The nationally known choreographer and director Miguel (aka Sergei Shesteperov), managed to achieve great heights thanks to his talent and perseverance. Since childhood, his idol was Michael Jackson, however, he strived to be extraordinary, to be different from the crowd of other dancers. And he succeeded.
A special style of dancing and an individual approach to choreography, as well as participation in several dance shows, made Miguel famous throughout the country.
Today he directs videos for many famous Russian pop performers, hosts his own dance show and is a judge on a dance television project.
Height, weight, age. How old is Miguel
Fame came to Miguel after his arrival on television. It was the “Star Factory”, in which the dancer participated in 2004, that gave a good impetus to his career. Although he did not have good vocal abilities, the audience and judges were captivated by his charisma and dancing abilities.
Since that time he has been an important figure in the world of Russian dance. He is often invited to television projects and shows. For dancers, Miguel is a choreographer from God, an idol, whose every step is closely watched. Many of them are interested in any information: height, weight, age, how old is Miguel.
Miguel is of average height (180 cm) and has an athletic build. He always stood out for his interesting appearance and his own unique talent. This is what makes him successful.
- Singer Ekaterina Semenova: biography, personal life, family, husband, children - photo
- Maria Sharapova: biography, personal life, family, husband, children - photo
- Ararat Keshchyan: biography, personal life, family, wife, children - photo
- Regina Myannik: biography, personal life, family, husband, children - photo
Creative activity
- 1999-2003 - ballet dancer in the musical about show business "Metro"[3]. There he received the nickname Miguel from his colleagues[2].
- 2002-2004 - soloist in the ballet of the musical “Notre Dame de Paris”[4].
- 2004 - performer in the musical “Romeo and Juliet”[5], which, according to him, turned out to be the most significant for his creative career.
- In 2004, Miguel became a participant in the Channel One television project “Star Factory”[6] under the direction of Alla Pugacheva.
- 2008-2014 - works as a choreographer and stage director at various shows, fashion shows, and theatrical performances in Russia and Ukraine.
- 2014–2018 — mentor and jury member[7] of the “Dancing” project on TNT.
Circus
In 2010, Miguel was invited as a choreographer to the theatrical circus show “The Secret of the Giant Elephants”[8], a circus on the Fontanka in St. Petersburg, under the direction of Taisiya Kornilova[9]. The show was nominated for the State Prize of Russia and St. Petersburg. Later, in 2012, Miguel choreographed the circus show of the Diamond Circus of Yakutia for performances at the Royal Circus (Brussels, Belgium) and at the Nikulin Circus (Moscow).
Clips
In 2011, Miguel begins to work closely with Ukrainian director and music video director Alan Badoev. The result of their collaboration is Max Barskikh’s music video for the song “Student,” in which Miguel acted as a choreographer. This was followed by work on the music video Diana Diez & Kostas Martakis “Sex Indigo”, Valery Meladze “Stay with Me”, Alina Artz “Beautiful Lie”, Zara and Alexander Rosenbaum “Encore Love” and many others. Among the latest works is the production of a music video for Anton Belyaev’s video for the song My love Is Like. Collaborated with Apashe and created the collaboration No Twerk.
Television projects
In the spring of 2011, the grandiose dance show “Maidan’s” started on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel “Inter”. One of the ideological inspirers of the TV show was Miguel, who worked as the main choreographer, music producer, and also a member of the jury. The Maidan's project was officially included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest and most massive project in the world[10].
In 2011, Miguel produced and staged numbers[11] for the group “Unreal Boys[12]” as part of the talent show “Show No. 1” on the Inter TV channel, Ukraine. In 9 weeks the team achieved victory[13]. After the show ended, Miguel decided to continue working with the group. In February 2012, the group with the updated name “Unreal” became a participant in the national selection for Eurovision 2012, taking 4th place in the final with the song “Just a Dream[14]”. The director and choreographer of the performance was Miguel.
In the fall of 2012, a new show of the Endemol format “ShowaStgown[15]” was launched on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel “New Channel”, where 8 artists transformed into stage idols of all times and peoples - from Lady Gaga and Freddie Mercury to Valery Leontyev and Sofia Rotaru. Participants presented the most complex and unexpected images: much younger or older than themselves, including those of the opposite sex. The celebrities' images for each broadcast were chosen by lot. The directors of the TV show were Miguel and Oleg Bondarchuk, dividing 4 performers between them on each broadcast.
