Here is my latest published work, a director's profile on seminal Romanian auteur Lucian Pintilie published at Senses of Cinema online journal.
Eastern European cinema is a diverse subject that has been scarcely regarded, especially compared to other world cinemas. From screen analysis to personal accounts, this blog is a meditation on Eastern European cultural values with emphasis on totalitarian iconography and other clandestine ciphers that have become motifs across the films of Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and East Germany.
Showing posts with label Director's Profile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Director's Profile. Show all posts
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Published Work: Director's Profile on Lucian Pintilie
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
Here is my latest published work, a director's profile on seminal Romanian auteur Lucian Pintilie published at Senses of Cinema online journal.
Here is my latest published work, a director's profile on seminal Romanian auteur Lucian Pintilie published at Senses of Cinema online journal.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Director's Profile: Mara Trifu
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
Mara Trifu is an emerging filmmaker in Romania whom I hope to see more work from in the next few years. Information on her background is scarce, in fact, all I managed to stumble across is that she is a visual artist from Transilvania who lives and works in Bucharest.
I recently saw her documentary short Japanese Fig Tree/ Gutuiul Japonez (2011) which competed at the annual Gopo Awards in 2012, but unfortunately did not gain the attention it deserves. This is a stunning picture from composition, editing, sound and right down to the narrative itself. It focuses on a 90 year old woman, Madame Grosu, who lives alone and shows us the daily tasks she is faced with, for example, the effort of reaching up high to water her plants and providing for a bunch of abandoned kittens that "some Turkish fella" left her with . She admires her backyard and the beautiful plants that dwell there, in particular a Japanese Fig Tree. There is also a personal story that she reveals to us. She talks of the regret she is faced with everyday because of final words that were spoken and/or unspoken towards a late loved one. Trifu presents a sad, but heartfelt and beautiful picture of life where the focus on sunlight and chiaroscuro-like shadow become a metaphor for time, life and death.
Trifu has directed another short titled You Can't Hide Love From the Gypsies (2011), but I am waiting desperately for more. It's absolutely exciting to see women filmmakers emerging in Eastern Europe.
View a snippet of the film here.
Mara Trifu is an emerging filmmaker in Romania whom I hope to see more work from in the next few years. Information on her background is scarce, in fact, all I managed to stumble across is that she is a visual artist from Transilvania who lives and works in Bucharest.
I recently saw her documentary short Japanese Fig Tree/ Gutuiul Japonez (2011) which competed at the annual Gopo Awards in 2012, but unfortunately did not gain the attention it deserves. This is a stunning picture from composition, editing, sound and right down to the narrative itself. It focuses on a 90 year old woman, Madame Grosu, who lives alone and shows us the daily tasks she is faced with, for example, the effort of reaching up high to water her plants and providing for a bunch of abandoned kittens that "some Turkish fella" left her with . She admires her backyard and the beautiful plants that dwell there, in particular a Japanese Fig Tree. There is also a personal story that she reveals to us. She talks of the regret she is faced with everyday because of final words that were spoken and/or unspoken towards a late loved one. Trifu presents a sad, but heartfelt and beautiful picture of life where the focus on sunlight and chiaroscuro-like shadow become a metaphor for time, life and death.
Trifu has directed another short titled You Can't Hide Love From the Gypsies (2011), but I am waiting desperately for more. It's absolutely exciting to see women filmmakers emerging in Eastern Europe.
View a snippet of the film here.
Stills from the film.
Mara Trifu with her actress.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Director's Profile: Paul Negoescu
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
Paul Negoescu is a young and talented newcomer with a lot on his plate. Apart from directing a series of shorts, Negoescu has also written and produced the majority of his work. I first became familiar with the director when I saw his film, Acasa/ Home (2007), a 14 minute account detailing a conversation between a taxi driver and his client as he drives him home. They discuss politics regarding the European Union, traffic conditions in Bucharest and the expansion of Romanian beggars in Madrid. The passenger is a constructions engineer who works predominantly abroad and looks forward to returning home during festivities while the taxi driver has dreams of migrating out of Romania to a better life. Without getting too carried away and comparing it to Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991), I have to say there were some similarities in the way that the characters seem to connect on some level (I am referring mainly to the vignettes Los Angeles and Helsinki). It is like that amazing conversation you had with a complete stranger on the train, only to part ways without exchanging contact details. Negoescu presents this feeling of knowing someone without really knowing them and it is executed with warmth against the backdrop of Bucharest, a city with stained with a cold recent history.
