Theater master Peter Brook from the UK is an enthusiast of Indian culture and prefers to work with actors of different nationalities. In order to make a theatrical adaptation of the Indian epic of 4 million words, The Mahabharata, Brook spent five years studying the epic and traveling to India for inspiration. The end result is a nine-hour long masterpiece that examines the role of myths as a universal aspect of human culture. Local audiences may never get the chance to see the 1985 theatrical classic, but the cinematic version screened at the festival offers a way to visit the ethereal world of the original.
Exploring legends
The festival lineup also includes several rarely seen documentaries on the works of legendary figures in contemporary theater. Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera takes a look at the landmark modern opera Einstein on the Beach first staged in 1976, a collaboration between theater director Robert Wilson and composer Philip Glass. Featuring interviews with Wilson and Glass along with clips of performances, the film not only presents an insight into the four-hour long play of mechanical body movements and minimalist sounds, but also the chance to gain insights into the minds of two important figures in American contemporary theater and classical music.
An elusive yet influential performing artist, painter, stage designer and theater director from Poland, Tadeusz Kantor created a unique theatrical world of anti-realism, and his belief that theater is a personal creation aligns his work with the tradition of contemporary fine art. In The Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor, director Denis Bablet interweaves interviews, segments of Kantor's works and rare scenes of the late artist at work to trace Kantor's extraordinary evolution as an artist.
Other recommended works for film buffs include German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassibinder's Nora Helmer (1973), his only cinematic work shot in theatrical form, a radical yet faithful adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House, which will be shown in Taiwan for the first time.
Hailed by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze as “the greatest Irish movie,” Film (1965) is Beckett's only cinematic work and stars the aging Keaton as a neurotic, anxious man.
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