castle.

And speaking on the theatre, let’s say about MIRROR OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD by Mary Zimmerman, based on a Persina epic by Nizami, in Goodman Theatre. To be honest: it was boring. Bright, erotical – but really boring anyway.Every new piece by Zimmerman is worse than previous. Why? Maybe, because director is trying to repeat some her old gages instead of making new symbols.
At the Art Institute there was DISCOVERING JOHN CAGE, concert&conversation with pianist Margaret Leng Tan, Larry List, and David Patterson, about Cage’s art (music+painting+mixed media) and friendship.
In Chicago Shakespeare Theater we meet with Compagnia Marionettica Carlo Colla e Figli, Milan’s 250-year-old company, they made MARIONETTE MACBETH. Well, the handcrafted marionettes were great, but performance wasn’t. Maybe we are too avant-garde diigged…
In Auditorium Theatre we watched DIAVOLO Company. That was really something! The wonderful dancers, gymnasts, actors! The best part was the first part: KNOCKTURNE, but the most vivid was the last one – TRAJECTOIRE. Director Jacques Heim.
And again in Shakespeare Theater was the American premiere of FAREWELL UMBRELLA (AU REVOIR PARAPLUIE) by James Thierree – great! No – GREAT!!!! That was close to DIAVOLO, but much, much more lirycal. Five characters in fantastic situations, absurd world, but real love and serenity. We would be happy see that again and again: real masterpiece and childlike imagination.
And it was DANCE CHICAGO Festival in Atheneum Theatre, and it was good, especially evening of Jon Lehrer and Dmitri Peskov, absolutely ritualistic work.
And it was Etsrogen Fest... well, it wasn't very touchung.
And, really good, TWO FIGS FOR THE GREAT CAPTAIN, or THE REVIVED ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE! by Eleffant Foot at Peter Jones Gallery and Theater.
And it was A.Strindberg’s MISS JULIE, almost conceptualistic performance( director S.Graney, Hypocrites) in Chopin theatre.
So, we love cinema, but we love theatre even more. And as some kind of mixed media was the evening in Cervantes Institute: nice puppet performance of BUSTER KEATON’S STROLL, surrealistic text by Garcia Lorca, performed by Blair Thomas, and next, screening of Keaton’s 1924 masterpiece SHERLOCK JR., all with live music by string quartet and piano from Civic Opera, and with preword by Laura Garcia Lorca, niece of poet.
So, cinema and theatre met here and happily married, we can say so!

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