Vol.2, No 9, 2002 pp. 269 - 280
UDC 791.43.04
EUROPEAN SHAKESPEARE ON FILM:
JOVAN ŽIVANOVIĆ, HOW ROMEO AND JULIET LOVED
Ljiljana Bogoeva Sedlar
Faculty of Dranatic Arts, Universtiy of Arts, Belgrade
"Anything can be projected into Shakespeare," wrote Ted Hughes in the Foreword
to his Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being, insisting, at the
same time, that his own discovery of a basic structural pattern (or plot
schemata, fundamental, galvanic, nuclear dramatic idea) in Shakespeare's
works was not a 'projection', but "had objective life, and in fact evolved
from play to play with riveting consistency". He called the pattern in
question Shakespeare's 'myth', and claimed to have been guided towards
its discovery by two fortuitous circumstances in his life: his sustained
interest in the mythologies and folklores of the world, which preceded
his interest in poetry, and his work with Peter Brook, both in London's
Old Vick, and the Centre for Theatre Research in Paris.
In 1971 these experiences amalgamated with his work on the Faber edition
of Shakespeare's poetry, and evolved, through the next twenty years, into
the study he completed and published in 1992. The final impetus for the
writing of the book, according to Hughes, came from the stimulating exchange
of letters with the Swedish actress Donya Feur, who was inspired by Hughes'
observations about Shakespeare to put together, in 1978, "a full length
performance of interlocked verse extracts in which a solo actress relived
her Shakespearean earlier incarnations, following the evolution of one
of the myth's figures from play to play."
Like Feur, I too found Hughes' basic insight into Shakespeare stimulating,
and, testing it against the works of film directors who have produced 'Shakespearean
films', discovered that it threw a unique new light on the evolution of
their oeuvre. For the past ten years I have been exploring this vastly
interesting area in a course on Shakespeare and Film set up at the Women's
Study Centre in Belgrade, and in the undergraduate and graduate courses
I teach at the FDA. The course looks into the evolution of such artists
as Bresson, Bergman, Bertolucci, Tarkovsky, Godard, Kurosawa, Welles, Altman,
Polansky, Lepage, Heneke, and many others (Maya Deren, Kusturica, etc.).
This contribution to the ESSE 2002 conference is based on my current work
on two Yugoslav directors, Jovan Živanović and Krsto Papić whose opus contains
films derived from Shakespeare.
EVROPSKE VERZIJE ŠEKSPIRA NA
FILMU:
FILM JOVANA ŽIVANOVIĆA
KAKO SU SE VOLELI ROMEO I JULIJA
U ovom zborniku prikazan je samo prvi deo rada pod ovim naslovom, posvećen
analizi filmskog opusa režisera Jovana Živanovića (1924-2002), posebno
njegovom filmu Kako su se voleli Romeo i Juija iz 1966. godine. Rad prati
kako se kroz Živanovićeve rane igrane filmove postepeno razvija kritičko
'čitanje' savremenog načina života veoma blisko stavovima koje je u svojoj
studiji o Šekspiru engleski književnik, pesnik laureat Ted Hjuz (1930-1998),
definisao kao pokretačku snagu i razvojnu paradigmu čitavog Šekspirovog
opusa. Ta zajednička, umetničkim jezikom istraživana premisa je svest o
važnosti onoga što se u patrijarhalnom društvu odredjuje kao Žensko, i
interesovanje za odnos prema ženskom (i u užem smislu prema ženama) manifestovan
tokom razvoja zapadne civilizacije. Negativne odlike zapadne civilizacije
(i svih sredina koje ona obuhvata), po ovakvnom tumačenju proističu iz
stalnog sputavanja i nasilnog preinačavanja Ženskog, iz odbacivanja ljubavi
kao prave veze medju polovima, i ustoličavanja, deklarativno i dalje u
ime ljubavi, raznih sistema kontrole i dominacije. Ovu uzurpaciju, odustajanje
od oblika identiteta koji bi se razvio iz života inspirisanog ljubavlju,
mirenje sa onim sto od života ostane kada se sposobnost za ljubav osakati
i ne razvije, Šekspir istražuje u dramama koje se bave svim ratovima obeležinim
istorijskim epohama koje su prethodile vremenu u kojem je sam živeo. Živanovićevi
filmovi, koji prate razvoj Jugoslavije posle drugog svetskog rata, iza
istorijske verodostojnosti koju postižu, razvijaju neprestano pomenuto
arhetipsko 'šekspirovsko' razmišljanje, koje im daje posebnu vrednost i
povezuje ih, preko istorijskog i nacionalnog, sa univerzalnim zapisima
o sudbnini savremenog čoveka.
