Jorgen Leth and the Gifts of Chance
Acclaimed Danish filmmaker Jorgen Leth was recently in the country, accompanied by his longtime cameraman Dan Holmberg. The Philippines was the second-to-last stop on his “world tour” while shooting his latest project, the quasi-autobiographical The Erotic Human. Other stops on the tour included Brazil, Haiti (where Leth has been residing since 1991), Laos (his next and last stop), as well as his native Denmark.While Leth has had a long, illustrious career, particularly in the field of experimental documentaries, he is probably most familiar to cinephiles today for his 2003 collaborative film with Lars Von Trier, The Five Obstructions.
In the film, Von Trier, who looks up to Leth as a kind of mentor, challenges him to remake his most popular film, The Perfect Human, five times—each time, with a different set of restrictions or rules that came to be known as “obstructions.”
It was an exercise in working with limitations and challenges and in creative problem solving. In a surprise “plot twist” (for a documentary!) it became a moving, emotional “intervention” of sorts, as it turned out Von Trier wanted to shake Leth out of what he considered a fallow period.Leth and Holmberg were shooting material for The Erotic Human, but since they had accomplished what they needed earlier than expected, Leth was able to give a Master Class at Fully Booked High St. on Friday the 13th, as part of the Film Series begun by the late Alexis Tioseco (since renamed Batang West Triangle in his honor).
The class was moderated by writer Erwin Romulo and attended by students, film critics like Philbert Dy, and filmmakers such as Lyle Sacris, Jason Tan, Mihk Vergara, cartoonist Arnold Arre, and of course, fans like myself.Leth discussed The Erotic Human, describing it as a cross between documentary, fiction, and memoir. It interweaves footage of him visiting the sites of major love affairs in his life, interviewing women from different societies that delineate the differences and similarities in their attitudes, and experiences with regards to eroticism and sex.
It’s a film that has been in development for over a decade, which he kept putting off while taking other projects, because he felt it was too difficult to tackle.
Some of the material in the film comes from his autobiography, The Imperfect Man.He spoke of his other careers and how they influenced his work as a filmmaker and vice versa. An accomplished writer, Leth has published 10 collections of poetry and eight non-fiction books. He strongly suggests keeping a notebook handy at all times and getting into the habit of taking notes whenever the impulse or an idea strikes, so that we won’t forget. He likes films to be very loose, like his notes, especially in the beginning. They can sharpen their focus later on, draw connections and gather conclusions.
He doesn’t like meticulously structured films. He referred to them as “clever” films, that have an airless quality to them. He cited Michael Moore whom he felt was using his films to lecture audiences.
“He already knows what he wants to say,” Leth said, “and he shoots what will aid his conclusion.” The way Leth operates, he begins a project with no set conclusion in mind. He only has questions, and hopes to arrive at some kind of truth or revelation through the process of making the film.He showed clips from his body of work to show what he meant. The opening scene of “Interference,” a political drama set in Haiti, features a policeman dancing freely at the airport while onlookers watch. This really happened, Leth said, the first time he visited the country that became his home, so he decided to put it into the film. He referred to instances like these as “ready-made reality.” Leth also stressed the idea of imposing limitations on one’s self. Setting yourself challenges, he espoused, forces you to be more creative.
“Limitations sharpen what you find important,” he said. This embracing of restrictions is why he agreed to do The Five Obstructions in the first place. But the restrictions one imposes on oneself shouldn’t be arbitrary; they should be related to the project.
As an example, he showed a scene from one of his landmark works, 66 Scenes From America—a project inspired by postcards from the US.
Leth wanted to explore America as a foreigner or outsider. Keeping postcards in mind, he gave himself a restriction: the camera could not move, it would stay still like the postcards of iconic Americana that were the impetus. The scene he showed featured Andy Warhol eating a cheeseburger. “What’s more American than that?” Leth asked.The most striking thing about the master class was Leth’s enthusiasm. He actually prefers smaller budgets because it means more freedom and less expectation. A smaller budget is also another limitation, another problem to be solved creatively.
It is inspiring that at 72 years, Jorgen Leth is still curious and fascinated, still excited to discover new things.
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Ramon De Veyra blogs at www.thesecuriousdays.com.
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Catch James Jean today at Fully Booked High St. The internationally acclaimed artist will be signing books at 2 PM, and will give a talk at the CSB-School of Design and Arts tomorrow at 10 AM.This Saturday, November 28, join Us-2 Evil-0 at Mag:net High St. at 10PM for the launch of their debut album, Dirty Debutantes. Opening bands include Turbo Goth, Arigato Hato, Monsterbot and Ciudad, fresh from their US tour!
