Feb 16, 2012

Frans Zwartjes... Haunting...

Never heard of this film-maker until recently. Saw a few of his short films online and was totally enchanted.
There is something dark, uneasy, disturbing, foreboding. His characters are stricking: hysterical, eccentric, absorbed in their own worlds and weird activities. Heavy make-up, harsh lighting, deep velvet shadows, sound design... His use of light, camera moves, and cutting is amazing. The more I'm watching him, the more i'm convinced: he's a genius!

P.S. Wow! There is no article about F.Z. in english wikipedia... i guess somebody else has to discover him soon. The only reference to him in the article Filmbank:
"In 1970, Frans Zwartjes started teaching at the Vrije Academie in The Hague where he became an influential mentor to an entire generation of artists such as Jan Ketelaars, Gijs Schneemann, Matthijs Blonk, George Schouten and Ruud Monster, who constituted the so-called ‘Haagse Psychopolis school’. Zwartjes formulated his method as follows:
“I don't tell them anything. They have to work it out for themselves. There are no rules.”"



- as simple as drinking a cup of something :-)


- from Audition



No comments:

Post a Comment