Celles qui aimaient Richard Wagner

A Feature film of

Jean-Louis Guillermou

Produced by

Richard Wagner Productions

Production year2011

French release09/11/2011

Runtime1 h 20 min

Synopsis

Celles qui aimaient Richard Wagner is a satirical drama dedicated to the German composer. The film's bias is to recount the story of his life through the prism of a contemporary character named Judith. The plot hence unfolds during two distinct spatiotemporal periods: today in Paris, and in the past (1842-1883) in the Europe in which the composer spent his life (Germany, Switzerland, and Italy).

Judith is a character out of sync with her family and her social and professional context. Her exaggerated love for Wagner allows her to escape the prosaic everyday life in which she finds herself entrenched. This character is hence the film's "normal character" with whom the audience can identify. And it's through her that spectators enter into the Wagnerian universe.

Through her tales, Judith dreams the life of Wagner. Characters from the Wagnerian era make several appearances in a contemporary period. Of course they also perform other roles, but assure a connection between the world imagined by Judith and the mediocre reality that surrounds her.

Does she attribute to characters from the past the silhouettes of folk she rubs up against today, or does she transpose her dreams into present reality, giving her entourage the features of these illustrious characters?