The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (writer)

Release Date:

18 July 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Plot:

The first of three parts, we follow Tulse Luper in three distinct episodes: as a child during the first World War...

Plot Keywords:

Utah | Mormon | Suitcase | Male Frontal Nudity | Marriage

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

JJ Feild	...	Tulse Luper / Floris Creps
Caroline Dhavernas	...	Passion Hockmeister
Jordi Mollà	...	Jan Palmerion
Steven Mackintosh	...	Gunther Zeloty
Raymond J. Barry	...	Stephen Figura
Scot Williams	...	Percy Hockmeister
Drew Mulligan	...	Martino Knockavelli
Yorick van Wageningen	...	Julian Lephrenic
Jack Wouterse	...	Erik van Hoyten
Naím Thomas	...	Hercule
Nilo Mur	...	Pip
Valentina Cervi	...	Cissie Colpitts
Tom Bower	...	Tom Fender
Michèle Bernier	...	Sophie van Osterhuis
Barbara Tarbuck	...	Ma Fender
Enrique Alcides	...	Hans Heiner
Shaun Phillips	...	Martino
Kevin Tighe	...	William Gottschalk
Guillermo Ayesa	...	Gerdie Ottanssen
Joan Codina	...	Emile
Xavier Aliguer	...	Pierre (as Xavi Aliguer)
Iván Andrade	...	Brodie
Lauren Hadley	...	Macey
Joshua Light	...	David
Adam Williams	...	Celam
Vincent Bonnet	...	Donald
Sally-Jo Jenkins	...	Aga
Manu Fullola	...	Gopel (as Manuel Fullola)
Oriol Vila	...	Stringly
Francesco Guzzo	...	Joe Maistersinger (as Salvatore Francesco Guzzo)
Winston Evans	...	Ivor Luper
Francine Morgan	...	Carrie Luper
Thomas Bodmer	...	Thomas J. Imox
Joan-Francesc Ainaud	...	Gordon Merovian
Phillippe Boekstal	...	Luper Autoritat
Edmon Roch	...	Blaise Poignard
Amelia White	...	Zelke
Clare Boland	...	Mare Celan
Marlene Griffiths	...	Mrs. Warren
Roger Nott	...	Constantino de Ripa
Deborah Harry	...	Fastidieux (as Debbie Harry)
Josep de Font	...	Red Fox Cadet
Ivan Labanda	...	Red Fox Cadet
Roger Padilla	...	Red Fox Cadet
Joan Pastor	...	Red Fox Cadet
Aimar Pérez	...	Red fox cadet
Phil Rowlands	...	Arthuro Balderman
Marti Santiago	...	Red Fox Cadet
Pablo Derqui	...	Luper Jove (as Pau Derqui)
Albert López-Murtra	...	Luper Jove
Ivan Massagué	...	Luper Jove
Bruno Pichot	...	Luper Jove
Ricard Sales	...	Luper Jove
Coast Alexander Ryen	...	Cappy Luper
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rubén Arroyo
Miquel Bordoy
Roberto Citran
Benjamin Davies	...	Hercule
Andrew Fitch	...	Palmerion Auditionee
Anna Galiena
Remo Girone
Iain Hoskins
Patrick Kennedy	...	Hercule
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Virgil de Selincourt
Cristina Moglia
Tanya Moodie	...	Guam Ravillion
Richard Pask	...	Young Tulse Luper
Molly Ringwald
Paul Rockenbrod	...	Lephrenic
Isabella Rossellini	...	Mme. Moitessier
Francesco Salvi	...	Paul / Pierre
Dávid Spáh	...	Karlheitz
Nigel Terry	...	Sesame Esau
Ana Torrent
Piero Verzello	...	Corpse prisoner
Alec Von Bargen
Leslie Woodhall	...	Man in Overalls
Maggie Munro	...	Zealot (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Greenaway

