Manifesto — Trailer

source:   sundance.org, julianrosefeldt.com

added: Thu, Jan 12th '17

Get ready to see Cate Blanchett like you've never seen her before.

Check out the newly-released trailer for "Manifesto," an experimental arthouse piece that has the Oscar-winning actress taking her performance skills to new heights as she acts out 13 distinctly different characters, including a schoolteacher, a factory worker, a TV anchor, a puppeteer, and a homeless man.

"Manifesto" is the feature-length film version of last year's art installation of short films created by German video artist and filmmaker Julian Rosefeldt.

Basically, it's a film collage that's based on several notable 20th-century artistic and philosophical statements and declarations (other known as manifestos) but reinterpreted through thirteen separate monologues delivered passionately by Blanchett. In other words, it's an excuse to show off the incredible acting prowess of Blanchett, who might have just taken over Lon Chaney's "Thousand Faces" title.

"Manifesto" is set to screen at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

synopsis:
Manifesto pays homage to the moving tradition and literary beauty of artist manifestos, ultimately questioning the role of the artist in society today. Manifesto draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, Fluxus artists, Suprematists, Situationists, Dogma 95 and other artist groups, and the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers. Passing the ideas of Claes Oldenburg, Yvonne Rainer, Kazimir Malevich, Andre Breton, Sturtevant, Sol LeWitt, Jim Jarmusch, and other influencers through his lens, Rosefeldt has edited and reassembled thirteen collages of artists' manifestos.

Performing this 'manifesto of manifestos' as a contemporary call to action, while inhabiting thirteen different personas -- among them a school teacher, a puppeteer, a newsreader, a factory worker and a homeless man -- Australian actress Cate Blanchett imbues new dramatic life into both famous and lesser known words in unexpected contexts.

Rosefeldt's work reveals both the performative component and the political significance of these declarations. Often written in youthful rage, they not only express the wish to change the world through art but also reflect the voice of a generation. Exploring the powerful urgency of these historical statements, which were composed with passion and conviction by artists many years ago, Manifesto questions whether the words and sentiments have withstood the passage of time. Can they be applied universally? And how have the dynamics between politics, art and life shifted?

 

directed by   Julian Rosefeldt

starring   Cate Blanchett

release date   Sundance, 2017