AIAX came about as a reaction to the funding difficulties surrounding the feature film 'The Cutting'. When that project was rather arbitrarily postponed for a year by a government decision the intended crew decided to go to Northern Spain for a month and film there. AIAX – a parable about the author's vulnerable position to the authorities, based on the tragedy of the same name by Sophokles. This video version is played at a single location by three actors, leading to some bizarre double roles. In this video experiment not much is preserved of the original tragedy. It is almost as if the translators went to work on the text with a bench vice. What remains is a bitter story of cowards who drive their war hero to suicide and then cannot bring themselves to give him a decent burial. The atmosphere is grimy, full of hate and suspicion, and this is enhanced by the digital manipulations of almost monochromatic blue images and pumping sound track. AIAX was recorded almost two years ago by now, but was only recently finished. Meanwhile, 'The Cutting' also premiered in Brussels.
– Peter Missotten |
Based on Sophokles
With: Joost Wijnant, Brams Smeyers, Tone De Cooman
Production: De Filmfabriek
Peter Missotten, 1963, Hasselt (Belgium)
Lives and works in Brussels (Belgium)
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