Giselle, feature [theatre]

If the title “Giselle” speaks to you of pointed toes, of full white tutus and of a traditional tale of romance and heartbreak, then you’re on the wrong track. The heartbreak is all still here, but in this modernised, Irish interpretation of the classic ballet, tutus have been swapped for cowboy boots, pointed toes for foot-stomping and romance for sex, violence and testosterone.

Although the original, 1841 ballet was not without its own element of despair, Irish director Michael Keegan-Dolan has turned everything up a notch. The story is now set in Ballyfenny, a fictional Irish town rife with barely-hidden violence. Giselle is a mute outsider, rejected by the largely-male society. Her suitor, Albrecht, is a Bratislavan line-dancer, and the only source of joy to be found in the entire narrative. For Daphne Strothmann, who plays Giselle, the key to embracing this new version was to avoid exploring the older one in any great depth.

“I didn’t know much of the original Giselle really,” she confesses. “Even as a classically trained dancer I did not really know the whole story, just little bits that I had read up or heard of, but I did not research any more than that because I did want to be clouded by what the original things was. I’ve tried to stay away from the original where possible because I’m somebody who prefers to just throw themselves into it. I preferred to just see what would come out of what Michael [Keegan-Dolan] wanted, really.”

Working closely with Keegan-Dolan was no new experience for Strothmann, who previously worked with the director on four other ballets through the same production company, Fabulous Beast. While these productions bear similarity to one another in that they all fuse theatre and dance, Strothmann feels that Giselle is particularly unique.

“The other productions are really closer to pure dance, where there is a story but you work on building physical material first of all, and on exploring the movements from beginning to end. You don’t really explore your emotions as much, or your feelings towards other characters.” On the contrary, Giselle is guided by a strong narrative, and a lot of dialogue. It veers quite far from the boundary of classical ballet.

“There are a lot of challenges in that, of course,” Strothmann stresses. “Like, how to not do the same thing twice is difficult. You want to make sure you don’t repeat words through movement. It’s very challenging and takes a while to understand, but I think the company is starting to do that much better now. It just takes a while to learn a process and to work it – some of us have been together for five years and some for eight or nine, and that certainly helps us work with this challenging material.”

The company, which was founded in 1997, also aims to make controversial Irish issues accessible and relatable. To prepare for the fictional realm of Ballyfenny, the cast of Giselle spent a period of time in a small, secluded Irish town. Strothmann remembers, “At first it was a little strange; I could not really understand what they were saying, especially into the deeper parts of Ireland where I couldn’t understand even if they were speaking English. There are characters to be found that town that are just like those in the piece, sitting around at the bar drinking or dancing. We went to this kind of bar to try to get a feel for these people and how dark they can be, but to also see how in amongst that darkness there’s a wonderful side to them. They’re very humorous and very sarcastic and every second word is ‘fuck’ and if you’re not used to it’s strange, but if you’re drawn in it becomes very humorous.”

“It’s been interesting to take these ‘Irish’ issues overseas and see how other countries react to them,” Strothmann points out. Having toured such diverse locations as Poland, New Zealand and America, Strothmann has been able to compare and contrast the differing reactions. “The Polish loved it; it was so very well received there. It was a translation obviously but it worked very well, but also if just the pictures do something, and even if you don’t understand the words or you don’t want to read the subtitles, I think it works very well. In New Zealand as well, it was quite positively received.

“It did not go down very well in the States – I think maybe because of the swearing and the abuse of this Giselle character. We were actually supposed to do a greater tour but they had second thoughts. I think it was just too confrontational.” If the Americans hated it then there’s a fair chance we’ll love it, but Strothmann admits that in many ways the play really is a difficult one to stomach. It doesn’t hold back in its representation of sex or of violence. For the dancer, an immersion in this world can take its toll.

“It really took over me for a couple of weeks afterwards to get back to myself, because I could not get out of the character, which I suppose is a good thing. But there were some really tough times for while… I became very quiet and did not really want to talk very much. Also, the other characters were all so rude and shouting at the character and wanting to exclude her from the community. So I just became very internal. And plus with the training that we did everyday, doing yogo before rehearsals, I just became very inward-looking and just tried to interpret myself, as Giselle, from within.”

Additionally, until very recently, Strothmann was the only female cast member. “It was probably one of the other reasons why I pulled myself back, because there was a lot of strong male energy and just as the only woman it was not always very easy. Sometimes you just wanted a female to talk to. I admit it was a little easier for me, because my partner who plays my brother was there, but still it’s a very strange energy.”

