Manifesto
Directed by Julian Rosefeldt
Australia/Germany | 2015 | Fiction/Experimental | 95 min
Film Source: Film Rise
Sponsor: Andrea Rogers
Manifesto originated as an art installation, consisting of filmed readings of artistic and political manifestos, from Marx and Engels’ 1848 Communist Manifesto, to the Dada movement’s announcement of the death of art, through Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 rules for filmmaking. It is rare that adaptations from one medium to another are successful, but Julian Rosefeldt’s film is a definite exception. The “texts” are performed by the chameleon-like Cate Blanchett, with a tour-de-force embodiment of each. The fact that Blanchett is a movie star as well as an actor adds to the complex and ambitious focus of the film, as she plays every role and each manifesto is set in a different place and time. The award-winning sound design by Fabian Schmidt and Markus Stemler is stunning. Manifesto is a cerebral film that is both witty and provocative, challenging our preconceptions of what art is, or should be. Another film in the festival, The Square, attacks similar issues in a very different way, and watching both could lead to an even richer experience. ~OY
