(This article appeared in the Park City, Utah paper on May 19th,
2010).
“Pope Joan”, a feature film based on the international bestseller by
author Donna Woolfolk Cross, is screening this Sunday evening at 7 pm at
the Park City Film Music Festival. It is only the second time this film
has been screened in the United States after having been released widely
in Europe, and having topped the box office in Germany for 6 weeks. The
film’s composer, Marcel Barsotti, is one of the most successful film
composers in Germany, where the film was Produced. He is credited with
over 60 film projects and numerous soundtrack releases.
“Pope Joan” is based on an ancient and controversial legend that tells
the story of a brilliant young girl, born to a village Priest in the 9th
Century who, through a combination of her own special gifts, persistence
and fate, assumes the identity of a boy and eventually ascends to the
Papacy of Rome. The novel is both epic in its visuals and intimate in
its storytelling, posing a particular challenge to all involved in the
process of making the film.
“As a novelist, I can take you inside the mind of the heroine,” says
Donna Cross. “Whatever it is that she is thinking, you can know. You
can’t do this in a movie. You have to somehow show it, or, in some other
way make it felt, and, in this case, the way to make it felt was music.”
Mr. Barsotti’s approach to the score was very unusual. Typically,
composers will write to picture, read the screenplay or visit the set to
get a sense of the material they will be working with. Barsotti,
however, began his work a full year before shooting on the film had even
begun. He used Donna Cross’ book, rather than the screenplay, as his
template and inspiration, which gave his imagination full license when
it came to composition.
“While devouring the book I constantly worked at the grand piano to
write down first sketches of music. That was quite a gladdening process
because it is much more productive to compose completely without any
pictures.”
One might imagine that working this way could be risky, but the Director
was thrilled.
“Prior to the shooting of the movie,” Soenke says, “Marcel had written
down several ideas for musical motives. This turned out to have a
positive effect on the movie score. We could share a musical ground
right away. Even what later would become the main theme had been there
already.”
Though the story takes place in the 9th Century, some early experiments
with using historical or ancient music “made the film look old fashioned
and documental,” according to Marcel. Likewise, the film is very large
in scope and it was an obvious choice to attempt a big Hollywood-style
score, but “the same thing happened. It just did not work, but made the
film arbitrary and pathetic.” So Marcel tried “to create its own
language.”
The music is sparse, with a strong central theme that acts as “a musical
guide through the movie.” “Johanna’s Theme” as it is called, occurs
again and again throughout the film but with many variations in order to
show the audience what the lead character is feeling or experiencing at
that point in the story. “Sometimes its longing for Gerald,” Donna Cross
says, “sometimes its longing for knowledge, and it’s a very nice
shorthand way to make-up for a lot you can’t have in a screenplay.”
The Director, Soenke Wortmann, who had done two previous collaborations
with Mr. Barsotti, found the score perfectly suited to the story’s
subtle yet powerful themes.
“The themes are very intuitive. They are musically simply told rather
than put-on. That is exactly what distinguishes Marcel’s compositions;
he leaves space for the picture. He does not comment on the action, and
at exactly the right moment, he comes up with a melody that I cannot get
out of my head. Then it sounds as if it had been there all the time.”
Having seen the film with no music at all, then with just a piano score,
and finally with the full orchestral score behind it, Donna Cross was
very impressed by what the music brought to the film.
“The soundtrack is brilliant - everything that I had hoped for. Not only
is the music beautiful in itself, but when I close my eyes and listen, I
see – in my mind’s eye – the scenes I visualized as I wrote my novel. A
triumph of composition and a perfect marriage of music with story.”
For Marcel Barsotti, working on this film was a labor of love. “It was a
great and wonderful experience to be part of this project. I am almost a
bit sad that this musical journey has come to an end.”
You many still enjoy his work this Sunday at the screening. |
