Jirí Kylián’s Car Men (2006)
A film by Boris Paval Conen and Jirí Kylián
Sabine Kupferberg, Karel Hruška, David Krügel, Giogonda Barbuto
Arrangements and additional music by Han Otten
Costumes by Stephanie Mariën
Also including additional ballets by Kylián: Silent Cries and La Cathédrale engloutie

2007 winner of the Grand Prize at the Montréal International Festival of Films on Art, Car Men is Jirí Kylián’s retelling of a timeless story of passion and ambition. The Czech-born choreographer retains four of the main characters from the traditional Bizet opera in his free-adaptation; the enticing Carmen (Sabine Kupferberg), the obsessed lover Don José (Karel Hruška), the philanderer Escamillo (David Krügel), and the good-hearted Micaëla (Gioconda Barbuto). Filmed in the inherent wasteland of an abandoned Czech coal mine near the German border, the piece uses only one large prop; a scrap car.

In the first moments of Car Men, one thinks that they are observing frolicking children, when the performers are actually from the Nederlands Dans Theater III, an ensemble created by Kylián in 1991 for experienced senior dancers over the age of 40. These performers, in combination with the use of the gloomy and desolate palate of the coal mine, allow Kylián to communicate metaphors of time and speed, movement and stillness, and youth and old age throughout the 27 minute piece. Reviewer Maggie Foyer of Dance Europe proclaimed that “Kylián’s Car Men is destined to become a later-day cult silent movie.”

Born in Prague in 1947, Jirí Kylián studied dance with his mother initially before beginning training at the ballet school of Prague’s National Theater at the age of 9. By the age of 26, Kylián had choreographed works for Noverre Gesellschaft, Stuttgart Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater where he was appointed co-director in 1975. The esteemed choreographer became the sole artistic director of NDT in 1977 and remained there until 1999 when he departed to work on projects of his own, including Car Men. Silent Cries and La Cathédrale engloutie, the other two productions that comprise the DVD, were created during Kylián’s time as artistic director of NDT. Both pieces use the music of Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and Prélude No. 10 La Cathédrale engloutie respectively.
Filmed in black and white and mainly choreographed on site by Kylián, Car Men is superbly directed by Dutch filmmaker Boris Paval Conen with costume design by Stephanie Mariën. Arrangements of Bizet’s score as well as original music for Car Men are written by Han Otten.

The Bolshoi Ballet II (1989-1990)

Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible (1990)
Irek Mukhamedov, Natalya Bessmertnova
Gediminas Taranda

Prokofiev: The Stone Flower (1990)
Nikolai Dorokhov, Lyudmilla Semenyaka
Nina Semizorova, Yuri Vetrov

Khachaturian: Spartacus (1990)
Irek Mukhamedov, Alexandr Vetrov
Lyudmilla Semenyaka, Maria Bilova
Gediminas Taranda

Glazunov: Raymonda (1989)
Natalya Bessmertnova, Yuri Vasyuchenko
Gedeminas Taranda, Elena Bobrova

Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Algis Zhuraitis and Aleksandr Kopilov, conductors
Yuri Grigorovich, choreographer

Arthaus Musik will release its second volume of productions performed by the Bolshoi Ballet, one of the world’s oldest and most well-respected ballet companies. Volume two includes Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible and The Stone Flower, Khachaturian’s Spartacus, and Glazunov’s Raymonda. Natalya Bessmertnova, Bolshoi Ballet prima ballerina and late wife of Yuri Grigorovich, appears in two roles that she originated at the Bolshoi: Anatasia (Ivan the Terrible) and the tile role in Grigorovich’s revised Raymonda. As with volume one, all of the productions in this four disc set were recorded at the historic Bolshoi Theatre and catalog the works of Yuri Grigorovich, renowned choreographer and director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1964-1995.

 

Tags: Arthaus, Bolshoi, Car Men, David Krügel, Elena Bobrova, Gediminas Taranda, Giogonda Barbuto, Han Otten, Irek Mukhamedov, Ivan the Terrible, Jiri Kylian, Karel Hruška, La Cathédrale engloutie, Lyudmilla Semenyaka, Maria Bilova, Natalya Bessmertnova, NaxosDirect, Nikolai Dorokhov, Raymonda, Sabine Kupferberg, Silent Cries, Spartacus, Stephanie Mariën, Stone Flower, Yuri Vasyuchenko