Show "Dancing" on TNT channel
The first season of the largest Russian dance project “Dancing” started airing on the TNT channel on August 23, 2014[16]. Miguel, together with choreographer Egor Druzhinin, became a mentor of the project[17], as well as a member of the jury. In the fourth season of the project, Egor Druzhinin was replaced by Tatyana Denisova[18], a choreographer from Ukraine, who had already appeared in the show as a guest jury member in the third season.[19]
One of the numbers in the first season of the project received an unexpected development. In the production number with the participation of all the dancers of his team, Miguel used the track “No Twerk” by the Canadian DJ Apashe. After the broadcast, the performance received a huge number of views on the Internet[20], and the popularity of the Apashe track in Russia increased sharply. The Canadian DJ, inspired by the unexpected success, invited the creators of the “Dancing on TNT” project to shoot a video for his creation and made a new version of “No Twerk” especially for the video[21]. The video featured choreographers and members of Miguel’s team from the show “Dancing on TNT.” The clip was seen not only in Russia, but also in the USA and Japan.
Largely thanks to the video, Miguel managed to invite the world famous choreographer Jonte[22], who worked with Beyoncé, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, to one of the episodes of the second season of the “Dancing on TNT” project.
Producing
Since November 2011, Miguel began producing the musical group “Unreal”, which won the Ukrainian television project “Show No. 1”. After 4 months, the group took 4th place[23] at the national Ukrainian selection for Eurovision 2012. And in August 2012, “Unreal” won Alla Pugacheva’s Golden Star award as part of the Crimea Music Fest.
Off-air activities
In February 2020, a dance hall [24] opened in Moscow, opened by the creators of the show “DANCES” on TNT, producers of the Comedy Club Production company. Miguel became the center's creative producer. Today, “PROTANCES” is one of the largest dance centers in Russia[25], where professional teachers, famous choreographers, fitness instructors, as well as world-class foreign dancers teach. In June 2020, under the auspices of the dance center, the first dance “Camp PRODANCE”[26] was held in Sochi, where Miguel also acted as a creative producer. “Camp PRODANCE” - a unique dance project [27] focused on international experience - has become a launching pad for hundreds of dancers. The main goal of the camp is the development of dance culture in Russia and the CIS. For a whole week, camp participants learned from the best world and Russian choreographers and trained side by side with participants in the “DANCE” project[28]. Miguel is also the director and choreographer of the tours of the “DANCES” project. In March 2020, the tour of the first season of the show “DANCES”[29] started, which brought together more than 120 cities throughout Russia. In September 2020, a tour of the second season of the show “DANCE” took place in the cities of the CIS and neighboring countries. Concerts took place in 23 cities of Russia, the Baltic states, and Belarus. The tour ended with large-scale 3D performances in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk. And in June 2016, a large tour “DANCES. Battle of the Seasons"[30]. The tour list of participants in the show “DANCES” on TNT includes more than 100 cities in Russia, Belarus, the Baltic countries and Europe.
Biography and personal life of Miguel
Miguel was born in the town of Khimki near Moscow in 1982. The dancer's mother is Russian, and his father is Cuban. The story of his parents is amazing. As it turned out, the family was together for only a couple of years, then the father had to return to his homeland, since he was a military man. At that time, foreign officers were not allowed to remain in the Soviet Union.
The mother and Miguel wanted to go to the boy’s father, but they were also prohibited from leaving. Because of this, the separation between Miguel and his father was 33 years long.
A few years ago, Miguel met his father after living under the same roof for a month. Unfortunately, during this time the man had another family in his homeland, so he could not leave them and come forever.
Nevertheless, the dancer maintains contact with his father, and took his real name as a pseudonym. Sergei's mother raised him with his grandmother. School was torture for him; he had no desire for knowledge. Moreover, Miguel even changed several schools.
From early childhood, Miguel was a fan of Michael Jackson and even before school he organized concerts with dances and songs for his relatives and neighbors.
Sergei’s mother enrolled her son in a ballet school when he was in 5th grade. Although Miguel had been interested in dancing for a long time, after studying at ballet school for three years, he never graduated from it, considering this activity not interesting.
After receiving secondary education, Miguel successfully passed the entrance exams to the choreographic school at the Bolshoi Theater. By the way, he had long dreamed of joining his troupe. The guy moved to the capital to study. He did well at university, however, he soon realized that he did not want to study ballet dancing.
Miguel began creating his own dance style and developed well in this direction. Then he received his education at the capital's Institute of Culture, choosing the choreographic department.
Since the late 90s, Sergei Shesteperov has often been invited to various musicals. Russian Broadway was liked by the audience and was highly praised by critics. Soon, connoisseurs of dance art became fans of Miguel.
This was followed by Sergei’s participation in several more successful musicals and performances, thanks to which he gained his first fame.
In 2004, Miguel participated in the fifth “Star Factory” and became popular not because of his vocal abilities, but because of his artistry and dancing abilities. He did not become the winner of the factory, but was remembered by the audience and acquired fans.
Since that time, Miguel’s biography and personal life have become public domain, they were discussed by everyone who noticed the talented dancer. After successfully participating in a popular television project, Miguel began to be invited to stage videos of Russian stars, as well as to organize dance shows and New Year's performances.
