Italian director Alice Rohrwacher (La Chimera, Happy as Lazzaro) has collaborated with French photographer and street artist JR (Faces, Places) to deliver a stunning short film called An Urban Allegory. Now available to watch on Mubi, this 21-minute short film takes inspiration from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and also stars renowned French director Léos Carax (Holy Motors, The Lovers on the Bridge). (Also read: Dahomey review: Mati Diop’s investigative documentary on the restoration of stolen artefacts is worth watching)
Is Leos Carax itself an allegory?
An Urban Metaphor creates a beautiful balance between the creative styles of the two directors, similar in the sense that both of these artists see the underlying world on a layer hidden from plain sight. Leo’s inclusion of Carax here works in an important way: he is both the messenger and the message, both a secret and its protector. In a roundtable conversation, which Hindustan Times participated in, Alice Rohrwacher and JR explained in detail about working with Leos carax and described it as a ‘real surprise’.
Alice says, “We had to decide who is the character who plants the seed of an idea in the child. We know some of these characters because we have met such people in our lives. In that case it may be voluntary, but it may also be involuntary, but they help you think about something that you were not thinking about before. So who are those people? They’re fugitives, all those people who help you think. They are fugitives from the cave! These are the ones Plato tells us about, who escaped from the cave and went back to talk to other prisoners.
She added, “So who is he?” fugitive for us? There are many directors, many artists who are fugitives for us. What came to our mind as an example of such a fugitive from the cave was Leos carax! Someone escaped from the cave! So we asked him if he wanted to be a part of this project and he accepted. We were very happy because of course he was such a great presence and actor, but for us he also symbolized something else.”
‘He came prepared to jump into the process as an actor’
JR says how surprised he was to see Leos Carax on set, and the way he reacted to the material. He adds, “When Alice came up with this idea, I was like…wow, I know her more as a director than an actor and so I was trying to imagine and she said, ‘It doesn’t matter how he delivers the message.’ , he embodies it!’ It’s true and he was a real surprise on the set. There he was, punctual, ready. He agreed to jump into the process as an actor. The way he embodied the urban metaphor and shared it with the audience was truly his own and couldn’t have been better. As Alice says, he embodied it in life. That’s him! There couldn’t have been a better person to do this.”
“We feel so honored and humbled to have those memories with him on set. We were pinching ourselves with Alice, and saying ‘Oh my God! We’ve got Leos, right here! Go say something!’ We had a beautiful day, especially the beautiful theater where we shot in Paris, which is also a symbol of the same idea. Even while we were shooting it, we realized the opportunity we had!” He commented.
An Urban Metaphor is now streaming on Mubi.