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Greenaway		writer

Produced by
Wouter Barendrecht	....	executive producer
Eva Baró	....	co-producer
Bob Bellion	....	co-producer
Jet Christiaanse	....	line producer
Jimmy de Brabant	....	co-producer
Carlo Dusi	....	executive producer
Kees Kasander	....	producer
Ragna Arny Larusdottir	....	assistant line producer
Aleksandr Mikhajlov	....	co-producer
Gherardo Pagliei	....	co-producer
Elisabetta Riga	....	co-producer
Edmon Roch	....	line producer
Aron Sipos	....	co-producer
Antoni Solé	....	co-producer
Sándor Söth	....	co-producer
Esther Thedinga	....	assistant line producer
Klaus Volkenborn	....	co-producer
Michael J. Werner	....	executive producer
Juan Álvarez	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Borut Krzisnik
Eduardo Polonio

Cinematography by
Reinier van Brummelen		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Elmer Leupen
Chris Wyatt

Casting by
Pep Armengol
Sharon Howard-Field
Radica Jovicic
Peter Wooldridge

Production Design by
Davide Bassan
Billy Lelieveld
Pirra Jesús Lorenzo
Bettina Schmidt
Márton Ágh

Costume Design by
Andrea Flesch
Beatrice Giannini
Marrit van der Burgt

Makeup Department
Aurélie Elich	....	makeup artist
Sara Meerman	....	key makeup artist
Joël Seiller	....	assistant hair stylist
Evelyne Sittig	....	assistant hair stylist
Evelyne Sittig	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Hebeler Guy	....	unit manager
Ragna Arny Larusdottir	....	production manager
Claude Ludovicy	....	production manager
Katalin Naszódi	....	unit production manager: Hungary
Marta Rigau	....	production manager: Spain
Sascha Schwill	....	production manager: Germany
Lionel Strutt	....	post-production supervisor
Jochem van Rijs	....	post-production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sébastien Fernandes Tasch	....	second assistant director
Gábor Gajdos	....	first assistant director: Hungary
Dylan Gray	....	first assistant director: Germany
Tamás Joó	....	assistant director
Ángel Lafuente	....	first assistant director
Stojan Petrov	....	second assistant director: Germany
Julen Robles	....	second assistant director
Csilla Szigeti	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Pau Albin	....	assistant props buyer
Dominique De Pompignan	....	stand-by props
Manuel Demoulling	....	prop buyer
Rosie Ellis	....	set dresser
Thomas Ferrandis	....	carpenter
Queralt Antú Serrano	....	calligraphy artist
Queralt Antú Serrano	....	props
Seth Turner	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Caoimhe Doyle	....	foley artist
Csaba Erös	....	boom operator: Budapest
Dani Fontrodona	....	sound recordist
Max Frick	....	sound editor
Urko Garai	....	boom operator
Arni Gustafsson	....	boom operator
Bart Jilesen	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bart Jilesen	....	supervising sound editor
János Köporosy	....	sound recordist: Budapest
Han Otten	....	sound designer
Han Otten	....	sound effects editor
Han Otten	....	sound re-recording mixer
György Rajna	....	utility sound: Budapest
James Seddon	....	dolby consultant

Special Effects by
Gustavo Harry Farias	....	special effects technician
Sara Meerman	....	special effects makeup

Visual Effects by
Francesco Paglia	....	digital compositor
Mauro Vicentini	....	digital compositor
Raymond Viveen	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Ruzbeh Babol	....	camera operator
László Berger	....	assistant camera
Daan de Boer	....	chief gaffer
Raúl Campos	....	electrician
Llúcia Faraig	....	still photographer
Juan González Guerrero	....	assistant gaffer
Helder Loureiro Alves Da Silva	....	lighting technician
Laura Martínez	....	grip
Alex Narváez	....	electrician
José Alberto Pinto de Jesus	....	electrician
Frank Restle	....	crane operator
Mike Roberts	....	video assist operator
Attila Szûcs	....	dolly grip
Balázs Vákár	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Pep Armengol	....	casting: Spain
Irene Roqué	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Imre Béres	....	costume assistant: military supervisor
Magdalena Marczynska	....	wardrobe assistant
József Varjú	....	dresser: men

