Victoria Film Festival: Atom Egoyan interweaves opera with cinema in his deeply personal work “Seven Veils”
The Victoria Film Festival is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary with the theatrical premiere of acclaimed director Atom Egoyan’s latest masterpiece, The Seven Veils.
The film is set against the backdrop of Richard Strauss’ opera Salome. It unfolds as an emotional exploration of trauma, power dynamics and the complexity of relationships. In the film, opera director Janine (Amanda Seyfried) must take on the daunting task of remounting the notoriously sexually charged production of her recently deceased mentor and former lover. The opera’s familial themes of loss and troubling power dynamics resurface traumas from her past, unraveling the threads of young Janine’s life.
What makes this show especially special is Egoyan’s personal connection to Victoria, where he grew up (his first published review was in Monday Magazine).
The Cairo-born director explained that the story is “entirely rooted in Victoria.” It delves into a deeply personal narrative inspired by Egoyan’s teenage experiences and his first love, who he later discovered was a victim of abuse at the hands of his father.
“It will be very emotional to give him back to Victoria,” he told Mag on Monday.
Egoyan also has a deep connection with Salome, the first opera he directed in 1996.
The genesis of the film began during the seventh remounting of the opera.
“(The Seven Veils) has been brewing for a while, there are hints of it in some of the other films I’ve done, but it really came to fruition when I found out we were going to do a recut of the opera. At that point I started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if I could make something like a drama about people who put on an opera? It also wouldn’t be great if I could address the issue of retelling history, but find a different perspective and talk about a lot of the problems I saw around me: people appropriating stories, people behaving badly in artistic settings. “
“I think when people watch movies, they want to go into worlds they haven’t seen before. “I haven’t seen this world represented before around the production of an opera and also politics and all the aspirations of people with different dreams and fantasies,” he said.
Director Atom Egoyan produced Salome for the Canadian Opera Company (COC) and the Vancouver Opera in 1996 and 1997. His latest film, The Seven Veils, is a multi-layered narrative of a fictional reworking of the opera. (Ulysses del Drago)
According to Egoyan, the film heavily depicts the power dynamics in relationships, which go back to the core story of Salome herself. For those unfamiliar with the story, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, is increasingly subjected to inappropriate advances by her stepfather, King Herod, while at the same time falling into an obsessive love affair with John the Baptist. This leads to an uneasy climax when she agrees to dance for Herod in exchange for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
Egoyan puzzled over the question of why Salome committed this incredibly cruel act. It offers a new interpretation of Janine’s journey to overcome her trauma through opera.
“Jeanine really feels like she has a responsibility to herself to reclaim this story and make it her own,” he said.
“From the very beginning, when we first staged it, I didn’t just play her (Salome) as a femme fatale, as is usually done in most productions. I tried to find out what it was in her background that led to such an extreme request that she was making, and I felt that there were other layers to it. I, of course, could not rewrite the opera, but I felt that thanks to this script I could go further. “It was just a very special opportunity to retell this story.”
Egoyan praised Seyfried, with whom he previously worked on Chloe, and saw her as the perfect choice to bring the character to life alongside real-life opera singers. It’s a decision he describes as a “risk” but an interesting way to tell the story.
Attending the Victoria Film Festival premiere will be a chance for Egoyan to share his story behind the film with audiences.
Egoyan noted that although there are more film festivals now than in past decades, they remain an important place for showcasing work and dialogue with audiences.
“I wouldn’t be who I am without festivals,” he said. “You really get to know what plays and what doesn’t, and that’s a big privilege.”
Following Victoria, the film will have its international premiere at the Berlin Festival, where the opera premiered for the first time. “I can’t wait to see how everything will happen in Berlin, the opera capital of the world,” Egoyan said.
The premiere of the Victoria Film Festival will have a tropical theme.
Other highlights of the festival include a family screening of Ernest and Celestine: A Ride to Gibberithia, where pajamas are encouraged on February 11th.
Eric McCormack, star of NBC’s Will & Grace, will be at the Vic Theater on February 2 to talk about his career, and the best local short films will air on CineVic on February 10.
And of course, for those who want to explore the world of opera, politics, aspirations, dreams and fantasies, The Seven Veils promises a cinematic experience like no other. Find all the details at victoriafilmfestival.com.
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