M Is for Man, Music, Mozart (1991)

A commissioned project, made for TV in honor the the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death, this is a highly avant-garde piece of music, theater and dance, set to an original score by the ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway

Stars:

Astrid Seriese, Ben Craft, Kate Gowar

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Astrid Seriese	...	Singer
Ben Craft	...	Dancer
Kate Gowar	...	Dancer
Karin Potisk	...	Dancer

Storyline

A commissioned project, made for TV in honor the the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death, this is a highly avant-garde piece of music, theater and dance, set to an original score by the controversial Dutch composer Louis Andriessen (who would later collaborate with Greenaway on the operas "Rosa" and "Writing to Vermeer"). Four nude, powder-white dancers (representing the Gods) appear on a stage designed in the style of an 18th century anatomy theater. A woman sings a list of objects beginning with various letters of the alphabet up to "M"; the Gods then decide to create Man, assembling him from body parts listed as onscreen text. Having created Man, the Gods then give him Movement; so as to give him a reason to move, they create Music; finally, so as to have Perfect Music, they create Mozart.

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Plot Keywords:

gods | mozart | text | dance | surrealism | 

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Genres:

Short

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Details

Country:

UK Netherlands Spain Portugal Germany Austria Belgium Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1991 (UK)

Also Known As:

Not Mozart

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artifax, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Avro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

A note to Ben.

Ben: I can't begin to tell you how much I admire your work here. Your dancing, the music, and visuals all fit together in a most creative manner. I have taught film for the past 20 years, and have always presented Greenaway as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) of our time. He is so complex and abstract that many don't get it, and most don't bother to try. The drama (which is always well made in his films) is never the point. It is the feeling that we get through his creative blending of characters, visuals, and music that is always what he seems to be going for. After all, he is a painter, and approaches film from a painter's point of view, and an abstract painter at that. We can observe the quiet death of opera, ballet, and the concert hall over the 2nd half of the century, and see film take over as the leading art form to include music. This incredible ballet, of which you are so much a part, is without question one of the finest ballets of the 2nd half of the century, all the more important as it has been preserved on film. Thank you so very much for your outstanding contribution here. You are a very great artist, my friend; and like many before you, misunderstood by most.