Editorial Department
Jaap Praamstra	....	additional editor
Jon Thompson	....	post-production consultant
Catalin Brylla	....	dailies editor (wales ) (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Gaby Meyers	....	driver: cast
Francois Muller	....	truck driver
Igor Pecirep	....	driver: director

Other crew
Bob Bellion	....	financial manager
Alexandre Brown	....	facilities supervisor
Peter Brown	....	location assistant
Catalin Brylla	....	production assistant
Pauline Burt	....	risk manager
Susanne Fischer	....	assistant to line producer: Italy
Guy Hebeler	....	location manager
Zoltán A. Kerényi	....	managing director: Focusfilm Kft.
Joe Kotroczo	....	production office assistant
Patricia Kretschmer	....	assistant to producer
Annick Lockman	....	production coordinator: Luxembourg
Roberto Longobardi	....	production accountant
Alba Morera	....	production assistant
Francois Muller	....	location security officer
Sébastien Peiffer	....	additional location assistant
Otfried Suppin	....	location assistant
Elly Verduyckt	....	script supervisor
Allard van der Werff	....	assistant: Peter Greenaway

Production Companies

• ABS Production
• Delux Productions
• Focusfilm Kft.
• Gam Films
• Intuit Pictures
• Kasander Film Company
• NET Entertainment
• Net Entertainment
• Studio 12-A

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Istituto Luce (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Laurenfilm (2003) (Spain) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Fatts  post-production script services
• Film & Television Facilities  facility vehicles
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Location Consulting & Facilities  facilities vehicles
• Mayflower Recording  sound post-production
• Open Casting  casting
• Open Casting  extras casting
• Sky Media Travel  travel agent

Also Known As:

Runtime:

France:127 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

UK | Spain | Italy | Luxembourg | Netherlands | Russia | Hungary | Germany

Language:

English | German | Dutch | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

ABS Production

Trivia:

'Cissie Colpitts' is the name shared by the three main female characters in Drowning by Numbers (1988), by the same director.

Movie Connections:

References Water Wrackets (1975)

A worthy exploration of multimedia

The Moab Story is a fascinating cinematic experiment - it really is an encyclopedic CD-ROM-like film - it reminded me of The Pillow Book and A TV Dante in its presentation. The screen is predominantly busy with informative movement. I watched the film on DVD and the text on screen is small, but I was constantly zooming in on the picture to read it so it wasn't a problem. But the viewing would be enhanced watching it on as large a screen as possible, but having said that it is appropriate for DVD with its interactivity. The project as a whole begs for interactivity with the individual user.

The film begins with showing us actors auditioning for roles, which is also used later. Tulse is a young boy with his friend Martino Knockavelli in the back yard of his house in Newport, Wales. A red brick wall collapses on Tulse and then we progress through history, with war footage in the background. Tulse travels to Moab where he is abused and jailed, and then later travels to Antwerp and faces the sinister Red Fox fascists. Throughout the film a small box with the head of a talking expert inside appears (like A TV Dante) describing the background of what is happening. Characters are noted on screen with name and number when they appear. It was fun reading all of Luper's Lost Films that scrolled down the screen, as well as seeing the other suitcases (suitcases 1 - 21 are featured in this film). It was good to see former Greenaway films - Vertical Features Remake, Water Wrackets, A Zed & Two Noughts, and The Belly of an Architect - referenced and appear. Greenaway is really experimenting here with image and sound, using repetitive sound at times giving an echoing effect. He plays with connecting numbers to draw shapes on screen when Percy strikes Tulse. Sometimes the screenplay is shown on screen after the characters have said it. The cinematography by Reinier Van Brummelen is good. The music by Borut Krzisnik is superb and feels appropriate. In the acting stakes Caroline Dhavernas is the stand out, and J.J. Feild does a capable job as Tulse. It's a film that (like all Greenaway films) needs to be watched several times. I look forward to seeing Vaux to the Sea.