PEEPING TOM'S SURREAL HIKING TRIP TO 32 RUE VANDENBRANDEN
Some artists prefer radical changes and bold moves. Others keep
refining a style that is unmistakably theirs. With the trilogy Le
Jardin/Le Salon/Le Sous-Sol I honestly thought that Brussels' duo
Peeping Tom had exhausted their style. How wrong I was. 32 rue
Vandenbranden, which premiered at KVS (Brussels) is a wonderful,
well-balanced piece of work, once again combining dance, theatre
and music. Poetic, cinematic and funny.
You get Bellini's Casta diva and Pink Floyd's Shine on you crazy
diamond. There's a contortionist and a classically trained singer.
One of the dancers is Flemish, two others are Korean. They dance,
act and sing. There's some pantomime involved too. They make you
laugh and then they try to make you cry. It's a collage of scenes,
but there's a story too. Get my drift? Just call it a small miracle
that 32 rue Vandenbranden turns out to be so well-balanced and
beautifully paced.
But I guess I'm leapfrogging. So let's go back to the beginning: a
couple of containers, on top of a mountain. A gigantic backdrop
with clouds and mountains. A snowy landscape. A happy, young
couple and a pregnant girl. And then two strangers arrive. A simple
story develops. Apparently Imamura's The ballad of Narayama was the
point of departure for Peeping Tom's Gabriella Carrizo and Franck
Chartier. That movie tells the story of a village where everyone
who reaches the age of 70 must go to a mountain top to die. Peeping
Tom's story is quite different, but nevertheless they also depict a
small community with strange customs.
Is it because Carrizo and Chartier aren't taking part in the
performance, this time? And by doing so have a better view on
things, from a distance? Is it because they got some advice from
filmeditor Nico Leunen, who recently worked on films such as
Altiplano and De helaasheid der dingen (The misfortunates)? I
wasn't really a fan of Peeping Tom's universe; although I'm quite
aware of all the awards they have won (best performance/dance in
France - 2005, young director's award in Salzburg - 2007). But this
time around I was really charmed by their mixture of elements and
their slow, cinematic (including a surround sound system) and
restrained take on things. Allow me to add just one negative
remark: the ending really let me down.
It's easy to see that this performance is going to be a big hit on
the festival circuit. Too bad Maria Otal won't be around to witness
that success. The 82-year-old actress, who was also in Le Sous Sol
and was supposed to go on tour with 32 rue Vandenbranden, died
unexpectedly on November 17th.