Although writer Georges Clemenceau had a great fascination with China, he had never been there himself. For this film, he worked with director Édouard-Émile Violet, with whom he shared a passion for Chinese culture. What makes the film extra unique is that Violet himself came up with the idea of having non-professional Chinese actors play in the film.
Although most copies of this legendary film have unfortunately all been lost, what does remain is a single surviving copy, which is part of the collection of the Eye Film Museum. Although this copy is incomplete, the story still holds up well with the remaining material. The restoration was carried out by CNC in France.
What few people know is that the great composer Gabriel Fauré composed the original music for Clemenceau's play in oriental style in 1901. This music was never published but the manuscript was digitized. Based on this sheet music, silent film composer and director of NSFF, Daan van den Hurk composed a new score, which will premiere during this performance.
PRE-FILMS
FANTASTIC FLOWERS: Fabrication des fleurs artificielles (FR, 1911). dir.: unknown. Length: 6 min. Dutch intertitles. English subtitles.