Sergei also repeatedly worked on staging fashion shows, concerts and even films. The dancer's name now spoke for itself.
Later, Miguel would start producing musical groups, and very successfully. Then the dancer and choreographer began to be invited as a presenter on such television projects as “ShowaStgown”, “One to One”, “Dancing”.
On the TV show "Dancing" Miguel was one of three judges. The audience enjoyed watching the battles of three choreographers who selected the best dancers in Russia. Views of the dance program are breaking all records. Several seasons of “Dancing” have already been released, and for most of the winners the choreographer was Sergei Shesteperov.
This project not only aroused interest, but also encouraged young people to take up dancing and develop themselves in this direction.
Very little is known about Miguel's personal life. He is reluctant to share personal details with the press. At the moment it is known that the dancer is not yet married. There is also no information about children.
The beginning of the journey: musicals
The biography and personal life of Miguel (“Dancing” on TNT) began on the big stage, namely with dancing in a musical called “Metro.” Before reaching adulthood, the guy took part in a colorful production, which served as his ticket to the big world. By the way, many famous people played in “Metro” with Miguel. Showing his best side, the guy was able to take part in no less large productions, such as Notre Dame de Paris and Romeo and Juliet.
Interesting fact: classical dance, which Miguel mastered, is the basis of choreographic art. The guy learned to convey grace, beauty, elegance with his movements. This gave the young man the opportunity to become a soloist in a ballet troupe and lay the foundation for his career growth. The artist himself has repeatedly stated that he was able to become famous only thanks to one incident. The thing is that the guy was once late for a rehearsal, as a result of which he was expelled from the troupe. This situation did not at all affect either self-esteem or Miguel’s internal state. He proudly moved on and was able to achieve greater success than in the world of ballet and musicals.
Miguel's family and children
Many people are concerned about the question: do Miguel’s family and children exist? In fact, the dancer does not talk about his personal life. Of course, every person has a personal life, and the successful and talented Miguel is no exception. But the media does not have any information about the relationship of the Russian dancer.
The closest person at the moment is his mother Tatyana. He is very grateful to her for everything she has done for him, as well as for the warmth and kindness with which he has been surrounded since childhood. Despite the absence of his father, Miguel grew up in care and comfort; his mother and grandmother made a lot of effort for this.
Whether Sergei is going to start his own family is not yet known.
Miguel's wife - does she exist?
Some time ago, pictures of Miguel and Natalia Gordienko appeared on the network. In the photo, young people in wedding dresses are hugging. Word immediately spread about the marriage of one of the country's eligible bachelors. However, it later turned out that Miguel and Natalya were filming a video, there is no relationship between them.
Later, rumors about the dancer’s wife circulated again, and many fans began to wonder: “Miguel’s wife – does she exist?”
Miguel denies having a wife in every possible way and confirmed his bachelor status. In any case, he has a girlfriend, but the media has not yet been able to establish her identity. Miguel hides his personal life from prying eyes too carefully.
Of course, such an interesting, popular and talented young man cannot but attract the attention of a female audience. Just look at Miguel’s numbers, which make half the country shiver.
Personal life
The biography of Miguel from “Dancing” remains a mystery to the average viewer. The artist does not make his personal life public, but this did not stop fans from learning that the famous choreographer’s heart remains free. Miguel himself has repeatedly admitted that he needs personal space, and between his marital status and loneliness, he will choose the latter.
The yellow press, on the contrary, is actively trying to connect the dancer with equally famous personalities. For example, news reports flashed information that the man was dating Natalya Gordienko, but neither the singer nor the artist himself confirmed this fact. Who is hidden in the soul of the young and charismatic choreographer is unknown, and we can only guess when Miguel’s heart will be won.
Miguel's orientation. Is he blue?
Domestic show business is filled with many artists, performers, showmen, each of whom has their own flavor.
Many of them resort to drastic measures to attract the attention of the audience and acquire even more fans. Some people undergo plastic surgery, others completely change their style, others get married and have scandalous divorces.
Some use so-called black PR. It's no secret that people of unconventional orientation are not very welcome in our country. Therefore, it is no longer uncommon for one or another star of Russian show business to be called gay.
It’s interesting that no confirmation or reliable facts have been found for this, but such news does a good job of attracting public attention.
Little-promoted artists, or those whose careers are hanging by a thread, can resort to such PR to shake up the public. However, there are also just rumors that generate black PR, but have nothing to do with the truth.
This happened with Sergei. The media often began to discuss what Miguel's orientation is, is he gay or is it all fiction? They found a couple of dubious photographs of a dancer with a man online, added a sharp comment and that’s it – the news was launched. In this case, opinions are divided: some believe everything that the press reports, others do not.
In any case, even if Miguel is gay, it is unlikely that he would advertise this, like any other details from his personal life.
