López-Vicuña Ignacio - Raúl Ruizs cinema of inquiry

Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series

A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu

General Editor

Barry Keith Grant

Brock University

Advisory Editors

Robert J. Burgoyne

University of St. Andrews

Caren J. Deming

University of Arizona

Patricia B. Erens

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Peter X. Feng

University of Delaware

Lucy Fischer

University of Pittsburgh

Frances Gateward

California State University, Northridge

Tom Gunning

University of Chicago

Thomas Leitch

University of Delaware

Walter Metz

Southern Illinois University

2017 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America.

ISBN 978-0-8143-4106-3 (paperback); ISBN 978-0-8143-4107-0 (ebook)

Library of Congress Cataloging Number: 2017953529

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Contents

Ignacio Lpez-Vicua and Andreea Marinescu

Valeria de los Ros

Michael Goddard

Alejandra Rodrguez-Remedi

Catherine L. Benamou

Janet Stewart

Sabine Doran

Ignacio Lpez-Vicua

Andreea Marinescu

Editors Note

Unless otherwise indicated, all translations into English are by the editors. Available English translations of Ruizs works and interviews, as well as secondary bibliography have been supplied whenever possible. Notes added by the editors are indicated.

Acknowledgments

This book arose out of the desire to bring together distinct perspectives on this important and complex filmmaker. The contributors to this volume were instrumental in helping us achieve that goal. We feel very fortunate to have worked with such a dedicated and enthusiastic group of authors, whose passion for Ruizs work extends well beyond this volume. We thank them wholeheartedly.

For having introduced us to Ral Ruizs eccentric yet fascinating universe, we wish to thank our former professors Catherine Benamou and John Beverley, respectively. Gareth Williams introduced us to each other at a LASA conference almost seven years ago and we have been close intellectual interlocutors ever since. Alberto Moreiras graciously hosted Andreea at the University of Aberdeen in 2008, where she met and interviewed Ruiz.

Valeria Sarmiento and Bruno Cuneo provided invaluable resources and advice for the successful completion of this project. Tessa Allen de Oliveira translated parts of the book and provided general support. Kirsten Strayer and Ivan Mayerhofer read drafts and offered critical feedback and suggestions throughout. Paula Dittborn selected and prepared several images in the collection. The anonymous reviewers provided useful insights and recommendations, greatly improving the quality of the collection.

At Wayne State University Press, we are grateful to Annie Martin and Barry Keith Grant, series editor, for their support and encouragement throughout this process. It has been a pleasure to work with the other team members at WSUP, including Kristin Harpster, Rachel Ross, Emily Nowak, and Ceylan Akturk.

This book received generous funding from Colorado College and the University of Vermont, to facilitate exchanges of ideas at critical junctures in the conceptualization of the project.

Our gratitude to those closest to us, fellow travelers on this long journey: Ivan Mayerhofer and Matthew Webb. This book is dedicated to the memory of Maria Marinescu.

Introduction

Ignacio Lpez-Vicua and Andreea Marinescu

Most widely known for his filmic productions, Ral Ruiz (19412011) was a highly prolific, erudite, and innovative artist, whose work is located at the intersection of diverse locations, languages, and aesthetic traditions. In addition to directing over one hundred films, among them features, shorts, television serials, and videos, Ruizs eclectic body of work includes two books on the theory of cinema, Poetics of Cinema 1 (1995) and Poetics of Cinema 2 (2007), and genre-defying fiction books such as Le Transpatagonien (1989), Le livre des disparitions (The Book of Disappearances, 1990) and Lesprit de lescalier (The Wit of the Staircase, 2012). Among other artistic endeavors, he wrote and directed plays, composed and organized a radio show, and exhibited a multimedia installation. His films have been a constant presence in high-profile venues, such as the New York Film Festival, the Cannes Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Toronto International Film Festival.

Despite these accomplishments his vast body of work is little known and explored. For years Ruiz was seen as an elite, art house filmmaker, occupying a marginal position in both European and Latin American film industries. While highly regarded by critics and scholars, the experimental nature of his art and the scarce circulation of his films in commercial circuits restricted access and critical engagement. At the same time, Ruizs uncompromising dedication to artistic experimentation drew the attention of international film stars, such as Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, and John Malkovich. His collaboration with them on big-budget films such as Le temps retrouv/Time Regained (FR/IT/PT, 1999) and Klimt (AT/FR/DE/UK, 2006), as well as the critical success of his film Mistrios de Lisboa/Mysteries of Lisbon (PT/FR, 2010), brought Ruiz to a wider international audience.

More importantly, however, Ruizs relevance to cinema and the growing interest in his work are due to his legacy as a global filmmaker.

Because Ruiz is strongly geohistorically situated, but able to move comfortably across diverse film traditions and genres, he offers a unique way of engaging with the global that is quite different from the trajectory of a globalized Hispanic and Latin American cinema that has embraced a transnational aesthetic of gritty urban realism and a Hollywood style of narrative. Ruizs cinema thus also poses the question of what independent cinema can mean today. At a time when independent cinema has all but been co-opted by mainstream global cinema, Ruizs artisanal modes of production and distribution invite reflection on what it means to make and enjoy films.

In spite of growing international recognition and an increasing interest in his work, Ruizs place within the history of cinema has remained eccentric. While he is seen as an inspiration and as an important figure in the history of Latin American film, he does not fit neatly within any category, period, or style. Part of the purpose of this book is to show how Ruizs creative work draws from and crosses over into film theory, art history, theater, television, and aesthetic traditions such as the baroque, surrealism, and global storytelling traditions. Contributors in this collection approach Ruiz by emphasizing the interstitiality of his films, their exchange with other aesthetic discourses, and their understanding of the making and viewing of films as play and exploration. In this introduction, we will first give an overview of Ruizs life and career, highlighting important developments that defined his aesthetic theory and influenced his artistic practice, while also registering his unwavering commitment to artistic experimentation. A brief synthesis of salient trends in Ruiz scholarship will be followed by a presentation of our approach through Ruizs main aesthetic principles. We will conclude by summarizing what the collection as a whole sets out to do and by giving a brief overview of each essay and interview.