6/18/11 Research
Jun 20th, 2011 by lweinberg
As promised I sending you some images from work that suggested the themes in GGB.
First, this is a still from the film Double Suicide, made in the 1960’s by the Japanese director M. Shinoda. Its based on a Bunraku play from the 18th C. about an illicit love affair and the subsequent suicide of the lovers. This shows the scaffolding for their hanging being created by the kuroko (puppeteers).
This photo shows the dead woman being held by an ambiguous figure…her lover or a puppeteer?
This is an embedded You Tube video. a trailer for Double Suicide. If you hit the You Tube link it will bring you to a list of related videos. There is an interview with the director in Japanese with French subtitles (if that works for anyone). Also there seems to be links to the entire film in small segments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUiTdORAm1Y&feature=player_embedded&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fimomus.livejournal.com%2F428923.html&has_verified=1&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fverify_age%3Fnext_url%3Dhttp%253A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%253Fv%253DGUiTdORAm1Y%2526feature%253Dplayer_embedded%2526oref%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fimomus.livejournal.com%25252F428923.html%2526has_verified%253D1
Below are 2 images from Kaspar a play by Peter Handke which I did in the 70’s. The top photo is the primary Kaspar. He is shadowed throughout the play by 3 other Kaspars. These are the second act masks, when Kaspar (as in Hauser) has turned into a sophisticate. The mask is a clear plastic vacu-formed mask made from a mold of the primary Kaspar’s face. I wish I had a photo of the first act mask when Kaspar has just been discovered…it was less painted and more ambiguous. If you’ve never read this play I highly recommend it. The theme is related to GGB…
Here the 3 Kaspars are tearing paper, filing wood, humming…basically providing constant low level annoying sound while the sophisticated Kaspar tries to talk about poetry!
Kaspar images are incredible.
I will need to take more time to explore Double Suicide, I am still somewhat unclear about the way they used puppets.
actually they don’t really use puppets, they use these dark figures who suggest puppeteers. They shadow the actors, interact with them, but are not characters per se.
Oh, I see. It’s different from what I imagined about the film when you said bunraku. I watched few small parts from the movie and it makes sense now. Actually, it’s a very powerful image, for example when they lead her through the field or when they prepare the gallows. It’s clearly inspired by bunraku puppets but at the same time is ambiguous. I wonder if there’s anything in American cultural history and aesthetics, especially during the GGB era that may give us interesting visual motivation for “multiples”… Breadlines during Great Depression? However, it came few years later.
I’ll give it some thought…nothing comes to mind immediately…