Online magazine Cineticle
A legendary interview between Mark Peranson, editor of one of the most influential film magazines, Cinema Scope, with the unpredictable Portuguese director Miguel Gomes: about the film “The Face You Deserve,” the heroes of the 00s and John Ford.
What the hell does “The Face You Deserve” (A Cara que Mereces, 2004) mean?
Is this a real question?
Yes, a real question. Why did you decide to make this film?
Now I'll try to remember. Well, I wanted to make a film about the crisis of thirty years. There is a saying in Portuguese: “Before 30 you have the face that God gave you, and after 30 you have the face you deserve.” I had the idea to make a film about a character who at some point realizes that he can’t do it anymore. He communicated a lot with people, but at some point everyone left him, and besides, he fell ill with measles. And then the movie turns into Snow White, and he has to go back to his childhood and try to... well, he sort of becomes the director of the movie, and only by making this movie will he save himself.
Like I said, it took me two weeks to figure out what this movie was about, and I came to the conclusion that it's about how movies are made - well, even if all movies are about that to some extent, then this one is peculiarities. But in my understanding, this is not only because he becomes, as it were, a director, but because there is a moral in him - as in fairy tales there is always a lesson - which is that all the rules that you knew before the age of 30 must be forgotten, and start all over again. And this especially applies to the way movies are made, the way they were made before. In The Face You Deserve - as in all of your films, including the shorts - there is an obvious concern with rules, rules that are largely absurd. Here the actors obey the rules, and in the end they realize that they are absurd.
Yes, the rules in my films may be a little ridiculous, but I think that in general most of the rules in this world, outside of my films, are also ridiculous. But in this case, yes, I wanted to create this fairy-tale land of Oz, and friends who are like the seven dwarfs, and yes, they are all obsessed with rules. The movie continues until one of them breaks the rule, and then everyone else starts questioning them too. And when this happens, you are out, and then the film has to end. Therefore, the last phrase of the film is “Farewell, my friends” - it sounds before one of the heroes, Nikolaou, buries the grasshoppers in a small grave. Also, “Farewell, my friends” can be considered a farewell to the old rules, but at the same time it is a sad moment.
Have you also thought about changing the old rules of narrative cinema in general, because every serious director comes to this one day, having reached a certain level of understanding and maturity?
Well, actually there are a lot of films that I love, we already mentioned The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1939), and then there is Moonfleet .
1955)…
Disney... And in the film "The Face You Deserve" there is a lot of Rivette.
Yes, and Rivette is also very obsessed with different rules and games. But this also comes from the example of classic American cinema, in which problems are easily solved with the help of a bet, or simply challenging fate. For example, I love eccentric American comedies. In the film " Bringing Up Baby "
, 1938) the characters behave like children, and everything there seems to be a continuous game. This is very regressive.
Most - if not all - of the short films are about children or naive eccentrics such as St. Francis. All these games and fairy tales are aimed at children, this is obvious, because adults have long stopped believing in fairy tales, or magic, or... say, in the Land of Oz.
And I believe in all of this, although at the same time I think that it is somewhat ridiculous, and therefore in my films, I think there is both. My characters do strange and stupid things, like burying a grasshopper, for example.
All these actions are not just games, but also rituals, and perhaps this is the main idea of the film “Our Beloved Month of August”: people need these games, rituals, legends, or at least work - just in order to exist. There are certain requirements that society makes in order to stick together. And each director decides which part of this society he is going to focus on. It is impossible to make a believable picture and involve the audience in it if there is no connecting link, something in common, at least on such a level as language. By the way, language is a rule-based system that can be quite absurd, as in the movie Kalkitos.
I think what is important here is not the rules themselves, but the people who believe in them. There are times when people believe in certain rules, then other times come and they stop believing in these and believe in another set of rules.
This is what your first short film is about.
This is a very unsuccessful film.
From a technical point of view, yes, but in it you described the ritual of the cinematic process, that’s what the film “Meanwhile” is about.
Youth is like a forgotten land. There is a childhood when you believe in different things, then in your youth there comes a moment when you realize that adults have a lot of crap in them, and they lie a lot...
The moment when you realize that there is no God.
Yes, exactly, and then youth comes, and other rules appear, and you are forced to accept them - after all, you need to live on something...
In the film “Our Favorite Month of August” there is a concern with the rules that exist in fiction and documentary films and their absurdity, and a desire to preserve some of them and discard some, without thinking about the consequences.
Maybe it's because I don't write two-part scripts. I never think about this part 2 stuff, maybe there's some desire to create rules and then destroy what you've created by introducing a new set of rules and watch the rules from those two parts get mixed up, or collide, something like that.
What rules did you follow when making this film?
?
I had one golden rule. Since we have invaded this place, Arganil, we have to be completely in this movie. After all, we required the local population to play characters, so we had to do the same. And everything that we brought with us from Lisbon had to be in the film - camera, tripod - that was the rule.
