VALENCIA, Oct. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French filmmaker Damien Manivel presents ‘Magdala’ in the Official Section of the Mostra de València, a film that recreates the biblical character of Mary Magdalene on a “journey” that deals with “exile, faith, and, above all, love crazy”.
The film, premiered at Cannes, captures the twilight of Mary Magdalene’s life, withdrawn from the world, living in harmony with nature, and remembering her lost love, Jesus himself.
The idea of tackling the figure of María Magdalena, explained the director, arose when he was editing his previous film, ‘Les Enfants d’Isadora’, in which the renowned African-American dancer, choreographer and actress Elsa Wolliaston raises her eyes to heaven. “I found her a mystical accent and I told myself that I had to make a film with her about the sacred. First I thought of the figure of the nun to later discover that it was the saint that interested me. The journey of Mary Magdalene raises the question of exile, faith, mystical contemplation and, above all, crazy love”, he asserted.
The paintings, poems and legends of the Middle Ages were sources of inspiration for Manivel to capture the essence of his protagonist: “There are few representations of an old Mary Magdalene. There is, however, a magnificent sculpture by Donatello, where she is emaciated , with his clothes in tatters. What encouraged me as a filmmaker was to dream about what could have happened in that forest. How did he eat, sleep, observe the world around him and what did he think?
The feature film is, therefore, “a daydream about his hermitage and more specifically about the last days of his life”. “There is very little documentation about her. We only know that she spent thirty years there and that when she died, the angels took her to heaven. It is not much, so it leaves room for my work as a filmmaker,” he pointed out.
Beyond the religious theme, for the French filmmaker María Magdalena continues to be a highly topical figure: “She says no to the world, she chooses to end her days, alone, in nature. Her radicalism is timeless, it could be a response to the times She fascinates me and inspires me in the practice of my art”, he has confessed.
In ‘Magdala’ the memories and visions of its protagonist are represented literally: “I wanted to film miracles by hand and naively. I have seen paintings in which the saints literally offer their hearts. It is such a clear image that I wanted to allow myself the same cinematographically. Very soon I had in mind the image of the resurrection of the bird. I saw a small bird, tiny compared to Elsa’s enormous body, and I thought that there was something that moved in this relationship of proportions”.
For Manivel, making a film means having at least two projects, “a surface project that must be felt, personal, and below this surface, there must be a second, more secret project that keeps my emotion alive.”
“A FILM DEATH”
In ‘Magdala’ he films a biblical character who is linked to a heritage and at the same time offers “a cinematographic death to Elsa Wolliaston”, his secret project: “I have been working with her for thirteen years, filming her and I still want to film her. The most The important thing to me was to give her a lead role that was worthy of her talent and power. I needed to give her that gift. And in return, she gave me a huge one too.”
Regarding the character of Jesus, the filmmaker assures that he did a casting and found Saphir Shraga, who immediately impressed him: “He is not very present in the film because he considered that he should not appear much. And he kept a face, a hand, a smile brilliant, a voice. I tried to capture him as a man like you or me. Mary Magdalene and he are two flesh and blood people who love each other.”
“In this sense,” he continues, “it was essential for me to film the imprint of what they were for each other by bringing them together for the river scene. Is it the memory of Mary Magdalene, her dream? I wanted to film the the way they look at each other, the sensual contact of their linked hands, the simple beauty of their naked bodies in the sunlight, the silence before a tragic fate separates them.
As regards the death of María Magdalena, Mannivel did it in a very specific way: “So that the viewer feels that death can happen peacefully, that it is only time that passes, that despite the pain, it’s not that serious. And at the same time, I wanted this death to be grand and bright and sweet. The fact that it took place in a cave changes everything, it brings us back to painting.”
AN ONGOING PROCESS
Compared to other directors, Manivel conceives writing as an ongoing process: “I already have images in my head because I have been preparing the shoot for many months, but my pleasure as a director is to arrive at the shooting location without knowing what I am going to do. to do, discover, for example, a tree with a particular shape, show it to the team and create a scene with that tree at that moment. I know from experience that what surprises me I always like better than what I have written. Yes a detail, a light or an accidental gesture catches my attention, I modified the scene to integrate it. Everything is constantly invented, in the present”.
Faced with the possible reactions of believers, the filmmaker assures that with this film he tries to achieve a sensitivity linked to very simple, very material things, such as the body, old age, suffering, and also to more interior questions, such as spirituality, loneliness, exile, mourning or passionate love.
“I don’t know if I’m a believer, I don’t approach the question in this way, but I am convinced of the presence of Mary Magdalene and of the fact that, through Elsa, I have tried to capture a part of this presence. This is what Donatello did in his sculpture. What Rilke does when he writes a poem. We try to capture things. There is a spirit, that’s for sure, and it can be captured by photography, by painting, by a poem or a film”, he explained.
Damien Manivel recreates a Mary Magdalene on a journey “of faith and crazy love” at the Mostra