The online film journal Eastern European Film Bulletin (EEFB) provides more information on the director including an engaging interview conducted by Konstanty
Paul Negoescu is a young and talented newcomer with a lot on his plate. Apart from directing a series of shorts, Negoescu has also written and produced the majority of his work. I first became familiar with the director when I saw his film, Acasa/ Home (2007), a 14 minute account detailing a conversation between a taxi driver and his client as he drives him home. They discuss politics regarding the European Union, traffic conditions in Bucharest and the expansion of Romanian beggars in Madrid. The passenger is a constructions engineer who works predominantly abroad and looks forward to returning home during festivities while the taxi driver has dreams of migrating out of Romania to a better life. Without getting too carried away and comparing it to Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991), I have to say there were some similarities in the way that the characters seem to connect on some level (I am referring mainly to the vignettes Los Angeles and Helsinki). It is like that amazing conversation you had with a complete stranger on the train, only to part ways without exchanging contact details. Negoescu presents this feeling of knowing someone without really knowing them and it is executed with warmth against the backdrop of Bucharest, a city with stained with a cold recent history.
The online film journal Eastern European Film Bulletin (EEFB) provides more information on the director including an engaging interview conducted by Konstanty
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Director's Profile: Béla Tarr
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
It was not long ago that I became fascinated by the work of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr after a friend gave me a copy of his seven-hour epic Sátántangó/ Satan's Tango (1994). I have not yet watched this film for two reasons. I prefer to read as much information as I can find on a certain director, screenwriter, cinematographer, actor or movement before watching a film.
The second is that I am still deciding whether to watch the film in one sitting, or several, because like many Eastern European films, the subject matter is confronting and heavy. It consists of long takes detailing a close absorption of the characters; their psyche, appearance and thoughts are dissected and exposed on screen.
Tarr's latest film, A torinói ló/ The Turin Horse (2011), portrays a similar vibe. I actually saw this film last year at the Melbourne Film Festival and, apart from the technical difficulties experienced at the Forum Theatre screening (lights turning on and off constantly... screen turning black... sound being muted) the film was highly impressive.
Not everyone will enjoy Tarr's style because his films are difficult to absorb, but they are one of a kind and deserve to be appreciated, if not enjoyed. Tarr is a unique auteur and, apart from his critically alleged Tarkovskian influences, his approach belongs to him, and him only. Watching his films is an experience like no other in which the devastation of human existence is slowly dissected.
It was not long ago that I became fascinated by the work of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr after a friend gave me a copy of his seven-hour epic Sátántangó/ Satan's Tango (1994). I have not yet watched this film for two reasons. I prefer to read as much information as I can find on a certain director, screenwriter, cinematographer, actor or movement before watching a film.
The second is that I am still deciding whether to watch the film in one sitting, or several, because like many Eastern European films, the subject matter is confronting and heavy. It consists of long takes detailing a close absorption of the characters; their psyche, appearance and thoughts are dissected and exposed on screen.
Tarr's latest film, A torinói ló/ The Turin Horse (2011), portrays a similar vibe. I actually saw this film last year at the Melbourne Film Festival and, apart from the technical difficulties experienced at the Forum Theatre screening (lights turning on and off constantly... screen turning black... sound being muted) the film was highly impressive.
Not everyone will enjoy Tarr's style because his films are difficult to absorb, but they are one of a kind and deserve to be appreciated, if not enjoyed. Tarr is a unique auteur and, apart from his critically alleged Tarkovskian influences, his approach belongs to him, and him only. Watching his films is an experience like no other in which the devastation of human existence is slowly dissected.
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