Why was this so important to you?
This film is a clash between cinema and this part of the country, so we and everything we brought with us had to appear in the film. Usually there are things that are in the frame and there are things that are out of frame, but this time I wanted everything to be in the frame, even what usually happens in between - that is, the camera itself.
Some did not understand this, and considered that your appearance in the frame with the film crew... well, in order to stroke their pride.
Well, yes, they called me “I want to be Fellini.” But still, I think it was fair to do just that. There are no cinemas or theaters in this part of Portugal... but I think this film is about our common desire to make films.
Make movies or do art in general? That guy who jumped off the bridge, is he also a director?
That guy, Paolo Miller, is a simple character. But he always plays. He was completely drunk the entire time, but he continued playing until he passed out. I let him play his own mise-en-scène, and it took center stage in the first part. In the first part, I am looking for people who could play my heroes, and I could not offer him a role in the second part, since he is already the hero of the first. And other people have given him roles, so in some ways he's unbeatable. You can see how he cheats and plays. He is focused on his own movement in the film, within himself, so I decided not to invite him for the second part.
It would be easier to say that the difference between the two parts is that one is documentary and the other is fiction, but this would not be entirely true. Maybe the point is that in the first part the actors make their own mise-en-scène, and in the second you stage them? Is that more accurate?
Yes, at least that's how I would like people to understand it.
In a sense, this is not entirely true - when I rewatched the second part, I watched the work of the cameraman, trying to feel if there was a noticeable difference in the way the scenes were shot...
No, I tried not to make much of a difference, I even tried to prohibit our cameraman from placing the equipment in the frame, but he secretly smuggled it in - it can be seen in the frame. But still, the second part could not be absolutely the same as the first, because here we knew almost all the time what was going to happen. In any case, a number of the most revealing mise-en-scenes were in the first part - in the scenes with my producer, and about dominoes, and this spaghetti western.
When you initially conceived the film, did you set yourself the task of considering this traditional division between fiction and documentary? Does the internal structure of the film itself evolve in the same way that we see scenes unfold on screen?
No, filming is not a movie, there are no dominoes here... But yes, we wanted to make a film that didn’t cost a thousand, and it would be a normal filming process, with all the usual means of cinema. We rehearsed and supervised the concert scenes, for example. I wanted something between what you see in a movie... maybe a Minnelli movie, like something close to Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Well, then did you realize that there is no point in constructing such a reality? Because you can just take a camera to a concert, film it and get the same scenes, if not better?
Yes, yes, and besides, we didn’t have the money for it. My producer told me that there is one guy who is ready to give money for the film, but he died, and we did not have time to sign a contract with him. Seriously. So there was no money.
Getting back to this idea of fairy tales, I'm curious how you see "Our Favorite Month of August" from this perspective? After all, every fairy tale must have a moral. Or your film remakes a fairy tale into a fairy tale without a moral, or with some kind of double morality, as one critic who disliked the film terribly in Vienna put it - “a film that approves of incest.”
When you get to that point where the girl is crying and laughing at the same time, in a normal movie that moment would have some kind of moral, but in our case it's all a bit jumbled and it's hard to tell if it's the character or the actress who's laughing or crying. I think there may be some moral to this moment, but I don't know exactly what it is.
Perhaps morality is not the right word here. You can talk about structure and process, but what were you aiming for when making this film?
Well, a lot of things. I wanted to show the small-town stories and relationships between these people, for starters. I was also attracted to the idea of making a summer movie like this - boys flirting with girls - and also in that "incest-approving" part of the film, the tragedy, the melodrama of the relationship between father and daughter... I know, I used some rules from documentary films, like voiceover... so there's a moment there where you think you're watching a documentary. But in general, I don’t like documentaries, because they know too well what they document, and in my case, I didn’t know it myself.
Life.
Well, for example, yes. Remember, at the beginning there is this scene with an English boy and a girl from Lisbon in a bar - it was his birthday and he was cutting a cake with an ax - there were a lot of English people there, mostly strange ones, new hippies. I didn't know exactly what to do with this scene. I knew that he would now cut the cake with an ax, and I wanted to film it. But then I talked to them, and I didn’t know what would happen next...
In this scene, your voiceover is heard, you speak English, and if you had a plan, you would not have done this...
Yes, I was behind the scenes, and suddenly I began to realize that something funny was happening, that this scene was about the language barrier and the relationship between these two. And this is great - I thought it would be a boring conversation that would have to be cut during editing, but suddenly something started to happen. You just have to be open and willing to take things in a different direction while filming. Here's another rule.
Well, when you came into the editing room and looked through all these scenes, did you know that you would end up with such a floating structure?
