A fascinating journey through the past and present, life and afterlife, profound, sorrow and unconditional love.
Eva, a promising young doctor, leaves her brilliant career to study History of Medicine in a remote university. Now is the time for her to call everything into question: her nature, her body, her illness, and her sealed fate. Johan Anmuth is an 18th-century Prussian physician in perpetual conflict between the rise of rationalism and ancient forms of animism. The Book of Vision is a manuscript that sweeps these two existences up, blending them into a never-ending vortex. Far from a proper scientific text, the Book contains the hopes, fears, and dreams of more than 1800 patients. Dr. Anmuth truly knew how to listen to his patients whose spirits still wander through the pages, life and death merging in a continuous flow. The story of Anmuth and his patients inspire Eva to live her life to the fullest. Nothing expires in its time. Only what you desire is real, not merely what happens.
What characterizes women? What lies at the bottom of choices that involve their bodies and their intimate relationship with the life force? The protagonist’s critical situation and her determined choice to take courageously control of her life give way to a journey of exploring one’s soul, venturing into a fantastical terrain. Page after page, an 18th century doctor’s story helps Eva see herself in a new light. Finally, she can shrug off the thoughts of other - her doctors, her parents, and her lovers who all want to make decisions about her life. As if she were the first woman on earth, Eva finally sees her body and understands that only she can make a decision about her own destiny. Only she can listen to the voices from the past to call the present into question.
Nowadays there is nothing exceptional about seeing inside our bodies. Needles, scalpels, and sonograms trespass the barrier of our skin, and we take for granted that we can see inside our bodies, but was it always this way? In ancient medicine, there was no way to look inside bodies which were seen as sacred and impenetrable. Surgery was considered a dangerous experiment; the only thing left to do was narrate a story about what was happening inside the body. Eva discovers the work of Doctor Johan Anmuth, who at the beginning of the 1700’s told the stories of his patients’ bodies through their fantasies and dreams. Soon after, the practice of surgery with its first dangerous attempts and rare successes would spread, and people would begin to understand what goes on inside our bodies. The successful TV series The Knick narrated the practical nature of early surgery, showing the horrific side and deep moral conflicts it created. In taking back her body and thereby deciding what to do with her life, Eva must take a leap backward to a time when surgery was considered the practice of sorcerers. Page after page, she looks into The Book of Vision and gets to know Johan Anmuth’s habits, which are so distant from what she has learned in her medical texts. This direct contact allows her to understand how important patients’ stories are and how talking about one’s illness and one’s body has the same weight as medical examinations. Opening oneself up to the world, in the end, also signifies healing. The protagonist’s awareness of her body opens herself up; Sexuality, illness, and, in the end, death are all part of the human experience. The body welcomes all these dimensions, manifesting them on our skin.
Every time the doctor/patient relationship becomes conflictual, the medical therapy is bound to fail. Healing means creating a relationship. Eva knows this, both as doctor and patient. Nothing is more difficult for a doctor than to have the tables turned and become a patient, and yet every time it happens something surprising arises. It makes sense, then, that contemporary medicine is opening up more and more to narrative medicine where patients tell the story of their illnesses, and just by doing so, they undergo a healing process. This does not mean turning one’s back on scientific progress, however, this particular healing process takes place in an arcane and unfathomable space: the human soul. The Book of Vision deals with the doctor/patient relationship and tries to build a bridge between body and soul. Only by keeping this in mind doctor/patient relationship becomes profound and revealing.
The possibility of traveling through time has always fascinated me and it may be why I fell in love with cinema since it can leap into different dimensions of time and space. In The Book of Vision, the time travel is a source of strength, both visually and narratively. Imagine if Barry Lyndon suddenly decided to launch himself into space. In the comic book, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the extraordinary qualities of the gentlemen travel through time. Eva has the ability to see such qualities through time and considers not only Johan Anmuth extraordinary, but also his patients and their stories. Eva’s ability to see wonder allows these characters from the past appear in the present. I’ve always held a passion for fantasy films of the ‘80s and ‘90s that I grew up with, such as The Goonies, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story and Back to the Future. The mechanism in these films is almost always the same: a door is opened onto an unexpected fantastical dimension. From a visual point of view, both the contemporary part and the past always take into account this ‘door’. The cinematography transforms everyday objects, instilling them with a quality that lies somewhere between reality and the fantastic; David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringer is an extraordinary example of this ambiguity. The Book of Vision wants to explore the space between the sensations of awe I had while watching 1980s fantasy movies and the disturbing elements of Kubrick and Cronenberg’s films, trying to find a new and original synthesis.
