Times have certainly changed if Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, once among the most radical and politically-motivated film makers in Italy, are claiming that what they really want to do these days is "tell love stories". Not only do they claim it, but they go as far back as the early 19th century to Goethe's novel Elective Affinities - now identified as one of great moments in German romantic literature - in order to explore the mysteries of nature, whose unexplained couplings, particularly when applied to human beings, baffled the logical minds of those who had just come out of a "Century of Enlightenment".
"Goethe has always been very close to our hearts, and his work offers the greatest battlefield of all for the wars of love", say the directors. This particular novel takes place during the Napoleonic era in a beautifully- located Tuscan villa. The owners, Carlotta and Edoardo, who have been in love for many years, expect to find there the perfect grounds to fulfil their relationship. Staying with them are a couple of friends, Ottone, an architect, and Carlotta's 18-year-old nephew, Ottilia.
Their lives proceed in the most wondrous bliss, until one evening they read together a text about "elective affinities" - a theory maintaining that natural substances are drawn to each other and form couples, which dissolve when new elements enter the picture in order to create different couples. Soon enough, they realise that this law of nature is more than just pure theory, as it starts applying to themselves. Edoardo is drawn to Ottilia, Carlotta is drawn to the architect, and there is nothing they can do to prevent these powerful impulses from taking over.
While keeping the historical perspective in mind, the point of the story is applicable and true for human nature at all times, past, present and future. This explains the approach of costume designer Lina Nerli Taviani, who maintains that "we did not wish to retouch the look of that period, but we tried to keep the costumes as simple and functional as possible so the actors would feel as natural and comfortable as possible."
The story was relocated to Tuscany, an obvious choice for the directors, "as this is their own homeland and they can use many of the specific attributes of the landscape to their advantage," explains the film's production designer Gianni Sbarra.
"In a film, the atmosphere is established mostly by the type of sets and locations we use. In this case, what I particularly liked was the feeling that interiors and exteriors were somehow extensions of each other", adds cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci, who has been associated with all recent Taviani films.
Another long-time associate of the Tavianis is producer Grazia Volpi, who put this project together as an Italian-French co-production. "It was done at a particularly difficult period for French film production and we had to overcome numerous obstacles before the project was firmly set", says Volpi, who chose this type of collaboration because he wanted the directors to have the widest margins in casting the main roles. The final choice - Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Marie Gillain (the young star of Tavernier's L'appat) from France, and Italian Fabrizio Bentivoglio - for the four leads, may have also influenced the decision to shoot the film in French.
Talking about their new film, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani said: "We doubt whether any author ever knows the true intentions of his work. As far as we're concerned, a film is a series of images, suggestions and dramatic plots that gradually shape themselves into a story which launches us on a new project." Goethe would probably have applauded this definition.
Edna Fainaru
Prod Co: Filmtre, Gierre Film, with RAI, Florida Movies, France 3 Cinema, Canal +
Prod: Grazia Volpi
Dir/Scr: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, based on a novel by J.W. Goethe
Ph: Giuseppe Lanci
Prod des: Gianni Sbarra
Cos: Lina Nerli Taviani
Mus: Carlo Crivelli.
Ed: Roberto Perpignani
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Marie Gillain
Running time: 98mins
International sales: SACIS