Strothmann recalls one of the most challenging scenes, the opener, which has her scrubbing the stage floor patiently and diligently, only for a group of townsmen to enter and spitefully throw dirt over her and her work. Keegan-Dolan has shortened this scene since, but originally Strothmann was the stage for up to half an hour, just cleaning that floor as audience members entered to take their seats.

“Sometimes doing that scene I just really want to cry. Seeing that dirt being thrown at the floor was just – oh. I think once you click into the character and you’re in the piece, it’s so hard to see outside it. I was just thinking about this poor thing who had been cleaning stage and now it’s been dirtied and there’s no reason why, and she doesn’t quite understand. She’s an outsider and different and so they don’t want to see her things clean or proper, they just want to keep destroying her physically and therefore emotionally. I think it’s a very important scene that one because it sets my rhythm for how the whole piece should continue. But it also illustrates just how challenging a role Giselle is.”

WHAT: Giselle

WHERE: 28 Feb – 8 March at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre Pavilion 6

I've Loved You So Long

When we first see Kirsten Scott-Thomas in Phillippe Claudel’s I’ve Loved You So Long, she is not the collected icon of class that we are used to. Instead she looks haggard in plain brown clothing, with drab oily hair and a face so washed-out it is almost translucent. In between cigarette puffs, she awaits the arrival of her far livelier younger sister, Lea (Elsa Zylberstein). Here, Scott-Thomas plays Juliette, who, after 15 years in prison, has been forcibly taken under Lea’s wing. The remainder of the film delicately charts Juliette’s return into the ‘real world.’ Through seemingly innocuous events such as job interviews, visits to the local pool and dinner parties hosted by her sister, we watch as Juliette struggles both with and against the pull of larger society. It is a film about growth and withdrawal, and the internal battle between these two emotions.

Scott-Thomas’s performance here is second to none; it is her ability to so completely convey that sense of pained restraint that renders this film truly remarkable. Her every look (or lack of it) is a source of great fascination, and the slow unravelling of Juliette’s personality has a quite hypnotic effect. Zylberstein works well also, as the well-intentioned if naïve sister, but she falters in some of the more intense scenes and at any rate pales besides Scott-Thomas. Claudel’s script disappoints a little at its conclusion – for a story that gains its power through its pauses and understatements, its tell-all ending feels out of place, and seems to almost cheapen the narrative. Nonetheless, this is film remains a rare experience. A definite stand-out feature from this year’s PIAF film festival, it screens at Sommerville this week and Joondalup in the next.

2008

About a month ago I had to do up a little Top 5 for Drum, but it was not very interesting and it was not very accurate. I hate filling out these kind of surveys before December, when the films you've spent all year anticipating are scheduled for a Boxing Day release. This list here is a little more considered, but it's still a bit personal and it's still likely to change.

my favourites:


1. The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button
Having watched this film only recently, a lot of its images remain crystal clear in mind; that look of childlike wonder on an old man's face, the silhouette of an angelic ballerina against a foggy backdrop, clock hands spinning backwards, and eventually stopping. All of these images feel profound to me now, all of them being caught within the deep emotional pull of this epic tale. For me, this film's power is born from its ability to be simultaneously universal, relatable, and far-reaching, yet also unique, memorable, and personal - to at once be a story about a intimate romance and yet to also comment so strongly on universals of mortality, time and history. When this story finds support from some stellar performers, some balanced directing and some perfect pacing, it becomes an experience that is difficult to shake. If I had to, I could probably sum it all up as "debilitating, yet life-affirming."

2. Slumdog Millionaire
In retrospect, I do wonder if my adoration for this film is to some degree influenced by my experience of India. There are flaws to be found here - you could argue that feels contrived in moments, sometimes fantastical, never impossible but always deeply improbable. The film works, however, precisely because it is just like the country in which it is set. It is contradictory and colourful and almost unbelievable in the way that it traverses so many experiences and genres and feelings in such a short space of time. Yet within this web of vying emotions there are several powerful, moving stories, and three characters who inspire genuine connections, so it all works. It is much like a whirlwind trip through the sub-continent itself; the sheer multitude of images and emotions threaten to overpower, and it is up to you to find and focus on something solid or specific or unifying within it all (a character, a scene, a relationship), because once you do that, suddenly it will all make sense.

