LES AVATARS DE LA MORT D’EMPÉDOCLE
In the summer of 1986, Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub were working in the park of an old Sicilian mansion and in a clearing at the foot of Mount Etna shooting Der Tod des Empedokles. Assistant cameraman Jean-Paul Toraille toyed around, so to speak, with his first video camera, filming the daily work on the set. Now, 24 years later, he was joined by Jean-Marie Straub in editing the material into a film. Anyone who expected the shooting of Les Avatars de la mort d’Empédocle to be an austere affair, an exercise entirely devoid of humour or a Straubian tour de force is proven wrong: so much lightness, joy, concentration, spells of waiting for the sun to come out – and even proper slapstick in between – is hard to find.
This film is not a making of but rather a making in. With the Straubs it’s best not to venture too far in terms of commentary. They’re shooting La Mort d’Empédocle and I am assistant to the cinematographer Renato Berta. At the same time, I am also filming with my first camcorder. Some years later, Jean-Marie, who recalls that digital footage, asks me to edit it together. We assemble memories of those particular moments. (Jean-Paul Toraille)
]]>Les Avatars de la mort d’Empédocle]]> will be screened together with O somma luce on October, 27.
- Renato Berta
- Jean-Marie Straub
- Danièle Huillet
- Vladimir Baratta - Pausanias
- Martina Baratta - Panthea
- William Berger - Kritias
- Louis Hochet
- Jean-Paul Toraille
- Jean-Paul Toraille
- Catherine Quesemand
- Jean-Paul Toraille
Jean-Paul Toraille