www.MartinRedlich.com
Eastward
(Prague, 1995)
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Short film 16mm, Director Approximately 18min Cinematography: Velimir Kovacic
Roy Hadfield is Mr. R. Esident Story: Eastward became the third film in what I still call `The Tory Trilogy´. Roy Hadfield came down to see me in Prague and we started shooting this, still the most comprehensive film, I have made to date. Velimir Kovacic from Croatia, then on the run from war duties, was appointed DOP, and despite his young age this guy was an excellent photographer with a real eye for visual beauty. Unfortunately, as a veritable novice I was utterly unable to ask for anything that could possibly put the mans´ talents to the test, but without trying he still taught me more about the nature of cinematography than anyone else since. His command of the camera (and lights etc) was admirable indeed, but I am to this day still wondering whether such fine handling and knowledge perhaps will, in the final analysis, put a stop to truly innovative filmmaking. Hasn´t it by now become clear that most aesthetic leaps have come from not knowing what is really possible…? That American movies besides a host of other problems indeed suffer from cinematography simply `too good´ and as a result utterly sterile…? And isn´t the biggest fear becoming aware of the limitations of one´s chosen art form? Anyway, Roy was great, and despite being 50-something, he still kept up with my erratic lifestyle of nocturnal indulgence. I remember being stopped by the police driving the wrong way down a one-way street by Namesti Republicky – both out of our minds – and paying off the coppers with the silliest grins on our faces….. This film was an incredible learning experience altogether (for one thing my female editor was Slovak and only spoke French besides), one I will hardly ever forget. One moment springs to mind: Filming at the school in Dusni we had lined up for this tracking shot from the door man (regardless of country and politics, still the most important guy in any `corporation´….played by me) to Roy coming into the school. Velimir wanted to begin on the coffee machine which was meticulously lit for this purpose, when suddenly this military geezer walks in on the set. Claiming it was his coffee machine and that somebody had vandalized it (indeed it didn´t work), he called up the police…..who came shortly after and started taking pictures of the coffee machine with their tiny snapshot camera. Waiting for hours while this was going on I was about to explode, realizing of course it was the first day of Easter, and nobody, literally nobody, was going to utilize this machine for at least a week. It is very likely that this incident would have made a more accurate portrait of Prague and The Czech Republic of 1995…
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