Alfred Jarry’s Ubu roi (‘King Ubu’) was produced in 1896, with nonrealistic settings and costumes. All the scene settings were displayed simultaneously on a backdrop, and the costumes and makeup were deliberately grotesque, as was the acting style, an amalgam of buffoonery, the horror of Grand Guignol, and extravagant mock-tragedy. Far from posing an alternative to the materialist values of the bourgeois audience, the first line of Ubu roi attacked the audience’s values head on. When Firmin Gemier, in the title role, advanced to face the audience, looked directly into their eyes, and uttered the first scandalous word of the text, ‘merde’ (‘excrement’), a pattern was set that has been followed by many avant-garde theatre companies throughout the 20th century. Reference: Encyclopedia Britanica Online. http://members.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=118827&sctn=3. Accessed January 3 2000
Credits: Director, Jean-Christophe Averty ; photography, Lucien Billard ; music, Claude Terrasse.
Cast: Jean Bouise, Rosy Varte, Hubert Deschamps, Henri Virlojeux.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000312
Language
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)