Film Proposal. Edgar Degas finds himself fatherless, penniless, and at odds with his brother René.

Transcription

1 Galioto- Grebe 1 Film Proposal Edgar Degas finds himself fatherless, penniless, and at odds with his brother René. That is where the film begins, capturing scenes of Degas bartering with an art buyer. His return to France from New Orleans in 1873 is due to his father s unexpected death, and to add insult to injury, the death of his father exposes his brother s hidden debt, all of which is revealed through flashbacks while Degas continues to plead with a buyer to take his work. There is another flashback showing him selling pieces of his collection, heavy heartedly, and then there is a return to the present of the exchange with his buyer. He is not interested in the work Degas is showing, rather he sees a sketch of a ballerina in his folder, and this sketch is zoomed in until it comes to life and the movie really begins. The next scene cuts to Degas and René arguing over the state of their finances. Degas finds himself storming out and takes to strolling along the Rue Le Peletier 1. As he navigates through the lively streets of Paris, the rain begins to fall, and Degas tries to hide under the closest awning to save his last sketchbook. Looking up through the windows, he sees his salvation. A dance studio, filled with fluttering ballerinas is lit with gas lamps, where the sketch from the opening scene returns. The young woman is practicing pirouettes in the hall. From where he stands, he can see her and another girl sitting with a woman in black, mirroring his pastel work Waiting. And as he watches, there is a flicker of inspiration, and the audience watches him begin his sketches. As the plot progresses, Degas repeatedly returns to the ballet studio, sketching what he can from the windows until he finally meets one of the dancers: Adeline. Their first meeting, she wears a blue tutu, which he obsesses over, letting the image appear repeatedly in 1 Sutton Degas

2 Galioto- Grebe 2 his dreams. Adeline is a beautiful dancer and on her way to a professional career, or at least those in the studio are supportive and hopeful. Although she is interested in him romantically, Degas is reluctant and uses the relationship to gain access to the studio, at first. He finds that his first few sketches sell rapidly and he pursues this subject matter, creating piece after piece featuring ballerinas, struggling to capture realism and distinguish himself from the other impressionists. He begins to see how the blue of Adeline s costume and the elegance of her movements are repeated in every image. Degas, however is awkward and unsure of himself in relationships, and Adeline is forced to do all the enticing if she is to win any emotional charge. 2 The instructor from Degas work The Ballet Class also comes to life, befriending Degas and often asking him about his intentions and his works. This friendship builds, and Degas reveals his love of the real and his desire to capture the dancers in their profession, creating art with their bodies as he does with pastels. These conversations are interspersed throughout the film for Degas to express his disdain for his categorization as an impressionist. There is also a visit from his friend Mary Cassatt, who inspires chatter about his work, and we see him paint her self-portrait. She hears about his ballerina love interest and encourages him to allow himself to engage in a relationship. As his drawings continue, so does his relationship with Adeline, taking Mary s advice. Her girlhood crush reveals her naivety in love, but Degas finds it charming, and finds her beautiful, as he starts replacing every ballet dancer in his works to look more like her than their true form. Painting her in the studio one night, he realizes his feelings for her, but notes the more time he spends with her, the less work he is able to complete. Degas is torn by his dedication to his work and the revenue it generates and his love for Adeline. He continues to fall for his ballerina lover, and they consummate their love, in a scene that shows him 2 Based on Sutton s account of Degas and his social habits. INPUT CITATION HERE

3 Galioto- Grebe 3 watching her bathe in his apartment, suggesting the inspiration for the multitude of portraits like Women in the Bath. Again the audience sees him beginning to sketch the female form in a crouching form washing herself, catching her in an intimate moment that, like the blue tutu resurfaces in his work repeatedly. Degas draws her over and over, making her towel her back and wipe her hair, seeing his later works come to life. Ultimately, the film ends in heart break, the year approximately 1880, as Degas talks to the dance instructor and realizes that he and Adeline are actually hindering each other s advancement in their art forms. Adeline receives word that representatives will be watching her for consideration into the Paris Opera during her next show, and Degas wants his work to keep growing, and comes to the realization that an artist cannot have a social life. He sees himself as holding her back, and decides to let her go. Therefore, he attends one last performance of Adeline, leaving her a note with an explanation and a bouquet of flowers. The final bow she takes, she holds Degas flowers. This image stays in his mind, but the audience sees it as the famous Dancer with Bouquet of Flowers work. Throughout the film, there is a narrative voice of Degas, depicting his story as a remembrance, based on the writings which still exist in his notebooks. This voice over provides inner thoughts and feelings that help advance the plot. Set and costume would come from the depiction of the studio in Degas ballerina pieces, as well as the performances. The stage would have a pit orchestra as displayed in Musicians in the Orchestra where the camera captures the scene of the stage from the perspective of that painting. Additionally, the overall lighting of the performance scenes would be dramatic, casting shadows such as those in Rehearsal on Stage. A date scene where Degas and Adeline are out they would attend the Café Concert, and the scene there would also include singers which Degas sketches, commenting again on capturing a singer, like a dancer, in the midst of their art and their profession. The inclusion of these additional works, as well as the set of the ballet studio, the

