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PARSIFAL
Over seven years in the making, this new film of Parsifal combines, live action performance, animation, and manipulation of several thousand paintings to bring the world of Richard Wagner's last drama to life on screen.
Set to Sir Georg Solti's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic, all available means of cinematic expression are here employed to create a new vision of Parsifal in which it can be said: "zum Raum wird hier die Zeit." *
PRELUDE TO ACT I (SELECTION) - EXCERPT FROM PARSIFAL
A selection from the end of the prelude to the first act of Parsifal. The king of the Temple of the Holy Grail, Amfortas, ventures into the realm of the sorcerer Klingsor, the sworn enemy of his aged father. Against this foe he brings the Holy Spear, the same weapon which dealt the wound into the side of der Erlöser (the Redeemer) during His crucifixion.
To Amfortas' surprise, the villain's gloomy realm transforms into a dimension of most radiant light, where the young king is instead met by the apparition of an enchantress. With the king ensnared in blissful repose, Klingsor appears and seizes the Spear, and with it deals a Christ-like wound into Amfortas' side— the initial shock point of suffering from which the entire drama will subsequently unfold.
"SHE RAISED HIM IN FEAR" - EXCERPT FROM PARSIFAL
This sequence is set to the mysterious Kundry's narration of the hero Parsifal's isolated forest upbringing in the hands of his young, widowed mother (a moment typically rendered as sung-only exposition in theatrical productions). This scene was shot deliberately using old and hazy videotape (as viewed, perhaps, through the memory of the protagonist).
"TERRIBLE DISTRESS" - EXCERPT FROM PARSIFAL
This excerpt from Parsifal depicts a tense exchange between the self-castrated sorcerer Klingsor and Kundry (who, trapped under his spell, must submit to his dreadful command). Klingsor reveals to her the source of his bitterness: the denial of his entry into the Knights of the Holy Grail, and his subsequent retreat into this distorted "mirror-realm" of his own magical creation.
"CODA: THE WOUND THAT WILL NOT CLOSE" - EXCERPT FROM PARSIFAL
In this epilogue to the second act of Parsifal, Kundry suffers a ghastly disfigurement in the aftermath of the destruction of Klingsor's castle. Her immortality leaves her unable to succumb to her wounds, leaving her awake as this bodily regeneration begins once more. Here, I have opted to focus on the emotional weight of Wagner's stage directions rather than adhering to them literally by adding this scene as a "coda", of sorts, at the end of the second act.
„Du sieh'st, mein Sohn, zum Raum wird hier die Zeit.“
"You see my son, here, time turns into space."
– Gurnemanz, Parsifal
Act I, Scene I*
CREDITS
Parsifal: Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel written and composed by Richard Wagner
Conducted by Sir Georg Solti with the Vienna Philharmonic
DIRECTION, EDITING, COLOR GRADING
Griffin Kaiser
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ashley Marzulla, Griffin Kaiser
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anthony Miksad
ADDITIONAL SOUND DESIGN
Aidan Wells
FEATURED PERFORMANCES
Kundry — Rachael Vinci (vocal performance: Christa Ludwig)
Klingsor — Kevin Bapp (vocal performance: Zoltán Kelemen)
Klingsor — Kevin Bapp (vocal performance: Zoltán Kelemen)
Young Amfortas — John Ölçer
Young Klingsor — Connor Wilcoxen
Young Klingsor — Connor Wilcoxen
ADDITIONAL CREW
Fiona Bailey
Amos Chiu
English subtitles adapted from the translation by Derrick Everett, which can be viewed on his website, monsalvat.no
Minor alterations to this translation have been made for subtitle flow and clarity.