Shooting the moon
Mark Fisher journeys to the FAR SIDE OF THE MOON with the legendary Robert Lepage.
n_\one lamiliar “ith the stage uork ot~ Rohert l.epage \xill know the ()aehecois director keeps \xorking on his shous until the Ver} last
pcrl‘ormancc. 'l'lit' Sewn Streams of l/It' lx’ii't'r ()m. for
example. hegan lite as a three-hour rough—edged pla_\ in the lidinhttrgh liestixal ol‘ I‘NJ. htit had llottrishcd into a majestic se\en—hottr epic h_\ the time it reached London some )c‘ttt's later.
.\Io\ ing onto lilm as he has done in [1'(bit/essl'mtul. l.(' I’o/tgmp/it'. .\'(i and Possible ll'ur/t/s \s'ith Tilda Sninton the Upptil‘lllllil) to tinker has ll\llilii_\ heen denied to him. But \sith his latest \\ot'k. I'tll' Sit/c oft/iv Moo/i (lilftlt't' mic/16c l/(' /u lll/lt‘). technolog} has caught up \\ ith l.epage.
It‘s a couple ol' da_\s alter the lilm has premiered in Septemhct’s 'l‘oronto l‘ilm l‘esti\al and. despite its \xarm reception. l.epage‘s \sork is not o\ er. He's shot the lilm in a new high definition digital format that‘s as good as 35mm htit still allows tremendous llc\ihilit_\. 'lt‘s ama/ing hecause I can change things all the timef he sa_\s. ‘\\c don't ha\e a celluloid print _\et that‘ll he at the end of the month. So I‘m still changing things. I took two cotnplete reels and rexersed them. So it's great. hecause tto\\ lilm is starting to he as \ersatile as theatre and )titt can inject into the process peoplch reactions.’
Prompted h_\ the death ol’ l.epage's mother and his l'eelings ot~ tincet'taint) al'ter his great artistic achie\ements 0T the I‘)‘)().\. l'ill' slit/U oft/1c .UUUH is L! IsIIILI UT mid-lite crisis mo\ ie. It tells the stor} ol‘ t\\o hrothers. hoth pla_\ ed h_\ the shape-shitting l.epage. one a successt‘ul hut tri\ ial \s'eathet'man. the other an eternal student desperate to puhlish his thesis ahout narcissism and the space race. ’l‘spicall}. the director carries such \seight} themes lightl}. creating heautit'ul \ isttal metaphors in a film inl'ttsed \xith dr_\ I) comic iron}.
To ha\'e one actor pla} t\\o characters is a com ention
more comtnon in theatre than lilm ~ indeed. l-iu' Side of
48 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE ' A . '
the Moon hegan lite as a one-man pla) hut it’s so central to this stor_\ ol‘ polar opposites that l.epage decided to stick \sith it. He gi\es such tremendous perl'ormances in hoth roles that )ou can‘t hlatne him. ‘The two hrothers were inspired h} l\\(I sides [0 m_\'sell'f he \;I}\. "There's it side to me that‘s \er} pessimistic. deep and l'rttstrated I think I Time a lot ol' integrit} and I‘m a closed o} stcr. .'\nd there's another side to me that‘s \er_\ \ain. outspoken and sometimes \cr} pretentious. I'm exaggerating. htit the No characters are horn l'rom these t\\o sides ol' m} personalit}. These t\\'o characters are at \\'at' inside me. It‘s an inner dialogue - that's uh} it has a solo piece at the heginning. I thought I should at least he laitlil'til to that in the lilmf
.-\s a director he‘s inspired h} the holdness shown h_\ l.ars \on Trier in [Mari/Iv and other lilmmakcrs \s'ho H} to pull it\\;l} l‘rom the t}rann_\ ol‘ realism. Although I.epage has IIL‘\L‘I' heen as e\perimental in his lilm \sork as he hits heen in the theatre. there are sequences in l'itl' Slit/U oft/iv .lluon that shou him to_\ing with the medium's possihilities. notahl} an acid trip l'lashhack in \shich a teenager toners giant-like o\ er his apartment hloek.
'Right now Iexperimentationl is \er} ahsent. hecattse lilm is such a _\oung l‘orm ol~ expression.~ he sans. ‘l’eople mistake the actor and the character. which is a \seit'd thing. l’suall} .\'icole Kitlinan pla_\s Nicole Kidman
unless she puts on a lalse nose and pl;t_\'s Virginia “'00”
and then she \\itls an award; she does something that‘s considered \er) theatrical. People don‘t do that an} more in lilms. The part has to lit Tom ('ruise. otherwise Tom (‘ruise \sill ne\ er compose a character. The direction I \cht to go hill] in} lilms is a more poetic one and one \\ here _\ou disguise )oursell' and create characters. That is not popular in the contemporar} narrathe rules.’
Filmhouse 1, 623 8030, Sun 22 Aug, 7.30pm and Tue 24 Aug, 4.30pm.
Robert LePege’e film set mutate: from washing machine door (pictured) to space capsule and birth canal, among other things
‘THE TWO BROTHERS WERE INSPIRED BY TWO SIDES TO MYSELF'