Body heat
illuminates a breathtaking dance of light, movement and humanity
The
experimental dance film ORA (2011) was inspired by the French
painter Paul Gauguin’s post-impressionist masterpiece Where Do We Come From? What Are We?
Where Are We Going? (1897-98), and it’s as entrancing and enigmatic as
its muse. Eschewing traditional filmmaking methods in which light is exposed to
film stock or a digital camera sensor, the Canadian filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq
instead captured six dancers in motion using thermal imaging technology that’s
sensitive to even minor heat fluctuations. Together with the Canadian
choreographer José Navas and the Canadian musician Robert M Lepage, who
provides the dreamy, propulsive score, Baylaucq deploys these innovative
methods to create his own impressionistic dive into self-exploration and
existential questions.
The work’s
ethereal beauty contains a clever artistic inversion: the infrared technology
used to make the piece was first invented as a tool of warfare. This novel
approach, combined with innovative staging that included shooting in a
warehouse covered in heat-reflective aluminium panels, required Baylaucq to
push the boundaries of cinema to create an otherworldly effect. These
innovative techniques are evident in the final product, which is surely unlike
anything anything you’ve seen before. As the dancers’ illuminated forms move in
contrast with the dark yet reflective background, their bodies appear at once
surreal and yet intensely human.
Director:
Philippe Baylaucq
Choreographer:
José Navas
Website: National Film Board of Canada
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