ANGELO, TYRAN DE PADOUE, REHEARSALS
FROM MAY, 11 TO JUNE 13
Christophe Honoré, the maker of the film "Dans Paris", is in residence at the CENTQUATRE, having just effected "a return to words, the voice, staging". With "Angelo, tyran de Padoue" by Victor Hugo, the man who deplores the facts that cinema is no longer the "legitimate successor of antique tragedy, a cathartic element of democracy", and that "the public and critics demand ever more sociological scripts, real people, and ever fewer actors", undertakes "a withdrawal from naturalism". Going back to the field of theatre - the director has already written several plays - he is not looking for that so sought-after "accurate view", but attempting to "work on a vision". In this romantic drama by Hugo, Christophe Honoré finds a set of themes common to his last two feature films, "La Belle Personne" and "Non ma fille, tu n’iras pas danser" (currently being edited), namely "the authority accorded to women". Angelo reigns over Padua, he explains, but the people who are not present are virtually reduced to two characters, the tyrant’s wife and his mistress. It is in his relationship to women that Hugo portrays the oppressor to us. Tyranny here is domestic and related to love.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Carhaix (Finistère) in 1970, he now lives and works in Paris. He started off writing children’s books and feature articles for Cahiers du cinéma. He made his first film, "17 fois Cécile Cassard", with the actress Béatrice Dalle in 2002. From then on he demonstrated his interest in cinema, as a director, but also as a script-writer and sometimes even as an actor. Between 2002 and 2008 he made "Ma Mère", "Dans Paris", "Les Chansons d’amour" and "La Belle personne". These films enjoyed considerable public and critical success ("Les Chansons d’amour" in particular was shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival). What the films have in common is that they think about serious love affairs, exploring the ardent impulses and vulnerability of young people suffering from doubt. While he has often tackled genre films, Christophe Honoré is now taking on the theatre. He has spent time at the Ceméa (Centres d'Entrainement aux Méthodes d'Education Active) residential centre for young people in Avignon, written and produced two plays ("Les Débutantes", "Le Pire du troupeau"), and already participated in the Festival with the presentation of his text "Dionysos impuissant" for the night-time performances of la 25e heure. This return to the theatre is today something that is necessary to "reclaim dramatic staging, escape from the naturalism French cinema imposes on its young authors".
Christophe Honoré
ANGELO, TYRAN DE PADOUE
Directed by : Christophe Honoré
Assistant to the director : Florian Richaud
Scenography : Samuel Deshors
Lights : Rémy Chevrin
Sound : Valérie Deloof
Costumes : Yohji Yamamoto et Limi Feu
With : Jean-Philippe Albizzati, Jean-Charles Clichet, Anaïs Demoustier, Emmanuelle Devos, Marcial di Fonzo Bo, Clotilde Hesme, Julien Honoré, Hervé Lassïnce, Antoine Nembrini, Sébastien Pouderoux.
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Festival d’Avignon production. Co-production by: Centre dramatique national Orléans / Loiret / Centre; Maison des arts et de la culture de Créteil; CDB - Théâtre de Lorient, centre dramatique national; Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines scène nationale. With the sponsorship of the Ile-de-France Region. With the artistic participation of the Jeune Théâtre national (National Youth Theatre). With the sponsorship of the CENTQUATRE.
