IDFA 1998
De weg
The Road
Frank Scheffer
Netherlands
1998
95 min
n.a.
For one year, filmmaker Frank Scheffer, specialist in music documentaries, followed composer Louis Andriessen during the composition of his piece . Andriessen used the texts of the Tao-te Ching as a basis. It is one of the oldest recovered texts from the history of Chinese philosophy. These esoteric writings were framed in random order, making it a challenge for a composer to give them coherence. To do this, Andriessen enlisted the help of a Sinologist, who comments on the texts. ‘The greatest power is weakness‘ and ‘he who covets life will lose it‘ are two of the many paradoxes included in the Tao-te Ching. Andriessen also called in the assistance of the Japanese musician Mukaiyama Tomoko, who at the composer‘s request plays her koto with a hammer. Gradually, from Andriessen‘s vision a sophisticated composition originates, which was performed by the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra in 1996.
Credits
Distribution
Eye Film Institute Netherlands
Eye Film Institute Netherlands
World Sales
SND Films
SND Films
Screening copy
Allegri Film
Allegri Film
Director
Cinematography
Production
Sound