A mainstay of the film is the synthesis of past and present in order to create a time that coincides with desire. To underline this aspect, the main actors in the present also interpret their doppelgangers in the past. Eva is also Elizabeth von Ouerbach, the patient of Prussian doctor Johan Anmuth, who, in turn, is also Doctor Morgan, Eva’s physician. The different characters add up to make a single protagonist, showing how every personality is a multitude of voices. The Book of Vision wants to homage the inexorable force of life and the need for constant rebirth. Each interrupted experience, each fall, and each unresolved love story inhabits a specific space and time yet is in continuous evolution. Cinema is the highest expression of this potential, an alternative world with its own nature. Each spectator’s experience of the film is elusive and cannot be controlled. Recognizing this while making a film is like leaning over a cliff, terrifying yet dizzyingly exciting.
Carlo S. Hintermann
TECHNICAL SHEET Title: THE BOOK OF VISION Production: CITRULLO INTERNATIONAL Coproduction Belgium: ENTRE CHIEN ET LOUP Coproduction UK: LUMINOUS ARTS PRODUCTIONS Executive Producer: TERRENCE MALICK Director: CARLO S. HINTERMANN Script: CARLO S. HINTERMANN, MARCO SAURA Location: ITALY, BELGIUM Genre: ROMANCE / DRAMA / MISTERY / FANTASY Language: ENGLISH
DIRECTOR AND WRITER CARLO S. HINTERMANN Carlo S. Hintermann is an Italian and Swiss filmmaker and producer. After having obtained the diploma in classical percussion and having studied History of Cinema in Italy, he studies Film Directing in the US. He directs a number of shorts and subsequently together with Luciano Barcaroli, Gerardo Panichi and Daniele Villa he directs the documentary Rosy-fingered Dawn: a film on Terrence Malick (Venice Film Festival, 2002) followed by Chatzer: Inside Jewish Venice (Turin Film Festival, 2004). He also directs the animated short H2O (Annecy Animated Film Festival, 2007). He produces and directs the Italian Unit of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, 2011) and then directs the documentary The Dark Side of the Sun (Rome International Film Festival, Extra - Jury Special Mention prize Enel Cuore, 2011) exploring the relationship between animation and live action. In 2013 he directs the spot for the Rare Disease Day in collaboration with Annie Lennox and Eurythmics, he also realizes the spot for the campaign of 2015 both with the animation studio Moonchausen. As a producer together with his associate Gerardo Panichi he co-produces several movies, documentaries and shorts among the others Tsili by Amos Gitai (Venice Film Festival, 2014), Rabin: The Last Day by Amos Gitai (Venice Film Festival, 2015), Mountain by Amir Naderi (Venice Film Festival - Glory to the Filmaker Award, 2016), Dal Ritorno by Giovanni Cioni and Rhinoceros by Kevin Jerome Everson. He is also a musician, composer and film critic, he edits together with Luciano Barcaroli and Daniele Villa ‘Addio terraferma: Ioseliani secondo Ioseliani’, Ubulibri 1999; ‘Una storia vera - The Straight Story’, Ubulibri 2000; ‘Il cinema nero di Takeshi Kitano: Sonatine - Hana-Bi – Brother’, Ubulibri 2001; ‘Scorsese secondo Scorsese’, Ubulibri 2003 and ‘Terrence Malick: Rehearsing the Unexpected’, Faber & Faber 2015.