When I was there for the first time, in the summer of 2006, I still didn’t know what to do... There was a script, and I knew that I had to return to it somehow. And - and this is one of the biggest lies of this film - I already had several actors cast in the roles, such as cousins Helder and Tanya. But I photographed them like everyone else, as if I had just found them on the spot. The first shoot lasted about four weeks, then I thought about it, then I shot for another two weeks after that. Then I added material from the first shoot and asked my screenwriter to participate in editing, and my editor to participate in making changes to the script. Because it was almost the same. And then we realized that we need to make the first part of the film about how we are looking for heroes. Maybe we could persuade Joachim Corvalho - this is producer Pedro Costa - to play one of the characters - the producer and the father, if there were these scenes with his and my participation, then he would become a real character. And so we came up with a structure, wrote the scenes on cards, decided: here the domino will fall, then the girl will approach the film crew and ask to be taken to act in the film at the moment when they are playing ring toss...
Have you already filmed these scenes?
No, I had a girlfriend and I filmed the scene. Well, then we rewrote the script and tried to make some kind of connection between the first and second parts. And it wasn’t that difficult - after all, there aren’t many people in the film and they don’t have many activities - they mostly drink, take part in a procession... It’s not difficult, but only if you have time for it. We had it because when we resumed filming in 2007, we only filmed feature scenes. If you look closely at a girl, for example, you will notice that she has gained weight.
Has the guy become better at playing the guitar?
No, he didn't.
What about the music, did you have these songs in your head all the time?
The idea for these songs came from our original idea - to film a musical melodrama, with not very good music and songs that are usually sung in this part of the country. So we listened to a lot of songs...
Are all the words original?
Yes, these are traditional songs. I listened to hundreds of recordings and selected the songs that fit the scenes. And then during the filming I found a few more because people were performing them...
And in that dinner party scene, the drunk guy sings this outrageous song about incest...
This happens in this area... Yes, I had this drunk guy and I made him sing words that I wrote. But this kind of thing is very typical - in real life it often ends very badly, because people insult each other, but they have to do it in rhyme. This is very, very difficult, and often she falls dead drunk in the middle of the song...
This is something like rap music...
Yes, and in this song it also reminds me of the Greek chorus. In the original script, these scenes between father and daughter were more explicit, but in the revised version I could not leave them that way. So I had to show them through this song of a drunk guy singing, “Is this father and daughter or husband and wife?...” So I hope that some of the things that the audience saw before become clearer and become more revealing from then on. .
Let's go back to the very beginning. Is the idea of making a movie that has more than one set of rules, or rules that change along the way, the most enjoyable way to make a movie?
I look for pleasure in cinema. Of course, I try to look for them everywhere. I try to make filming fun. One of the things I hope to get from a movie as a viewer is enjoyment. For example, I enjoy constant change. When you think: “Oh, I understand,” and suddenly some kind of mutation occurs. This gives me pleasure, even as a spectator.
When you don't know what's about to happen. Maybe this is the main problem of art cinema today - you always know what is going to happen, and even how... So did you enjoy the film “Our Favorite Month of August” more than “The Face You Deserve?” ”, because the latter had a more strict scenario. As well as short films, for example, “A Christmas Inventory” (2000) ...
The Christmas movie was the only one... well... it's not like there was a storyboard... There's a moment where one girl starts crying and she ruins the whole scene. And then it dawned on me, I understood. She did something unexpected, and it was better than what I could have come up with in the script. Then I filmed “31” (2001), and there was no script. At the Cinema School, in the very first lesson they teach: never invest your money in a film, and especially in a film about children and animals, because both are uncontrollable.
And in all your films there are children and animals. It turns out that you started by violating the basic rule.
Well, perhaps the rules may clash with each other. Well, for example, in this scene the girl had her own rule. Another boy took her bike, so she cried. They broke the rule: the bike was hers, and he took it. And here too there is a clash between the rules of cinema and the desires of the actors.
Not just rules - rather boundaries - between people, between documentary and fiction. And these are artificial boundaries.
This is editing. Editing brings everything together. I really enjoyed editing this film, it gave me great pleasure. For example, there's this girl standing on a lookout tower, and then there's a shot of a forest fire, which looks completely fake. But for some reason you believe in it, and this is the most important thing - the ability to believe in the incredible. Perhaps this is why cinema is akin to returning to childhood, to a time when you knew how to believe. Now, of course, you have distanced yourself somewhat from that time and can treat everything ironically, but sometimes something like this touches you, because you want to believe.
But in today's Hollywood cinema it is very rarely possible to suspend this disbelief.
Sometimes you can, for example with Wes Anderson. He's making a shark movie and he looks like Douglas Sirk. Douglas Sirk is stupid, but I find him very moving.
