France
THE ITALIAN METHOD
11 MIN
2016
Synopsis
‘The Italian Method’ uses a diptych of two screens to stage the confrontation of a ‘place’ and a ‘non-place’ (both visual and metaphorical) while creating tensions between the representation of reality versus fiction by blurring the separation between ‘person’ versus ‘Character’. The title is referring to the sound recording technique largely adopted by the post-war Italian cinema to cut costs with actors having to re-record the dialogues afterwards in a studio. A similar technique was used here, but the sound was recorded from the image on the right (library) and the actor had to lip-synch to the monologue on the spot in the image on the left (void). The traction is further amplified by this never-ending monologue which
at first sight seems out of synch creating further disruption between the image and the sound. The director explained the structure and the form of the monologue to the actor hence creating a protocol. The content was improvised by the actor on the spot following these structural guidelines.
Generalized desynchronization of the dispositif (sound, image and movement) disrupts the unwinding of the narrative. By the means of the speech and the recording protocol,the dispositif plays with what the spectator is accustomed to while creating a space for reflection on the modalities of memory restitution.
The various lags exhibit the limits of representation that can only be out of sync with the time of the event the actor wishes to realise, but also the limits of a medium characterized by the space of ‘truth’ it claims to show and construct. Therefore, the established bound- aries are blurring and confusing the frameworks of speech and action, memory and its transcript, an individual and a character, reality and fiction.
This memento mori invites the viewer to identify the aesthetic flaws of the reconstruction.
Cast & Crew
Director: Garush Melkonyan
Script: Garush Melkonyan
Director of Photography: Simón García-Miñaúr
Edit: Simón García-Miñaúr
Assistant : Luska Khalapyan
Cast: Linda Martinez
‘The Italian Method’ uses a diptych of two screens to stage the confrontation of a ‘place’ and a ‘non-place’ (both visual and metaphorical) while creating tensions between the representation of reality versus fiction by blurring the separation between ‘person’ versus ‘Character’. The title is referring to the sound recording technique largely adopted by the post-war Italian cinema to cut costs with actors having to re-record the dialogues afterwards in a studio. A similar technique was used here, but the sound was recorded from the image on the right (library) and the actor had to lip-synch to the monologue on the spot in the image on the left (void). The traction is further amplified by this never-ending monologue which
at first sight seems out of synch creating further disruption between the image and the sound. The director explained the structure and the form of the monologue to the actor hence creating a protocol. The content was improvised by the actor on the spot following these structural guidelines.
Generalized desynchronization of the dispositif (sound, image and movement) disrupts the unwinding of the narrative. By the means of the speech and the recording protocol,the dispositif plays with what the spectator is accustomed to while creating a space for reflection on the modalities of memory restitution.
The various lags exhibit the limits of representation that can only be out of sync with the time of the event the actor wishes to realise, but also the limits of a medium characterized by the space of ‘truth’ it claims to show and construct. Therefore, the established bound- aries are blurring and confusing the frameworks of speech and action, memory and its transcript, an individual and a character, reality and fiction.
This memento mori invites the viewer to identify the aesthetic flaws of the reconstruction.
Cast & Crew
Director: Garush Melkonyan
Script: Garush Melkonyan
Director of Photography: Simón García-Miñaúr
Edit: Simón García-Miñaúr
Assistant : Luska Khalapyan
Cast: Linda Martinez
Garush Melkonyan
Garush Melkonyan is a visual artist and filmmaker. His work mainly combines video, sculpture and installation, exploring the invisible codes that structure communication, discourse and language. Experimentation and improvisation within an already defined framework play an important role in Melkonyan’s practice, as they allow for the creation of a new collaborative environment. His works have been exhibited in group exhibitions, screenings and festivals in venues such as Palais de Tokyo, Paris; La Panacée, Montpellier; Nordenhake Gallery, Mexico City; La Villette, Paris. He had solo exhibitions at Jean Claude Maier Gallery, Frankfurt and Lasecu, Lille 3000. Melkonyan received his MFA from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (2017) and San Francisco Art Institute in 2016. His MFA diploma installation entitled The Interview received the Thaddaeus Ropac Prize.
Filmography
Just the Four of Us (short, 2018), The Italian Method (2016), Cosmovision (short, 2023).
PHOTOS/TRAILER