3. Dark Knight
A long time has passed since I viewed this film, and now I wonder what it was that I found so powerful about it. I remember appreciating the darkness, the grim commentary, the "topical" nature of it all, and of course I remember Heath Ledger, with the manic laugh that still manages to freak me out just upon recollection. I wonder now if this film really deserves to be here, yet I feel that out of all these films I've mentioned it is the most 'of its time,' and that it most appropriately sums up the '2008 moment'; dark, miserable times slowly giving way to the better part of human nature (hopefully?). Besides that it is adaptation at its best, and at its most cinematic. That is achievement enough.

4. The Visitor
This is a simple film, definitely the least ambitious of all those here, and definitely not one that will make it into many "top film" lists - yet so many aspects from it have persisted with me all year round. Again there is some commentary to be found here, but mainly this is a story of human connection and of reawakening. This film's greatest asset is Richard Jenkins, with such a perfect performance. I remember the subtle way in which his whole body relaxed, in which gradually, physically, he seemed to re-open himself to the world. Ah, it was a truly beautiful thing.

5. Burn After Reading
Who would have thought I'd be listing two Brad Pitt films here? I'm surprised, that's all I'll say. This one makes it in here because I have a soft spot for zaniness, and that is exactly how I'd describe this film. It is madcap zaniness tightened by a strong structure, which is exactly the way it should be. Also, how amazing was John Malkovich, as usual?

Movies I did not see but probably should sometime soon: Wall-E, Hunger, Frost/Nixon, Man on Wire.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire opens with two juxtaposed scenes; in one the nervous-looking Jamal (Dev Patel of Skins) sit in India's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hot seat, in the other, uncomfortable close-ups show us his beaten body, as a fierce policeman demands to know how he could possibly have known "the answers." The entire rest of the film is dedicated to answering this specific question. We watch as Jamal climbs up the millionaire ladder, and with each new question we are thrust back into his past, learning the answers alongside him. Adapted from Vika Swarup's novel, this script is a perfectly taut tapestry of comedy, drama, colour and passion. It is at once the tale of a young boy's vigilance, of an idyllic romance, of two brothers' torturous relationship and of the daily struggles faced in India's most poverty-stricken corners. The strange fusion of popular game-show tension with conventional drama build-up absolutely works, delivering a final result that is gripping, engaging and moving. As the first film from this summer's much anticipated "Oscar-contender line-up" to make its way into our cinemas, Slumdog Millionaire has been preceded by a whole heap of hype and a plethora of awards - but director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, The Beach) has proven his versatility yet again. This film is close to perfect.

Her Whole Life Ahead

Only Italians could get so worked up about industrial relations. Only this country could turn a film about unfair wages and inadequate tea breaks into a borderline-melodrama fuelled by a highly emotive, orchestral soundtrack. Her Whole Life Ahead is this film, but it is surprisingly enjoyable ride. Isabella Ragonese plays Marta, an intelligent philosophy graduate, who presents an outstanding thesis only to discover that her obscure specialisation and brilliant mind render her practically unemployable. Reluctant to enter the low-paying world of academia, she eventually settles for part-time work at a call centre specialising in the pyramid-scheme-esque, "multilevel" sale of a useless electrical appliance. As she rises slowly up the call centre ladder, however, Marta quickly discovers that her workplace is a veritable microcosm of all imaginable conflicts, where public humiliation and explosive personal break-downs are commonplace. That is, until Marta's 'knight in the shining armour' steps onto the scene, in the form of a disgruntled union official. There's no doubt about it; this film is nuts. In between Marta's troubled homelife as a live-in-babysitter, a couple of broken hearts, and an unexpected car accident, this story threatens to spiral out of control on several occasions. Director Paolo Virzi always manages to reel it in at just the right moment, though, delivering zany humour without totally compromising the story. It's not particularly moving filmmaking, but it's certainly engaging, and for young graduates struggling to find gratifying work there's a lot of relatable content here.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

Much like beautiful women and complicated relationships, a strong sense of place has evolved into one of the defining trademarks of a “Woody Allen Film.” After many New York stories and a brief stopover in London, his latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona, is set in and influenced by the large Spanish city of its title. Like this setting, the film is eccentric, chaotic and colourful, marking a return to the screwball comedies of Allen’s earlier career. The film opens as best friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johansson) arrive in Barcelona for the summer. An obtrusive yet strangely appropriate voice-over informs us that the two are alike in everyway, barring their approach to love. While Vicky enjoys stability, predictability and control, the passionate Christina knows only that these are qualities she wants to avoid. When the very charming Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) steps onto the scene, the trajectory of the narrative seems inevitable.