But this is an artificial product, isn’t it? He makes just such fairy-tale worlds - where adults behave like children in all films, and this is the rule. And children sometimes behave like adults, as in the movie Rushmore Academy (1998), which is what makes this film so attractive. And this is difficult, because you not only forget for a while about your disbelief, but also about your ironic detached attitude towards life. It's strange that these films work.
Eugene Green, who just made a film with my producer in Portugal, said that it was very Portuguese to be serious and frivolous at the same time. Remember Manoel de Oliveira, in his films it is always difficult to understand whether he is joking or serious.
And he works with John Malkovich, who has exactly this acting quality, you don’t know how to perceive him: is he serious or joking? Or both at once?
In Oliviera's film The Letter (1999), there is this absurd character who sings a poetic dialogue about love from the 18th century. He is very ridiculous when he sings this ridiculous song, but he is real, he exists. I don't know if it's in Portuguese or not. I'm not sure about everything, to be honest. I am always amazed by these directors who speak the truth like prophets. By and large, I don't know anything. I can try, but I'm not sure if I'm asked the same question in a couple of hours, I'll answer it the same way. Maybe I'm not a very integral person.
This is because you were a film critic in the past.
But when I was a critic, I had to say whether a film was good or bad. It seems to me that some kind of test always reveals a person's character at the same time, like the guy who jumped off the bridge. Of course, you have to be confident at certain points when you are given the challenge of being a film critic.
Have you learned anything about how film is made from being a film critic?
Yes, because I didn't learn anything about it at Film School. Absolutely. Writing about films made me think a little about cinema. The most important thing was that I was forced to write. I worked for a daily newspaper, and if I hadn't submitted my texts on time, I don't even know what would have happened...
There would be advertising.
Exactly, and they would become richer. But it gave me a lot of discipline. I can afford to be so chaotic now, but some discipline is needed in the beginning. Even if it is the product of the stupidest rules.
“Our Favorite Month of August” is the only film in the history of cinema in which the sound engineer is second in the credits...
The only concession I made at my producer's request was when I wanted to add another layer in the last scene. When we appear on the screen, credits appear with everyone's name. But I wrote a very detailed description of the film in accordance with the order in which the characters appeared on the screen, starting with the chickens and the fox... I wanted to place these scenes between the introductions of the crew members, and that’s when the producer told me: “You also have subtitles.” , it’s going to be a complete mess.” I say: “And I love chaos.” And he said, “No, no, for my sake, do as I ask, I’ll produce your 150-minute film, and so I’ll let you do whatever you want with it.” And I said, "Okay."
What about the sound engineer?
Sound design is very important to me. And I wanted to end the film with a scene about people who believe in incredible things. This guy, Vasco Pimintel, the sound engineer, is our version of that dude who jumps off the bridge. He worked with Schröter, Ruiz, Monteiro - almost everyone. And he always says some wrong things, but he himself firmly believes in them. Such an old-fashioned theme in the style of John Ford - Print the legend. In general, you know, every frame we take has the imprint of a legend. At the end - literally - there is a scene where newspapers are printed, and then the sound guy does the same with the whole film, because there is something that no one can understand, but it is still there. He is our Joan of Arc, he hears things like this.
Throughout the film, these strange sounds are heard from time to time.
I can say that I got great pleasure from the scene you are talking about, from these sounds that you hear there. This is something like a mantra that the entire film crew sang, and I was the lead singer. Where we were filming was a little church with a broken window, and we placed microphones right next to that window. And next to the door to the church there was also a window, which created a magnificent echo. My group and I got into the habit of saying, “Now let’s sing the mantra...”
One more game.
Yes, but cinema is actually a game. Sometimes I think it would be nice to take all serious things and turn them into a game, like children do. Sometimes I give my daughter toys and she is not interested in them, she wants to play with all sorts of stupid kitchen utensils that could kill her, but she enjoys it more.
The same applies to the script you have to shoot the film from. But this is addressed to producers. Your producer was probably surprised by what you suggested?
Yeah. I think they were a little confused that they couldn't provide the funding they needed, so they were absent from filming, so I was in charge of everything. But, you know, if you're playing a game and you're trying to change the rules, there are things that can't be overcome. Overall though, I had ample opportunities. I could, for example, insist on my own and film three-hour episodes in the toilet... I really could have done it, but I didn’t. Because there are other restrictions. I just told the producers that it would be a three-hour film, and they said that was fine.
Of course, watching a film is not as difficult as making it... But you are constantly playing with your viewer.
Exactly. But I definitely need a McGuffin to then repeat what was shown.
Like in The Wizard of Oz.
Yes, like those two recurring parts of The Wizard of Oz. The only thing that worries me is the mathematical accuracy. For example, I really like Boogie Nights .
1997) because they are very choreographic, but I don't like Magnolia (
1999
) because it's too structured. It shows the intentions and efforts of the author. He managed to make such a film, but his work does not seem free. There is nothing random about it.
