DEREVO e-life

NOW - 08.10.2011 - Homo ludens

08. 10. 2011, 15:57 | by DEREVO
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Venice

One day before the award ceremony Johannes Zeiler (Faust) and I did thirty two interviews each. And Alexander Sokurov did even more.

Every interview started with the question “what do you feel now having the Golden Lion?” By the first one I gave a start “did we get it already then?”
“No”, said the journalist, “but if you will, then we’ll put it together, if not, then we’ll cut it out. We wouldn’t be able to do another interview, right?”.

So I had to sing a song about how happy we are, without knowing who’s gonna win the prize.

After fifth interview I couldn’t keep repeating the same text all the time. I began to falter, to become angry, to accuse the journalists of illiteracy and Venice of the heat. I was tired. During the lunch time I ran back to my room and took my recorder, feeling that I might not remember anything I’ll tell then.

 

 

Here are some excerpts of the afternoon conversations.

Korean television:
“What was the most difficult during your filming”
“The most difficult was to stare at the director’s back for 47 days. Sokurov not only used a huge mirror against the camera for the actual filming but to see the picture in the same way he was carrying a car mirror on his shoulder. Thus discussing the role I remained behind him and was talking to Sokurov’s shoulder. I got used to it so much that I didn’t recognized our director as we met in Venice.”

Belarus newspaper:
“Anton, could you tell us if there’s some material in the “Faust” that didn’t make it to the final cut?”
“Oh, yes! Right in the beginning of the film Faust actually dies. Don’t you wonder how keen director’s idea was. In the hospital a bed with a cadaver, which Faust was just examining and looking for a human soul, falls on him. Wagner, his disciple tries to free Faust and pulls some substance with little similarity to Faust, fat and messy. Though this is Faust melted together with the Death. This is my character, Mephistopheles. Faust keeps living inside me. Well, by the final cut the entire shot, about 15 minutes, has been left out. “It’s obvious”, Sokurov said, “why would we need to explain it?”. So Faust didn’t die but I remain there with a huge fat stomach.”

Japanese newspaper:
“Anton, could you tell us what was the most dangerous moment during filming?”
“The most dangerous thing was to walk backwards. Particularly on the Iceland’s lava. For the entire film was shot backwards, actors had to do everything in the reverse order. This is why the big part of material, the underwater fight for Margaret, has been left out. We were unable to swim backwards. And Sokurov didn’t want to make any compromises.”

I don’t remember who:
“The most unusual thing was that Valley in Iceland where we saw hundreds of faceprints on the ground around the geyser, just like somebody would press his face firmly against it. There were big holes in place of mouths. Well, it turned out to be the Famous Sniffing Valley. Each Sunday hundreds of people lie down with their faces on the ground and inhale the healing sulphur moisture. Our film crew tried it too but without habit to do it our director of photography has started to hallucinate and suggested to dye the Geyser red. “Go to Tarantino with this”, said Sokurov.”

RAI uno, Italy:
“The Frisean horses that we ride on the way to Underworld are rare and expensive. They also known for their ability to pronounce words with lots of G’s and R’s. One of them (mine) could distinctly say “Great Rumble” and “Rare Gift”, thanks to the Czech groom, a big fan of Pushkin.”

Greek TV:
“Anton, could you tell us what funny moments from filming you still remember?”
“There was many funny things. In a break I went to the adjacent woods for a walk and rest. I came across a clearance full of wild mushrooms. Pure porcini! I had no basket or anything and started to fill my pockets, thanks to the oversized costume. Full of mushrooms I realised that I went astray. And I was scared by the thought that I may derange the filming. I started to shout in russian and italian for help. Czech family of mushroom-pickers has come around and ran off immediately – I totally forgot about my make-up. In fifteen minutes there were three policemen. I tried to explain in Czech about the filming and made a confident gesture to some fictional direction. There we went. After twenty minutes we turned on my command and lost our way entirely. One of them pulled his pistol, another one called for a helicopter. It came much later and there was no place for landing. In the twilight it showed us a way. When finally we came to the filming location, full of burdock, angry, the policemen couldn’t really accuse me of anything. Sokurov in turn couldn’t find a better question to ask me: “where did you find them?”
“In the forest”, I replied thinking of the mushrooms, “there’s lots of them.”

