Ladislas Starevich | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Władysław Starewicz (1882-08-08)August 8, 1882 |
| Died | February 26, 1965(1965-02-26) (aged 82) |
| Nationality | Russian,Polish[1][2] |
| Occupation(s) | Film director,stop motion animator |
Ladislas Starevich (Russian:Владисла́в Алекса́ндрович Старе́вич,Polish:Władysław Starewicz; August 8, 1882 – February 26, 1965) was aPolish-Russianstop-motionanimator notable as the author of the firstpuppet-animated filmThe Beautiful Leukanida (1912).[3] He also used deadinsects and otheranimals as protagonists of his films. Following theRussian Revolution, Starevich settled inFrance.
Władysław Starewicz was born inMoscow to ethnicPolish[1][4][5] parents from present-dayLithuania. His father, Aleksander Starewicz, was fromSurviliškis nearKėdainiai and his mother, Antonina Legęcka, fromKaunas. Both belonged to lesser nobility and were in hiding after the failedJanuary Uprising against the Tsarist Russian domination. Due to his mother's death,[6] he was raised by his grandmother in Kaunas, then the capital ofKaunas Governorate within theRussian Empire.[4] He attendedGymnasium in Dorpat (todayTartu,Estonia), where he worked painting postcards and illustrations for local magazines. Starewicz pursued an artistic career despite the protest of his family, and enrolled in a painting school.[6]
Starewicz had interests in a number of different areas; by 1910 he was named Director of theMuseum of Natural History inKaunas,Lithuania. There he made four short live-action documentaries for the museum. For the fifth film, Starewicz wished to record the battle of twostag beetles, but was stymied by the fact that the nocturnal creatures stopped moving or died due to the heat whenever the stagelighting was turned on. Inspired by a viewing ofLes allumettes animées [Animated Matches] (1908) byArthur Melbourne Cooper, Starewicz decided to re-create the fight through stop-motion animation: by replacing the beetles' legs with wire, attached with sealing wax to their thorax, he is able to create articulated insect puppets. The result was the short filmLucanus Cervus (1910), apparently the first animated puppet film and the natal hour ofRussian animation.
In 1911, Starewicz moved to Moscow and began work with the film company ofAleksandr Khanzhonkov. There he made two dozen films, most of thempuppet animations using dead animals. Of these,The Beautiful Leukanida (premiere – 1912), first puppet film with aplot inspired in the story ofAgamemnon andMenelaus, earned international acclaim (one British reviewer thought the stars were live trained insects), whileThe Grasshopper and the Ant (1913) got Starewicz decorated by theczar. But the best-known film of this period wasThe Cameraman's Revenge (1912), a cynical work about infidelity and jealousy among the insects. Some of the films made for Khanzhonkov featurelive-action/animation interaction. In some cases, the live action consisted of footage of Starewicz's daughter Irina. Particularly worthy of note is Starevich's 41-minute 1913 filmThe Night Before Christmas, an adaptation of theNikolai Gogol story of the same name. The 1913 filmTerrible Vengeance won the Gold Medal at an international festival inMilan in 1914, being just one of five films which won awards among 1005 contestants.[7]
DuringWorld War I, Starewicz worked for several film companies, directing 60 live-action features, some of which were fairly successful. After theOctober Revolution of 1917, the film community largely sided with theWhite Army and moved from Moscow toYalta on theBlack Sea. After a brief stay, Starewicz and his family fled before theRed Army could capture theCrimea, stopping inItaly for a while before joining the Russian émigrés inParis.