As expected, both women go wild over this charismatic Spaniard, and fall into infatuations that will dictate the rest of their holiday. Allen keeps things fresh with unexpected turns and ridiculous twists, yet the core of the storyline remains reasonably predictable and somewhat unremarkable. Penelope Cruz’s entrance about half-way through the film helps alleviate potential dullness; she is quite captivating as Juan’s hysterical ex-wife, Maria Elena. Johansson also delivers a fine performance, developing some very intense chemistry with Cruz. Ultimately though, Vicky Christina Barcelona is a film enjoyed but quickly forgotten. Beyond the colourful Spanish setting and soundtrack and the sparkling performances from the film’s two leading starlets, this is basically a light-hearted romantic comedy. This lightness renders this film well suited to summer’s plethora of outdoor cinemas, but it is nonetheless likely to slip into obscurity as soon as the season is over.

Interview with Sherry Hopkins

This year’s Lotterywest Film Festival feels a little different. For starters, it’s much longer than usual. Spanning five months and featuring 21 feature films from all around the world, this season is the longest yet. More pertinently though, you’ll note that, for the first time in many years, French comedy darling Daniel Auteil is no where to be found. It’s almost incomprehensible.

While the Festival still features a healthy dash of light-hearted comedy, this year’s programme is characterised by its more serious, and more topical entries. “This is a very discerning and intelligent audience, and they want something meaty that they can talk about afterwards,” explains the programme’s director, Sherry Hopkins.

“They want current affairs, and what’s going on around them,” she continues. “As much as they like the occasional little light comedies, and they will like Pain in the Ass, the new Francis Veber comedy, because Perth audiences love Francis Veber [of The Dinner Game] – but as much as they like that, they’re also showing me that they appreciate these more grand scale films too.”

This year, audiences can expect to be shocked by Buddha Collapsed out of Shame, as it exposes the permeating influence of the Taliban through a group of Afghani schoolchildren determined to mimic their parents. They can expect to be baffled by the ridiculous true story at the core of Lemon Tree, in which a Pakistani widow travels to the High Court to protect her lemon grove from Israel’s paranoid Defence Minister. They can expect to be shaken by the Oscar-nominated Katyn, Andrzej Wajda’s powerful drama about the infamous Soviet massacre. All of these films, and many others, are guaranteed to linger with audience members, and to fuel plenty of post-film discussion.

Furthermore, while the Festival Films have always served as portals across the globe, Hopkins argues that this year their reach is also far wider than ever before. “It’s much more of a global picture than usual; I think we’re transporting people more this year. We’ve got two Israeli films, for example, and one Iranian film, Lemon Tree, which is a fine film.”

Despite this evolution, though, the Festival season begins as always, with a couple of lighter films set in familiar, Western contexts. “My hardest job is finding the opening films,” Hopkins confesses, “We try to open with an English language film if we can. We want something to ease people into the program, sometimes perhaps a French comedy. One year we had nothing so I put in Affliction, which was great and won all those awards, but was just too heavy.”

Last week, Sommerville lit up with Young@Heart, a heart-warming piece that sees pensioners reinvigorated by a turn towards punk, disco and rock music. Meanwhile at Joondalup Pines, the British comedy, Grow Your Own, which charts the relationship between a group of “grumpy old men” and the family of asylum seekers that take over a nearby garden patch, has apparently received rave reviews from Joondalup’s large English community. The two films swap locations for the coming week.

For those still uncertain, Hopkins has a couple of recommendations. “I’ve Loved You So Long is the best film in the Festival. Also, apart from the storyline, I think that the style of animation for Waltz with Bashir is amazing, that’s why it’s winning all these awards. You the Living also, is bizarre yet terrific. Every scene is like a picture postcard, and there’s this one scene where a couple get married on a house on train which is just mesmerising.”

In amongst these global stories, Hopkins also disperses a series of West Australian shorts. “I just don’t want to throw in any short with any feature,” she warns, “they’ve got to work together; usually it’s in terms of fitting the subject matter together.” Hopkins also hopes to one day premier a W.A. feature film, but in the meantime one aspect of the festival remains unchanged; its commitment to delivering fascinating stories from all across the globe to the most isolated city within it.