Reuters, UK
Aug. 25, 2006
Filmmaker Atom Egoyan directs Wagner
Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:11 PM BST
TORONTO (Reuters) – Filmmaker Atom Egoyan, renowned for award-winning
movies that explore the dark sides of human behaviour, is taking a
turn at helming a grand opera with similar brooding features.
Egoyan, 46, the Egyptian-born son of Armenian parents who migrated to
Canada, has examined incest, the horrors of war and the mysteries of
fate in such deeply psychological films as "Exotica," "The Sweet
Hereafter," "Felicia’s Journey" and "Ararat." He will revisit some of
those themes for an upcoming Canadian Opera Company production of
Richard Wagner’s 19th century opera "Die Walkure."
The Wagner classic, the second of the four-part epic cycle "Der Ring
des Nibelungen," is a complex tale in which incestuous love, the will
of the gods and fate combine to advance the overall themes of the
Ring Cycle.
During an interview at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing
Arts in Toronto, where a production of the entire Ring Cycle will
open for a three-week run on September 12, Egoyan described
similarities in his approach to making movies and opera.
"In my films I am very interested in subtext and what makes people
act the way they do," he said. "I try and bring that detail to the
way I direct the opera but also the way I stage it. The way I create
visual ideas which can reinforce the psychology of the piece."
This is not Egoyan’s first foray into directing opera. He began with
a 1996 Canadian Opera Company production of "Salome." He directed an
earlier production of "Die Walkure" — the source of Wagner’s famous
"Ride of the Valkyries" — for the company in 2004. He most recently
directed the play "Eh Joe" in London’s West End.
When the Toronto-based director was first presented with the
opportunity to direct "Die Walkure," he was full of doubt, he said,
because he could read music but at the time had no background in
opera.
"It’s that doubt and that fear that actually creates an excitement,"
he said. "And I think if you don’t feel that, then maybe there’s
something a little bit wrong. You have to be able to rise to the
material."
The director cites the central conflict in the Ring as being "the
power of love versus the love of power — that’s the theme that comes
up over and over again because in order to get power you have to
relinquish love."
The narrative of the Ring Cycle, which was written by Wagner between
1848 and 1874, was inspired by a German tale and Norse legends.
An emphasis on the bloodlust and horror of war will be a major focus
in the Egoyan production.
"Wagner was not really criticising the war machine," Egoyan said,
"and I think this production is showing quite explicitly the
horrifying results of that approach where war becomes an economy unto
itself."