Théâtre (1977)

Festival of Avignon 1977. In the main courtyard of the Popes' Palace, actors rehearse a play by Shakespeare, Coriolan. The director is inspired by this text and the history of the landscape of Provence to question the imaginary threads that link all these elements and that "make theater". "Theater is a film about the relationship between theater and history. First, there is Coriolan, Shakespeare's play about a Roman dictator's rise to power, there are the landscapes of Provence, there are the actors who rehearse the play in Avignon. And two voices, that of a man and that of a woman who speak to each other. While the reality of the actors' work builds the documentary side of the film, this fictional dialogue resonates with the landscapes that contain so many traces and stories. The film, playful and joyful, explores the narrative possibilities of cinema." - Catherine Bizern