DVD Review: Manifesto

Cate Blanchett is, I believe, the best living actor. In film after film, she continues to impress audiences. And her range seems boundless, having played everyone from Queen Elizabeth to Bob Dylan. And she’s not afraid to take chances in her work. This has never been clearer than in Manifesto, in which she plays multiple roles. The film itself deals with various types of art, and the manifestos associated with them, each delivered by Cate Blanchett as different characters. However, it is not a journey through history, but rather creates its own strange version of the present, where all these ideas seem to combine, or at least flow from one to another (and sometimes back again).

The film opens with Cate Blanchett delivering part of Tristan Tzara’s manifesto: “I am against action. I am for continuous contradiction, for affirmation too, I am neither for nor against, and I do not explain because I hate common sense.” She goes on to quote from Philippe Soupalt: “I am writing a manifesto because I have nothing to say.” Ah, a wonderful choice to begin a film titled Manifesto. And the spark that we see on screen might be a lit fuse for a bomb – our imagination fills in dreadful possibilities sometimes, doesn’t it? – but turns out to be for fireworks. Not only that, but fireworks lit by a trio of elderly women. Then, interestingly, we get a quick series of shots of the various people Cate Blanchett will play in the film, as well as the names – in rapid succession – of those from whom Cate will quote. And I am drawn in immediately.

For each character, we have a different and quite distinct landscape or setting. From the rubble of a city, we move to a room full of people working at computers, and in voice over Cate speaks from the manifesto of futurism: “The suffering of a man is of the same interest to us as the suffering of an electric lamp.” As she says “Make room for youth, for violence, for daring,” the camera pulls back and pans up to show many more computer screens, as well as giant screens on other side of the frame, a somewhat frightening – though not youthful or violent – image. Then a similar camera move shows us a large apartment complex. The camera work is wonderful, and the transitions from one scene to the next have meaning and even beauty. At one point, a coffin shifts to a dining room table being set.

There is a delightful humor to this film. The shot of the three elevators like strange pods has a certain wonderfully sad humor. And the funeral scene where Cate reads from the Dada manifesto made me laugh with joy. I’ve always appreciate the Dada perspective anyway, but watching Cate tell mourners “One dies as a hero or as an idiot, which is the same thing” is a delight. She goes on to say: “Dada is still shit. But from now on…” And here she breaks a bit – it is a funeral, after all – and then continues: “From now on, we want to shit in different colors.” But perhaps the funniest scene is the one that follows the funeral, where – after the table is set, and lunch is served – Cate’s children (and husband, who enters a bit later) fold their hands in prayer to listen to her orison: “I am for an art that is political, erotical, mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.” Ah, if the prayers in my home had been like that, I might still be among the believers. We return to this scene later, when Cate is continuing: “I am for the art of teddy bears and guns, exploding umbrellas,” eventually getting a surprised and slightly bemused look from her husband. Will those children ever get to eat?

Sometimes Cate speaks to us in voice over, sometimes directly to the camera. Sometimes she speaks to other characters, including a puppet. In one of my favorite scenes she is a teacher speaking to very young children, telling them “Nothing is original, okay? So you can steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration, and fuels your imagination” (quoting Jim Jarmusch). She then starts giving them instructions from the Dogme 95 Manifesto, “The camera must be handheld” and so on. I also love the broadcast news scene, where as a news anchor Cate says – in an official voice – “All current art is fake.” She then speaks to a field reporter, also played by Cate – and both are named Cate, by the way – who is standing in the rain (rain which is later revealed to be fake).  I love the humor of this film, as Cate says to the reporter, herself, “When to reflect is gazing in the mirror, when to contemplate is, well, thinking about yourself.”

Manifesto is an unusual film that is engaging and compelling, funny and beautiful. Cate Blanchett gives a tremendous performance. Or rather, several tremendous performances. The film was written and directed by Julian Rosefeldt, and released on DVD on May 8, 2018 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains no special features.