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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER TERRENCE MALICK Terrence Malick is one of the most renowned American film directors, screenwriters, and producers. He made his directorial debut with the drama Badlands in 1973. Malick released his second film, Days of Heaven, in 1978, after which he took a long hiatus from directing films. His third film, the World War II drama The Thin Red Line, was released in 1998. Malick has received consistent praise for his work and has been regarded as one of the greatest living filmmakers. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Thin Red Line, as well as winning the Golden Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival, the Palme d'Or at the 64th Cannes Film Festival for The Tree of Life, and the SIGNIS Award at the 69th Venice International Film Festival for To the Wonder. From 2014 he directed the movies Knight of Cups, Voyage of Time, Song To Song and A Hidden Life premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
PRINCIPAL CAST – SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
CHARLES DANCE LOTTE VERBEEK SVERRIRE GUDNASON ISOLDA DYCHAUK FILIPPO NIGRO The Crown (2019) The Coldest Game (2019) Falling (2020) Two Girls (2018) Suburra (2017-2019) The Woman in White (2018) The Black List (2016-2019) Charter (2020) Berlin Station (2018) Medici (2018) That Good Night (2017) Counterpart (2018) Älska Mig (2019) Boris Without Béatrice (2016) Girl in Flight (2017) Me Before you (2016) Outlander (2014-2017) The Girl in the Spider’s Web (2018) SOKO Köln (2015) Romanzo Siciliano (2016) Game of Thrones (2011-2015) The Fault in Our Stars (2014) Føniks (2018) Borgia (2011-2014) Deep in the Wood (2015) The Imitation Game (2014) The Borgias (2011-2013) Borg McEnroe (2017) Faust (2011) All Cops Are Bastards (2012)
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DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - JOERG WIDMER Joerg Widmer is an award-winning director of photography, having collaborated, among others, with Wim Wenders, Terrence Malick, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Haneke, Roman Polanski and Bela Tarr.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER - DAVID CRANK David Crank is among the most talented production designers in the industry. He collaborated with Paul Thomas Anderson in There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Inherent Vice; with Steven Spielberg in Lincoln; and Terrence Malick in The New World, The Tree of Life, and To the Wonder.
COSTUME DESIGNER - MARIANO TUFANO Mariano Tufano worked in an array of major Italian and international feature films including: Il Piccolo Mondo Antico, The Importance of Being Earnest; The Passion of the Christ; Tristan & Isolde; and The Golden Door (Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival 2006). MUSIC - HANAN TOWNSHEND Hanan Townshend worked with Terrence Malick on the music of The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, Knight of Cups and Voyage of Time. He is considered one of the most sought after composers in USA.
CONCEPTUAL VISUAL DESIGN - LORENZO CECCOTTI Lorenzo Ceccotti (LRNZ) is an award-winning graphic artist and author of Golem, a best seller graphic novel. He collaborated with Carlo Hintermann in the animation part of The Dark Side of the Sun.
CINEMATOGRAPHY Director’s note on the cinematography I’ve always considered Joerg Widmer a true master at framing a shot. The tension he creates within the shot is narrative in itself. The film depends on his articulated camera movements to create a constant vortex of motion. His lighting seconds this movement with its great immersive force. Carlo S. Hintermann
Director of Photography’s note I became friends with Carlo S. Hintermann on our shoot of Malick’s The Tree of Life in Italy. When he showed me the script of The Book of Vision, I was impressed, since the story itself was full of vision and imagination. We went to a couple of exhibitions of medical history to dive more profoundly into the topic. The challenge of seeing the same actors in their different roles made us think of creating the transition between the two different time periods as smooth as possible. It was rewarding to go on the journey with these actors and the director and keep the decision, where fantasy starts and reality ends to the judgement of the audience. Joerg Widmer
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PRODUCTION DESIGN
Director’s Note on the Production Design Depth of field and eloquence of space were the two directives I sought for the film. David Crank created the conditions with his set where I could move the camera, and each element available had a dynamic value. The same thing happened in the design of the natural world, with results that surprised me thanks to the conceptual visual design by Lorenzo Ceccoti. Carlo S. Hintermann
Production Designer’s note The Book of Vision is a combination of intertwining stories which cross centuries, all connected yet different. There is an element of earthiness combined with spirituality in Carlo’s imaginative script, and it was important to me that these aspects be a part of the look of the film. We searched through Italy and Belgium for unique and unfamiliar locations to help tell this story- from the grandeur of old growth forests and the formality of eighteenth century aristocratic life to the modern urban world of study and observation. Hopefully we have created a world where all these varying ideas and views of life can exist together and comment upon each other. I hope you enjoy the voyage. David Crank
COSTUME DESIGN
Director’s note on the Costume Design Mariano Tufano’s work has always fascinated me for its attention to detail. In the film, I needed to find a way to unite two very different tones with something that always refers to the two time periods. The challenge was to bring a historical period rarely depicted, the first half of the 1700s, and with his original work, Mariano succeeded in creating an entire world. Carlo S. Hintermann