And on September the 10th we perfectly played the piece “Limousine, Red Carpet, Golden Lion, Photo, Limousine, Much Wishky, Night. Venice. Morning. Way Back Home”.

The excitement of these days has gone quite fast. What remains is “Faust” and an untypically long (for a festival) standing ovation for the director Alexander Sokurov.

 

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editor: Daniel Williams
Video: Elena Yarovaya

 

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Harlekin goes Top 5 at Edinburgh Fringe according to critics

24. 08. 2010, 22:29 | by DEREVO
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DEREVO is still fighting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. That’s really not easy.

For those who doesn’t know what it is: for instance, there’s seven to ten different companies performing on the same stage at the same venue. There are 200 of such venues. Time for set-up, minimal changes for light, sounds, for make-up and warm-up - 30 minutes precisely. Just as much time for break down and cleaning after the show.

Currently DEREVO with Harlekin is in the Top 5 from all 1100 companies who received any reviews at all. Here you can have a look at the critics rating, friendly compiled by The List: http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/top-rated

I’d also like to point again to the slideshow by Murdo Macleod from Guardian.co.uk

Congratulations to Harlekin (and The Devoted Monkey), as well as to Carabass. Hold on and keep up the good work, guys!

Just 6 days left…

DEREVO.org web-master

Harlekin at the Fringe 2010

NOW - 21.08.2010 - Harlekin’s stars & the slide-show from Guardian.co.uk

21. 08. 2010, 22:57 | by DEREVO
русский


So this was a half of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Marathon.
In brief: the Fringe is 63 years old.
The number of participating companies in 2010 is 1800!
The number of performers in the streets you should count by yourself.
DEREVO appeared at the Fringe 6 times before: Red Zone, Once…, La Divina Commedia, Islands, Reflection and Ketzal.

Now it’s Harlekin

Here’s what the Scottish and English press thinks of DEREVO this year:

***** The Herald, Mary Brennan
…This piece really is about the heart and soul of tragi-comic physicality…

Watching Anton Adasinsky inhabit the age-old, timeless form of Harlequin – or Petrushka, Pierrot or Mr Punch, since they are the same elemental free spirit – is to witness a celebration of wordlessly expressive artistry shade into a poignant elegy for a theatrical dimension that long predates the machine age….

***** EdinburghGuide.com, Garry Platt
…This is not just a stage production it’s a phenomenon… Derevo’s Harlekin presents one scene after the next, each iconic and visually dazzling, unique. The stage is filled raw visceral emotion and then subtle considered jokes and funny vignettes…

***** Fest
…The show is a sequence of strange, arresting set-pieces which would be disorientating without the Harlekin himself. The weary innocence with which he greets every strange new situation is the play’s one constant note…

**** The Telegraph, Mark Monahan
…Just go and see this show. It’s strange, stirring, often beautiful entertainment, and you’ll be thinking about it for a long time…

**** The List, Brian Donaldson
…The sinister and the beautiful have been Derevo’s trademarks ever since their Edinburgh debut in 1997 with Red Zone, and Harlekin provides another memorable chapter in their captivating story…

**** The Scotsman, Kelly Apter
…big show filled with striking visual images and charming set pieces. As the Harlekin, Adasinsky’s capacity to mix tragedy and comedy in one role has never been more obvious, while his turn as the domineering Hurdy Gurdist is a little comic gem…

**** Edinburgh Spotlight, Julie Dawson
…Technically, Harlekin is flawless. The performers are breathtaking, the marriage between music and movement is impeccable, the lighting is perfect, the costumes and makeup are excellent. The overall effect is stunning…

**** Three Weeks, Hannah Myers
…a heart-rending tale of unrequited love, cruelty and suffering unfolds. Derevo transcend this dark matter to reveal pools of shimmering light in the tenacity of the human soul, matching sinister dances of death with exquisite physical manifestations of the beating heart…

**** Fringe Review
…once we accept the basic theme we sit back and take in the spectacle like a surreal dream….

The List still hasn’t counted all the Harlekin’s stars and put the show at the 9th position of 952. not that bad… ».

[UPDATE, 31 Aug. 2010]: meanwhile DEREVO has reached the 3d position from 1252 shows in the critics rating by The List.

And just beyond all competition is the unique slide-show by Murdo Macleod from Guardian.co.uk just watch it on their web-site:

Interactive Slide-Show: One Day with DEREVO at the Fringe. By Murdo Macleod, Guardian.co.uk