At this time, Władysław Starewicz changed his name to Ladislas Starevich, as it was easier to pronounce in French. He first established his family inJoinville-le-Pont, while he worked as a cameraman there. He rapidly returned to make puppet films. He madeLe mariage de Babylas (Midnight Wedding),L'épouvantail (The Scarecrow, 1921 ),Les grenouilles qui demandent un roi (alternately calledFrogland andThe Frogs Who Wanted a King, 1922),Amour noir et blanc (Love in Black and White, 1923),La voix du rossignol (The Voice of the Nightingale, 1923) andLa petite chateuse des rues (The Little Street Singer, 1924). His family worked with him to produce these films. These were his daughter Irina (who had changed her name to Irène) who collaborated in all his films and defended his rights, his wife Anna Zimermann, who made the costumes for the puppets and Jeanne Starewitch (aka Nina Star) who acted in some of the films (The Little Street Singer,The Queen of the Butterflies,The Voice of the Nightingale,The Magical clock, and others)
In 1924, Starevich moved toFontenay-sous-Bois, where he lived until his death in 1965. There he made the rest of his films. Among the most notable areThe Eyes of the Dragon (1925), aChinese tale with complex and wonderful sets and character design, in which Starevich shows his talent as an artist and in set decoration as well as ingenious trick photography,The Town Rat and the Country Rat (1927), a parody of American slapstick films,The Magical Clock (1928), a fairy tale with amazing middle-age puppets and sets, starring Nina Star with music byPaul Dessau,The Little Parade, fromH.C. Andersen's taleThe Steadfast Tin Soldier. Six weeks after the premiere ofThe Little Parade, sound was added byLouis Nalpas' company. Starevich started a collaboration with him, wishing to make a feature full-length film:Le Roman de Renard. All his 1920s films are available on DVD.
Often mentioned as being among his best work,The Tale of the Fox (French:Le Roman de Renard,German:Reinicke Fuchs) was also his firstanimated feature. It was entirely made by Starevich and his daughter, Irène.[8] Production took place in Fontenay-sous-Bois from 1929 to 1930. When the film was ready, the producer, Louis Nalpas, decided to add sound using disc support but this system failed and the film was not released. The German film studioUFA became interested in showing the film in two parts. Sound was added in German and it premiered inBerlin in1937. Later, in 1941,Roger Richebé (Paris Cinéma Location) produced a French sound version, which premiered in April 1941. It was the third animatedfeature film to have sound, afterQuirino Cristiani'sPeludópolis (1931) andThe New Gulliver (1935) from theSoviet Union.
In 1933 Ladislas and Irene Starevich produced and directed a film of about 1000 meters, initially titledLS 18. Under pressure from distributors, the length was greatly reduced. It became the filmFétiche Mascotte (The Mascot), about 600 meters, distributed in 1934. Starevich had a contract with Marc Gelbart (Gelma Films) to make a series with this character. Twelve episodes were planned, but for economic reasons, only five were made between 1934 and 1937 and distributed worldwide. These areFétiche prestidigitateur (The Ringmaster, 1934),Fétiche se marie (The Mascot's Wedding, 1935),Fétiche en voyage de noces (The Navigator, 1936) andFétiche et les sirènes (The Mascot and the Mermaids, 1937) which was not released because sound could not be added. There is an unfinished film,Fétiche père de famille (The Mascot and His Family, 1938). In 1954, L. Starevich conceivedThe Hangover, using images not included inThe Mascot. Areconstruction of the originalLS 18 was produced by 2012.
During this period (1937–1946), Starevich ceased producing films. He had expressed some intent to make commercial films, but none are known to have been produced during the war.
In 1946 he tried to makeA Midsummer Night's Dream but abandoned the project due to financial problems. The following year, he madeZanzabelle a Paris adapted from a story by Sonika Bo. The script and direction of this film are credited to Irène.[8] In 1949, he metAlexandre Kamenka (Alkam Films), an old Russian friend, who produced Starevich's first colour filmFleur de fougère (Fern Flower). It was based on anEastern European story, in which a child goes to the forest to collect a fern flower, which grows during thenight of Saint-Jean, and makes wishes come true. In 1950,Fern Flower won the first prize as an animated film in the 11th International Children Film Festival in Venice Biennale. Then he started a collaboration with Sonika Bo to adapt another of her stories,Gazouilly petit oiseau, followed byUn dimanche de Gazouillis (Gazouillis's Sunday picnic).
