Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Feb 13, 2015 9:11:40 GMT -6
variety.com/2015/film/news/berlin-peter-greenaway-on-sergei-eisenstein-homophobic-russians-and-the-death-of-cinema-1201433379/
Peter Greenaway on Sergei Eisenstein, Homophobic Russians and the Death of Cinema
Peter Greenaway’s “Eisenstein in Guanajuato” had its world premiere in competition this week at the Berlin Film Festival (see here for the review). Variety spoke to him about the film and his thoughts about the future of cinema, or the lack of it.
What led you to make a film about Sergei Eisenstein?
I’ve been studying Eisenstein all my life. I have investigated who he was, watched all his films, read everything he’d probably ever written, visited his library and been to places where he has filmed. I’ve started making movies about great visualist who I admire. I’m interested in creators and how they create.
Why did you focus on this period of his life?
I’d been travelling to Mexico on and off and went to this town called Guanajuato, which is extremely beautiful. Eisenstein had visited the town, because it has a celebrated museum of the dead. While he was there he had a Mexican guide, and they had a love affair. So we put all this together in this film about this great man, this man I’ve admired for a long time, one of the very few innovators in cinema.
Can you talk about the second Eisenstein film you are planning?
It is called “The Swiss Hoax” because he was supposed to have made a film in Switzerland called “Storm over La Sarraz,” which relates to the issue of whether film is an art or an industry. This film has completely disappeared so I want to make a film about a non-film and we are going to explore whether it was made or it wasn’t made.
Is there Russian funding for that film?
We got ourselves into a bit of trouble about this. The homophobic Russians have understood that we are discussing Eisenstein’s love affair with a young man in Mexico and they are up in arms saying they certainly don’t want to be seen supporting a Greenaway film which discusses Mr. Eisenstein’s homosexuality.
You said once: “Cinema is dying.” What did you mean by that and is there hope of a resurrection?
Only 5% of people watch Hollywood films in cinemas. Are they really making films anymore? The old idea of narrative cinema – the “Casablanca” syndrome — is not really with us anymore. Most people would now use the screen for social media practices. Cinema is going through a sea change. The old vocabularies are rapidly dying.
Peter Greenaway on Sergei Eisenstein, Homophobic Russians and the Death of Cinema
Peter Greenaway’s “Eisenstein in Guanajuato” had its world premiere in competition this week at the Berlin Film Festival (see here for the review). Variety spoke to him about the film and his thoughts about the future of cinema, or the lack of it.
What led you to make a film about Sergei Eisenstein?
I’ve been studying Eisenstein all my life. I have investigated who he was, watched all his films, read everything he’d probably ever written, visited his library and been to places where he has filmed. I’ve started making movies about great visualist who I admire. I’m interested in creators and how they create.
Why did you focus on this period of his life?
I’d been travelling to Mexico on and off and went to this town called Guanajuato, which is extremely beautiful. Eisenstein had visited the town, because it has a celebrated museum of the dead. While he was there he had a Mexican guide, and they had a love affair. So we put all this together in this film about this great man, this man I’ve admired for a long time, one of the very few innovators in cinema.
Can you talk about the second Eisenstein film you are planning?
It is called “The Swiss Hoax” because he was supposed to have made a film in Switzerland called “Storm over La Sarraz,” which relates to the issue of whether film is an art or an industry. This film has completely disappeared so I want to make a film about a non-film and we are going to explore whether it was made or it wasn’t made.
Is there Russian funding for that film?
We got ourselves into a bit of trouble about this. The homophobic Russians have understood that we are discussing Eisenstein’s love affair with a young man in Mexico and they are up in arms saying they certainly don’t want to be seen supporting a Greenaway film which discusses Mr. Eisenstein’s homosexuality.
You said once: “Cinema is dying.” What did you mean by that and is there hope of a resurrection?
Only 5% of people watch Hollywood films in cinemas. Are they really making films anymore? The old idea of narrative cinema – the “Casablanca” syndrome — is not really with us anymore. Most people would now use the screen for social media practices. Cinema is going through a sea change. The old vocabularies are rapidly dying.