The Muse 2007

a film by Ben van Lieshout
drama, 72 mim.,35mm colour no dialogue
Dutch voice-over with English subtitles
cast Matthias Schoenaerts & Tara Elders

inspired by Portret van een Jongeman (Youth), a novel by J.M. coetzee and L' eclisse (The eclipse), a film by Michelangelo Antonioni.

An introvert man with high-strung ambitions of a writer's career and romance finds himself trapped in a writer's block and a cold, alienating environment where the substitute object of his affections, film star Monica vitti, offers little solace. in a self-depreciating manner he throws himself in the way of destiny.

Excerpt 2"06 min.

John has moved to town in order to become a success as a writer and a lover. during the day he languishes in his unchallenging office job. he spends his evenings in his room or at the library. at night he roams the outer skirts of town, no big thrill ever coming his way, his half-hearted attempts at contact predestined to fail. his only escape is the cinema. he falls in love with Monica vitti and fancies himself to be the sole comfort and support of the unfathomable and tortured muse from Antonioni's films. a nightly encounter with Monica Vitti's spitting image seems to be arranged by destiny. Will he allow her into his egocentric and lonely existence.

In this tale without dialogues the anonymous metropolitan environment is a character in its own right. The urban landscapes, mainly shot at night, shape a self-sustaining world of which characters have no hold. The Muse was inspired by J.M. Coetzee's novel Youth and Michelangelo Antonioni's work. The voice-over reads from the novel.

Production: Van Lieshout Filmproducties
Coproduction: Anotherfilm

The Muse was granted by The Dutch Film Fund, Rotterdam Film Fund, DMO Gemeente Utrecht, ThuiskopieFonds


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