Again produced by Alkam films, Starevich madeNose to Wind, which tells the adventures of Patapouf, abear who escapes from school to play with his friends therabbit and thefox. The same year, 1958, his wife Anna died. Due to the success of the previous film,Winter Carousel was made, starring the bear Patapouf and the rabbit going through seasons. This was his last completed film. All his family co-labored on it, as remembers his granddaughter Martin-Starewitch, whose hands can be seen in animation tests fromLike Dog and Cat, Starevich's unfinished film.
Ladislas Starevich died on February 26, 1965, while working onComme chien et chat (Like Dog and Cat). He was one of the few European animators to be known by name in theUnited States before the 1960s, largely on account ofLa Voix du rossignol andFétiche Mascotte (The Tale of the Fox was not widely distributed in the US). His Russian films were known for theirdark humor. He kept every puppet he made, so stars in one film tended to turn up as supporting characters in later works (the frogs fromThe Frogs Who Wanted a King are the oldest of these). For example, inFétiche mascotte (1933) the viewer can see puppets fromThe Scarecrow,The Little Parade, andThe Magical Clock. The films have shown incredible imagination and also development of techniques including motion blur, replacement animation, multiple frame exposure, and reverse shooting.
Since 1991, Leona Beatrice Martin-Starewitch, Ladislas Starevich's granddaughter and her husband, François Martin, have restored and distributed her grandfather's films.[9]
FilmmakerTerry Gilliam rankedThe Mascot among the ten best animated movies of all time.[citation needed]
In 2005, Xavier Kawa-Topor and Jean Rubak joined three Starevich short films together to make a feature film, with music by Jean-Marie Senia. The film, entitledTales of the Magical Clock, contributed to recognition by the press and the public of Starewitch Engineering.
In 2009,Wes Anderson paid homage toLe Roman de Renard inFantastic Mr. Fox.
In 2012 a full reconstruction ofLS18 to the original length and content of 1933 had been reconstructed, calledFetish 33-12. This was done by Léona Béatrice Martin-Starewitch, his granddaughter, and her husband, François Martin, owners of the rights to the films made by Starevich and his family.[9] The reconstruction used multiple original copies of "The Mascot" (distributed in the United Kingdom and the United States of America), a negative ofThe Hangover and material from the archives of Ladislas Starevich.
In 2014, the town of Fontenay-sous-Bois and service Documentation Archive with the family Martin-Starewich organized projections of Ladislas Starewich films in municipal Kosmos cinema with the release of all the preserved films, more than 7 hours on two projection days.
(with original titles in Polish)
These films except forThe Beautiful Leukanida are currently consideredlost.
(with original titles in Russian)
(with original titles in French)
A documentary about Starevich calledThe Bug Trainer was made in 2008.
Content:The Old Lion,The Town Rat and the Country Rat (1932 sound version)The mascot andFern Flowers.
Bonus:The Town Rat and the Country Rat (1926 silent version)
Bonus:The Navigator
Content:The Little Street Singer,The Little Parade andThe Magic Clock.
Content:The Cameraman's Revenge,The Insect's Christmas,The Frogs who Wanted a King (short version),The Voice of the Nightingale,The Mascot andWinter Carrousel.
Content:The Lion and the Fly,The Town Rat and the Country Rat (1926),The Frogs who Wanted a King (original version),The Ant and the Grasshopper (1927 version),The Old Lion andComment naît et s'anime une ciné-marionnette (How Cinema-Marionnettes Are Born and Brought to Life).
Bonus:The Old Lion (French narrated version) andThe Town Rat and the Country Rat (1932 version)
Content:The Scarecrow,The Babylas's Wedding,The Voice of the Nightingale,The Queen of the Butterflies.
Bonus:The Babylas's Wedding (tinted colours),The Queen of the Butterflies (United Kingdom version),Comment naît et s'anime une ciné-marionnette.
Content:In the Spider's Claws,The Eyes of the Dragon,Love Black and White
Bonus:The Eyes of the Dragon (1932 sound version),Love Black and White (1932 sound version),Comment naît et s'anime une ciné-marionnette
Bonus:The Mascot,Gueule de bois,Comment naît et s'anime une ciné marionnette.