Costume Designer’s Note The costumes of The Book of Vision breathe two different sets of aesthetics and two parallel worlds. With Carlo S. Hintermann, we devised the aesthetic and chromatic tones for each era and character. The contemporary scientific world contrasts with the mysticism of the 18th century. All the 18th- century costumes were constructed from my original drawings. Aldo Signoretti (Moulin Rouge) and Desiree Corridoni (Marie Antoinette) designed the hair. A particular mention should be made about the costumes for the ‘souls of the tree’: they were constructed in fake bark so that the dancers in them, camouflaged, blended into the large magical tree. A thrilling work experience of excellent collaboration, all masterfully photographed by Joerg Widmer. Thank you, Carlo S. Hintermann! Mariano Tufano
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MUSIC SCORE Director’s Note on the Film Music The work on the film score started long before shooting. Thanks to Terrence Malick, I had the chance of meeting Hanan Townshend. From the start, a collaboration with him seemed very stimulating. I wanted to combine synthetic sounds with the concrete sounds of wind instruments, recorded in such a way that the material component of the instruments emerges. I felt that the two levels, sometimes with the addition of string instruments, successfully reflect the two dimensions of the film: contemporary and the 1700s. Just like the protagonists sum up the characters in the present and past, the music of the past and future become one. Hanan and Federico Pascucci, along with the wind ensemble of Errichetta Underground, have made my dream a reality. I couldn’t have wished for anything better. Carlo S. Hintermann
Composer’s Note The score for The Book of Vision comes from a fruitful composer-director collaboration. Working with various pre-recorded pieces and improvisations from Errichetta Underground, director Carlo S. Hintermann and I created a collage-like score that weaves through different worlds of the film. The score is built around the saxophone, often riffing off inspiring classical pieces from the likes of Brahms and Liszt. Compositionally, the original work is an extension of this world, blending clarinet, saxophone ensemble and strings to enhance the mystical, woody soundscape. Federico Pascucci’s additions to the score rounds out the soundtrack and brings a lovely romantic heartbeat. A very unique collaboration for a unique film. Hanan Townshend
THE PRODUCTION COMPANIES
CITRULLO INTERNATIONAL Citrullo International is a production company based in Rome. Active since 2001, we develop and produce films, documentaries and TV series for the international market. Our aim is that of fostering talented authors capable of expressing their own personal vision of the world and stories with a strong creative component. Citrullo International productions have been presented in the most prestigious Italian Film Festivals (Venice, Turin, Rome etc.), in a number of international Festivals (Jerusalem, Stockholm, Buenos Aires, Annecy, BFI, The Contenders MoMA) and have been aired on Italian (RAI, Sky, FOX) and international channels (SVT, YLE, DR, TV3, SKY, IFC).
Since 2009, the company works as executive production of foreign films shot in Italy. Among the titles, The Tree of Life, by Terrence Malick, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. In 2014 Citrullo International co-produced two movies by the acclaimed director Amos Gitai, Tsili presented out of competition at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, and Rabin: The Last Day presented in competition at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. In 2015 it produced Monte by the Iranian master Amir Naderi premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2016 (Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award to Amir Naderi)
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THE PRODUCTION COMPANIES
ENTRE CHIEN ET LOUP Entre Chien et Loup’s production strategy focuses on high quality content. In both feature and documentary film, our production philosophy remains firmly committed to this principle, and it is thanks to this particular emphasis that we have succeeded, since our creation in 1989, in imposing ourselves on the European audiovisual market. Maintaining and developing an ongoing access to distribution networks in the audiovisual sector involves a permanent and formidable challenge, particularly in a social environment where pre-digested image consumption has become standard. However Entre Chien et Loup remains faithful to its basic intention: making films that combine a committed style of direction, of authorship and of topic, a strong sense of cinematography, and the appropriate production that allows for their fullest ambition to be expressed. Over the course of time, this obstinacy has paid off. Among the recent productions the company coproduced the acclaimed Paul Verhoeven’s movie Elle.
LUMINOUS ARTS PRODUCTIONS LTD Luminous Arts Productions is a London based film and theatre production company. The team at Luminous Arts Productions produced Amir Naderi’s Monte (2016) as associates to Citrullo International and produced Aleksander Markov’s Nameless Nobody (2013). Luminous Arts Productions are currently working on producing both European films and theatre plays for the London stage.
Gerardo Panichi, Sébastien Delloye, Robin and Vera Monotti Graziadei and Rai Cinema present
a production Citrullo International, Entre Chien et Loup, Luminous Arts Productions with Rai Cinema
A film by Carlo S. Hintermann
Non-contractual credits
Responsabile Comunicazione Ufficio Stampa Francesco Marchetti Simona Pedroli Cell. 335 8233255 fffff Cell. +39 333 6076773 [email protected] [email protected]