Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Niederlande Finnland Mexiko Belgien Deutschland 2014/2015 Spielfilm

Summary

In 1931 the Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein travels to Guanajuato to direct his film "Que viva México". There he encounters a new culture and its dealings with death; he also discovers another revolution – and his own body. Peter Greenaway depicts Eisenstein as an eccentric artist who travels to Mexico filled with the hubris of being an internationally celebrated star director. Once there, he gets into difficulties with his American financier, the novelist Upton Sinclair. At the same time he begins, in the simultaneously joyful and threatening foreign land, to re-evaluate his homeland and the Stalinist regime. And, in doing so, he undergoes the transition from a conceptual filmmaker into an artist fascinated by the human condition. Under his gaze, the signs, impressions, religious and pagan symbols of Mexican culture assemble themselves anew.

Making use of extreme close-ups, split-screens and a dramatic montage – all to enact the transformation of a hero who presents himself as a tragic clown – Greenaway deliberately quotes and modifies Eisenstein's own cinematic tools. Scene by scene the film gets closer to Eisenstein the man, who finds himself surprised by an unexpected desire.

Source: 65. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)

 

Comments

You have seen this movie? We are looking forward to your comment!

Credits

Director

Screenplay

Director of photography

Editing

Cast

All Credits

Duration:
105 min
Format:
1:2,35
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 14.10.2015, 155036, ab 16 Jahre / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung (DE): 11.02.2015, Berlin, IFF;
Kinostart (DE): 12.11.2015

Titles

  • Originaltitel (NL MX BE) Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Versions

Original

Duration:
105 min
Format:
1:2,35
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 14.10.2015, 155036, ab 16 Jahre / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung (DE): 11.02.2015, Berlin, IFF;
Kinostart (DE): 12.11.2015