“True art is always modern...”
“The Moods of Marianne” was the only proposal shown during the session “From stage to street”. The story tells of the love of Culio to the married Marianna. This romantic intrigue, based on an original 19th century Alfred de Musset play, was adapted to meet the needs of the small screen. It’s simply a classic that entered the streets.
The film inspires us to raise the question of how much a play from another century can be changed for needs of a film. How absorbing can this 19th century story, told through Musset’s original text, be for the contemporary viewer. Is the combination of archaic language with the modern location the way to success?
As Elena Hazanov reveals, the impulse to adapt “The Moods of Marianne” came from her meeting with Andrzej Wajda last year. “I’ve always searched for appropriate techniques to show theatrical art in films” explained Hazanov. Bill Gilcher, the session host, emphasized that it is very hard to move the actors from the scene to the street. “The film was shot in twelve days, which was a real challenge.” he added. “In addition, we wanted to keep the original text, because it allows young people to encounter the poetry of Romanticism as well as a new outlook on the original(…) If you leave, let’s say, Yasmine Rez’s original text and change only the imagery, you have a high-quality enterprise guaranteed. We were hoping that it would also happen in this case.” added Gilcher. This variation of “The Moods of Marianne” proved that stories from hundreds of years ago can just as well happen here and now.
The film inspires us to raise the question of how much a play from another century can be changed for needs of a film. How absorbing can this 19th century story, told through Musset’s original text, be for the contemporary viewer. Is the combination of archaic language with the modern location the way to success?
As Elena Hazanov reveals, the impulse to adapt “The Moods of Marianne” came from her meeting with Andrzej Wajda last year. “I’ve always searched for appropriate techniques to show theatrical art in films” explained Hazanov. Bill Gilcher, the session host, emphasized that it is very hard to move the actors from the scene to the street. “The film was shot in twelve days, which was a real challenge.” he added. “In addition, we wanted to keep the original text, because it allows young people to encounter the poetry of Romanticism as well as a new outlook on the original(…) If you leave, let’s say, Yasmine Rez’s original text and change only the imagery, you have a high-quality enterprise guaranteed. We were hoping that it would also happen in this case.” added Gilcher. This variation of “The Moods of Marianne” proved that stories from hundreds of years ago can just as well happen here and now.
Gabriela Jatkowska