4 Galioto- Grebe 4 costumes and lighting within the studio, and the outdoor scenes around Paris will capture the images of the Degas, bringing them to like in the exactness he would have wanted his paintings to be able to capture and portray to an audience. Degas and Adeline: Who is the Woman in the Tub Interior: Late evening in (mostly) the empty ballet studio. Paris, France. Degas has been drawing Adeline and the other dancers for a few months. Adeline has tried to express her attraction to Degas, but he has continued to resist her attempts with polite decline. She is determined, however, and continues to pursue the possibility. Strategically, she arranges private practice times, and the two have started using the studio alone in the evenings: Adeline to dance and Degas to draw and paint her. The following scene is a fictional encounter between Degas and a ballerina, based on the truth of the repetition of one woman throughout many of his portraits of the ballet and the studio. He did in fact study and paint within a local dance studio in Paris, getting to know one of the dance instructors, he did live with his brother Rene` after their father died, using his ballerina portraits to pay off his debts. Some direct quotations of Degas are used to illustrate his opinions about art and his personal journal is used at the end, indicated a suspicious encounter with a young lady which is actually recorded, but little is known even today. Degas (as voice over narration): The trick is not to show the source of the light Lights up on a dancer dressed in blue. It is Adeline, her hair up, but damp with sweat. Her face is flushed, and her breath is coming back to steady. She puts her leg up on the ballet bar, (See Dancers at the Barre) leaning forward towards the mirror,

5 Galioto- Grebe 5 bending in half. Cut to a sketch pad tracing an outline with charcoal pencil. Cut back to the image of the dancer at the bar. Degas (narration): But the effect of the light The lighting within the room is dim, but direct, drawing attention to the outline of muscles of her back tensing as she stretches. Cut back to the sketch pad, now shading in the tutu with a blue pastel. Cut back to image of the ballerina, she is wearing a white tutu with a blue sash around her waist, and she adjusts the ribbon, looking in the wall of mirrors in front of her. Degas (narration): This aspect of art can today become important In the reflection of the mirror, a man, Degas, is seen, looking just over his sketches, making eye contact with Adeline, she giggles slightly, letting her head rest on her knee, her body continuing to shake as she laughs. Bringing her leg off the bar she moves to sit bending forward to adjust her shoes,(see Dancer When Lacing the Ballet Shoes Up). Degas: What is so funny now? Adeline: I just cannot get used to the way you look at me. Your eyes you just look at me and I know I every last bit of your attention is mine. She smiles looking back towards her ballet slippers. Looking back up at him, she smirks once more before casting her eyes back down. Degas: Don t move. Stay just like that. He starts to add patches of color to the drawing. Adeline: Must you always pick such uncomfortable poses for me.

6 Galioto- Grebe 6 Degas: Must you always complain so much. He notices the tone of annoyance in his voice and gently adds. Just a moment more, that s all. Adeline: That is what you always say, just one more, just one more. She lifts her head now towards him. You allow your work to devour you. Degas: Motioning to her to put her head back down, she rolls her eyes but conceits. What can I say? Your portrait sells. The whole studio has helped me rebuild myself in the world, so yes, maybe it does consume me. One must do the same subject over again ten times, a hundred times. In art nothing must resemble an accident, not even movement. 3 He changes from his slow reflective voice to a more defensive tone. You talk as though you don t do the same thing with your dancing. You are not simply in the studio after hours for my pleasure. Dancing has driven you as mad as it has driven me. He pauses, looking at her again with intensity. So dance, my dancer. Adeline: And who says I am yours. She stands, still hunching; stretching downward (See Frieze of Dancers).She begins to spin in this hunched position. It causes Degas to chuckled, but as she looks up to catch him in a laugh, he returns to his solemn look as he continues sketching. She smiles, knowing she has almost caught him enjoying himself. Adeline: Edgar, I would be yours. You know that right? Degas: Setting down his pencil he takes a beat to look at the young beautiful dancer. Please dance for me, my Adeline. At his request she begins to dance. Music from Coppelia plays in the background, although it is part of the film, not part of the set. Degas begins to sketch on a canvas now, blocking out some of the shapes as Adeline gracefully moves around the studio. The lights from the city gently reflect into the studio windows and she raises her hands above her head (see Ballerina Posing for a Photograph). 3 Wolf, Justin. "The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." Edgar Degas Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. Web. 24 Feb

