Location
About
Her Magnum Opus
Directed by Marta Renzi
Presented by Jonathan Demme
A Wooden Toy Production
Produced by Paul Galando and And Dancers, Inc.
Synopsis
A group of friends gather to celebrate their mentor and learn that what lasts is those you leave behind. A freewheeling narrative enacted almost entirely through movement and music, Her Magnum Opus is an ode to creativity and community. A tantalizing mix of magic realism and improvised naturalism, the film unfolds in a bucolic setting—a beach, a forest, a country house that is a source of inspiration and solace. A remarkable feature debut for award-winning choreographer Renzi, for whom dancers have always been people first.
Director’s Statement
Everyone is connected. That connection can be expressed in movement, without words. Everyone can dance. In fact, we already are.
With Her Magnum Opus, director Marta Renzi asks of her audience a quietly revolutionary act: keep company with a large and fluid gathering of folks, let go of narrative expectations and fall into the rhythms of movement, mood and music while carried along by the currents of time and the seasons.
Award-winning director Jonathan Demme had already been a long-time fan of neighbor Renzi’s dance film shorts. Perhaps what drew him to nurture Renzi’s vision in post-production of this, her first feature, was his sense that “this is a new way of entertaining”.
Joanna Ney, curator of Dance on Camera at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, calls it “Altmanesque”, singling out the variety of music that leads the action—into the forest, onto the beach, and back again and again to the little house that is the heart of the group.
The gray-haired force of nature who is the hub of this community, as portrayed by Aileen Passloff with earthy passion, led independent filmmaker John Sayles to call Opus “a Grace Paley short story told in movement.”
Shot on a shoestring over the course of four seasons on an extraordinary property in Renzi’s backyard along the Hudson River, Opus features a host of cinematographers, including Kal Toth, Cari Ann Shim Sham, Charles Caster-Dudzick and Paul Galando, whose hyphenated contributions also include producer-performer-father. Galando and his daughter Gigi, long-time Renzi collaborator Deborah Tacon and her daughter Maya, Renzi’s own two grown sons Amos and Lorenzo Wolff, and baby Aya, born (off-screen!) to Tina Vasquez, improvise their visits to the cottage with the ebb and flow of an extended family, erasing the borders between real life and fantasy.
Although the ensemble also includes performers with memorable careers in major modern dance companies such as Bill T Jones / Arnie Zane (Arthur Avilés) and Martha Graham (Blakeley White-McGuire), their movement is understated, tuned to a very human scale that avoids bravura or pretension. Other performers include those with experience on Broadway (Max Kumangai, Amos Wolff) and on TV and film (Jim Desmond).
The score, a constant presence in Her Magnum Opus, comes from a wide range of sources—professional and amateur, classical and folk—with original music composed by Ljova threaded throughout. From Romanian singer Maria Tanase to music by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak, the cottage in the woods might be inhabited by Baba Yaga—except for the distinctly American flavor of David Pulkingham’s acoustic version of “Working on the Railroad,” or Lorenzo Wolff’s rocking “Flowers.” About the sound design, created with Caleb Townsend in the studios of Oscar winner Skip Lievsay, Renzi says: “After a decade of making DIY films, this kind of painstaking, world-making sound editing is a complete revelation.”
Renzi also notes, “the wooden toys that come alive in Opus reflect my love of art that is home-made, hand-made: something crafted anonymously that calls to us across generations, and cultures.” Just as, she hopes, will Her Magnum Opus.
About the Director
Marta Renzi is an independent filmmaker and choreographer whose work bridges dance and film in deeply human, community-centered narratives. She has made more than 75 dances for her Project Company, including her BESSIE-award-winning Vital Signs. Her site-specific pieces in locations such as the Guggenheim Museum, Union Station and the Staten Island Ferry led naturally to her work in video and film. Since 2005, she has directed, edited and produced over 30 short films and documentaries, often working with non-professional performers in real-world settings. Her award-winning films have screened at over 300 festivals across the US and internationally. Renzi was the first recipient of a Dancing in the Streets award, and has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, and the NY State Council on the Arts. Her debut feature film, HER MAGNUM OPUS, was released in 2017.