You're talking about the first episode of Nights, which introduced all the main characters and could have spent a lot of time on it. It doesn’t seem forced; a lot is conveyed through camera movements and lighting.
That's for sure.
I mention this because it is a fairly common myth that the success of your film depends on the special play of light, and the structure does not really matter. For example, I see that the picture does not work out, even if the general scenes with the characters playing and moving make a favorable impression, but the main thing is the light. In your film something similar happens, but at the very end the characters rise above the structure. They become more human.
You know, when I showed the film for the first time in my country, I said that it was on a very underrated topic. What does it mean to be alive? After all, being alive is not at all the same as being dead; many problems arise. I think the mistake of bad, and even good, films is that they ignore this problem of the living.
The hardest thing for actors is to convince you that they are alive.
And people are alive when they laugh.
Or when they don't laugh. For example, in a scene where the hero can't remember his words because you keep changing scenes with him...
This brings up an important aspect. He's very human when he's nervous.
Being alive is quite difficult to summarize and express. That's why many films don't affect me, because it's impossible to separate the actor from the role.
But sometimes it's good. You know, my favorite actor is Robert Mitchum, he's always Robert Mitchum. And of course, John Wayne...
Of course, but they played themselves. Or perhaps the time for such a game has already passed, the basic rules have changed, but Hollywood operates by the old rules. Therefore, when we see Tom Cruise in a film, he always tries to act, but this is no longer possible...
Johnny Depp is a completely different case. He has an advantage. What makes Johnny Depp an actor is his ability to have fun. For example, in Sleepy Hollow
1999), my favorite Tim Burton film, he had opportunities to express himself. He made faces and fainted. I wrote one of my last texts about this as a film critic - the film was about a guy who constantly faints, this is his whole life. Perhaps this must be the truth about cinema.
This is probably why Anna Faris can be considered a great actress - she always looks cheerful.
Let me ask: people talk about me, Albert Serra and Lisandro Alonso as if we are a team. Maybe because we showed our films at the last Directors' Fortnight? I really love Lisandro and Albert's films, but I think they work with minimalist structures. And I... not really.
Yes, in Vienna I said that "Freedom" ( La libertad
, 2001), is probably one of the most important films of the decade, as the gap between documentary and fiction is no longer significant.
For me, “The Song of the Birds” ( El cant dels ocells, 2008
) appears to be both documentary and artistic: the actors do not play roles, they play themselves, and the filming resembles a documentary. The scenes that play out are the scenes that they talk about in preparation for filming. This is reminiscent of Warhol's method. In other words, what you three have in common is that you show in your films the process of filmmaking itself, which is no less important than the final product. Or that none of you, therefore, know exactly what you are doing.
It is your opinion. But if we're talking about The Face You Deserve... Yes, for me it's a way to make a film within a film. We filmed it in Sintra, which is very close to Lisbon. We left Lisbon early in the morning for filming and it was like visiting another world. The whole process could have been filmed, but much would have remained unobvious: how we got to this place, what Sintra is...
But what matters is what you select for the film. It's all reminiscent of the story John Ford told about filming in the Valley of the Rocks, the joy of driving there, waking up early and getting ready, working hard, coming back, having dinner together and sleeping soundly at the end of the day. This may be due to the fact that the relationship between director and actors (or subordinates) is no longer one-sided. Here we can remember Pedro Costa. After all, actors are the ones who make films.
Yes, we can talk about Wanda, with whom he had a real fight. But it was she who added a power to the film that few things can compare with.
The same can be said about Misael, the woodcutter from Freedom, although there was no real struggle there.
Indeed, these films are quite similar, although Costa was the first. Yes, In Vanda 's ( 2000) was a more intense film.
There's a moment like that in "Freedom" where Lisandro insists the guy go to bed while his camera pans through the trees. This is a wonderful moment. It's like I'm there. This is very close to me. In "Liverpool" (Liverpool? 2008) he does the incredible - he starts from the place that we know well from his film, and then shows that it's all a movie! This is simply amazing! He made the best melodrama of the last five years, because it is a melodrama.
And a Western at the same time. But the film is almost finished. And this is my rule: write down only once.
Translation: Polina Moryakova, Sergey Malov.
Original Cinema Scope
Tags:
- issue 6
- Miguel Gomes
Miguel dancing, video and photos
Initially, Miguel dreamed of working at the Bolshoi Theater, but soon the man realized that he was not interested in classical dance. Then he began to invent his own style. All this looks modern, beautiful and very original.
Miguel loves to stand out, to do something special, and he is always able to take a fresh look at choreography.
Many talented, but not yet promoted young people admire the talent that Miguel has. It’s hard to describe in words how Sergei dances (video and photos), you just have to look at it.
A lot of domestic dancers dream of attending Miguel’s master class and having the opportunity to receive valuable lessons from their idol.