7 Galioto- Grebe 7 Degas: Just hold that. Just long enough for me to get the general sketch. His canvas is nearly filled with blocking of shapes, and he quickly switches to paper to begin drawing in smaller details. Adeline: Edgar, I am tired. She sits on the studio floor facing the window of the studio. Degas: Setting down his pastels, he slowly moves towards her. You can go home whenever you d like. He now sits beside her. I do enjoy having you to draw. I just want to capture you in my paints forever. Adeline: She turns his gaze to the visible sketches on the floor in front of his easel. But you did not finish anything tonight. You only blocked in sketches. Degas: It is all very well to copy what one sees, but it is far better to draw what one now only sees in one's memory. That is a transformation in which imagination collaborates with memory. 4 Adeline: Are you meaning that you are going to just let me become a memory? She moves coyly towards him, sliding across the hardwood floor, but he recoils. Degas: Well I certainly cannot forget what you look like when you dance. Maybe that is why my eyes look like they are devouring you, really it is my mind trying to imprint you deep into the memory for later works. Adeline: I think I could give you another way to remember me. She leans towards him seductively. Degas: Adeline He cuts her off, gently pushing her back and standing. He walks back towards his work and begins to tidy everything up. Clearly rattled by her advances. Adeline: You push me away. Either with your art or your arms. I am always so far away from you. Her emotions are rising and she hits the pastels out of his hand as she heads towards the door. 4 Wolf, Justin. "The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." Edgar Degas Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. Web. 24 Feb

8 Galioto- Grebe 8 Degas: Why won t you understand that I just cannot be what you want. I have my art, and that is it. That is the only way I can be close with you. Adeline: In anger. You silly man. She storms out of the dance hall and Degas follows her. Degas: Please, let me walk you home. Grabbing her arm on the descending staircase. Adeline: Turning towards him, the two are close against each other on the narrow staircase. Take me home. Beat. To your home. Degas: Pauses, but finally gives in and kisses Adeline. Ext: The scene cuts to his apartment, the Adeline and Degas are outside the door talking. It is completely dark now, and Adeline is still in her rehearsal costume, but is wrapped under Edgar s coat. They stand on the stairs. Degas: Keep your voice down. René is asleep. Adeline: Is he not used to you bringing home visitors? She giggles, but then sees his uneasy face. You have brought a woman home before, haven t you? Degas does not answer, instead he shhhes her one last time, pushing the door open before taking her upstairs to his room. Int: Together they enter the bedroom, seeing a large table in the middle of the room covered in sketches. Pinned to the wall is his sketch A Ballet Dancer in Position Facing Three-Quarters Front. This sketch strongly resembles Adeline, and she walks to it. Adeline: I ve never seen this one before. When did you do it?

9 Galioto- Grebe 9 Degas: Before I went into the studio. When I would just catch glimpses of you. Adeline: It is from memory? Degas: Mostly. Adeline moves in close to kiss Degas again, but it is only quickly and instead of continuing the passionate embrace, she pulls away. Adeline: Would you mind if I washed up? Her head nods toward a wash tub. Degas: No. No not at all. Adeline begins to remove her clothes, innocently dropping them in a pile before moving towards the tub. She turns toward Degas once more, assuring him of her comfort. The next sequence of shots captures images of Adeline washing and drying herself, so as to mirror Woman in a Tub, The Tub, and After the Bath. The images are played slowly, almost as if still frames that snapshot the images that Degas will later recreate after his time with Adeline. Although he is not seen drawing here, the conversation of memory preluding the scene clarifies his ability to memorize images. Cut to next seen, Adeline and Degas are in bed together. He leans over and kisses her head as the sun is beginning to shine into the room. Degas gets out of bed, not disturbing Adeline, and goes to his drawing table. He rifles through some of his sketchbooks. The camera captures him writing, but it does not capture the full text, rather only pieces: I cannot say how much I love this girl I cannot deny that it is shameful A defenceless girl

10 Galioto- Grebe 10 But I will do as little as possible 5 Degas is seen sketching her sleeping in the center of the sketchbook. End. 5 Reff, Theodore. The Notebooks of Edgar Degas. Oxford: Clarendon, Print. p. 52.

11 Galioto- Grebe 11 Bibliography Armstrong, Carol M., and Edgar Degas. A Degas Sketchbook. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, Print. Armstrong, Carol M. Odd Man Out: Readings of the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas. Chicago: University of Chicago, Print. Cohn, Marjorie B., Jean Sutherland. Boggs, Edward Saywell, and Stephan Wolohojian. Degas at Harvard. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, Print. Degas, Edgar. Degas' Drawings: 100 Illustrations, Including 8 in Color. N.p.: Dover Publications, Print. Degas, Edgar, Felix Andreas. Baumann, Marianne Karabelnik, and Jean Sutherland. Boggs. Degas: Portraits. London: Merrell Holberton, Print. Reff, Theodore. The Notebooks of Edgar Degas. Oxford: Clarendon, Print. Sutton, Denys. Edgar Degas, Life and Work. New York: Rizzoli, Print. Wolf, Justin. "The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." Edgar Degas Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb Almost all of the sources provided fantastic images that are referenced throughout the script as where and how they would appear or be acted out. The Notebooks of Edgar Degas was particularly interesting and helpful though, because there is information about his life which is unclear and can be used to illustrate a different story. Although the words in his notebooks are primarily in French, they still aid in creating a fuller picture of who he may

12 Galioto- Grebe 12 have been, and they provided the material for Degas voiceover throughout the film clip. It also helped to understand his awkwardness as an individual and his difficulty in personal relationships. Sutton s book has a wonderful biographical sketch of Degas and aids in forming this opinion, which is demonstrated throughout the scene.