6 Reasons Manifesto tosee
There are 13 screens in this immersive installation by German film-maker Julian Rosefeldt. His star, Cate Blanchett, plays 13 wildly disparate characters in what has been described as a bleak incitement to revolution. Worth seeing? Here’s what the reviewers – and the actor – reckon.
1
The number one reason has to be Cate Blanchett, who told a British newspaper she doesn’t care if you like it. “I’m always thinking: what would an audience make of this? Not: will they like it? — for f***’s sake. That’s not the point — it’s fine if they hate it. But why?” Spoken like a true artist.
2
Big ideas, big talent and inspired by the musings of artists such as Jim Jarmusch. This is not your average Snapchat post. Expand your synapses with manifestos that are a call to action — rather than relentless brain farts. Blanchett told the London Evening Standard that social media removes accountability: “People can say outrageous things and say ‘but I didn’t mean that, I didn’t say that’.”
3
Manifesto is exhilarating and also, according to the Guardian, funny. Phew. Plus, Blanchett learned 12 accents in 11 days. Beat that, Meryl.
4
“I’ve found new empathy for men with beards,” says Blanchett, on her role as a Scottish homeless man. While making the films she would stay in costume throughout the lunch break. She told the Telegraph, this sometimes meant not eating lunch at all. “Food in men’s beards is one of the least attractive things.”
5
As the film-maker says, the film doesn’t reveal
the narrative to the audience, so you might be left puzzled, annoyed or frustrated. The point of this exercise is best described by Blanchett: “The whole thing about a manifesto is that there’s a burning need to express something.”
6
You, the viewer, have the power. Says the Telegraph: It may be absurd, it may be meaningful. It may be both.” You be the judge. Telegraph/Guardian/London Evening Standard