Kafkaesque atmosphere in Schroeter’s That Night
A first-time contender for the Golden Lion (although a regular at international festivals and former award-winner at the Berlinale with Palermo or Wolfsburg), Germany’s Werner Schroeter presents at Venice his latest work, That Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile], confirming his reputation as a controversial director who is not to everyone’s taste. As we await the audience’s verdict (the official screening is this evening), we can report that the press reaction was rather hostile.
“It’s a film about violence, failure, destruction”, explained the director, who, along with Gilles Taurand, adapted the eponymous short story by Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti. Screenwriter Taurand describes it as a “dark, paranoid story, reminiscent of the world of Kafka”, which through Schroeter’s gaze “is transformed into a mournful symphony with immense present-day relevance”.
Like the book, the film’s action unfolds over one night. The story centres on Luis Ossorio Vignale (Pascal Greggory), a mysterious surgeon and revolutionary who has returned to Santa Maria (an imaginary location, but the streets and architecture are those of Oporto) to look for the woman he loves. All he finds is the apocalyptic scene of a city dominated by violence and ravaged by impending conflict.
The idea for the adaptation came from Portugal’s Paulo Branco, who produced Schroeter’s previous film, Two: “I discovered Onetti’s work on the suggestion of Jean-Luc Godard. Werner has gone beyond all my expectations: he’s made a faithful adaptation, which at the same time transcends the writer’s imaginative world”.
The film’s dramatic structure is deeply distinctive, as is the characteristically flamboyant and baroque style. Viewers may be left feeling perplexed at the ostentatious theatricality, among the most recognisable – and sometimes fascinating – features of the work of the director (who can count on the approval of jury president Wim Wenders, one of the filmmaker’s most ardent admirers in the days of Junger Deutscher Film).
That Night was filmed in French with a cosmopolitan cast that includes France's Bruno Todeschini, Amira Casar and Eric Caravaca, and Russian and Portuguese actors “whose accents testify to the universality of film”, according to Schroeter. The title was co-produced by France (Alfama Films Production, who are also handling international sales), Germany (Filmgalerie 451) and Portugal (Clap Filmes).
(Translated from Italian)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
