Film
The Perfect Motion
The Perfect Motion (ទេពហត្ថា, Tep Hattha) is a 2023 documentary by Xavier de Lauzanne about the Royal Ballet of Cambodia and the making of its dance Metamorphosis.[1][2] Its original French title is La Beauté du geste.[1]
Synopsis
The film follows the creation of Metamorphosis, the last major choreography of the late Princess Norodom Buppha Devi.[1][2] The dance, also known as Neang Wattana Devi, tells the story of a nymph, or apsara, and was conceived to trace the look and style of the Royal Ballet from 1906 onward.[1] The princess drew on archival films from the early 20th century, aiming to carry audiences back about 100 years.[3] The film shows rehearsals at her residence, the preparation of the piece and its performances across France.[3][4] Serei Van Kosaun dances the female lead and Sok Nalys the male lead.[2] The film moves between past and present, using century-old footage and new interviews, and it closes with young dancers reflecting on their art, their lives in Cambodia today and the future of the arts in the country.[5][6][1]
History in the film
The story of the Royal Ballet begins with King Sisowath's visit to France in 1906, when its dancers first performed outside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.[1] In Paris the sculptor Auguste Rodin saw them dance. The film's website says he made 150 drawings of their movements within a few days; Le Petit Journal says he followed the troupe for a week and made about 100 watercolors.[7][3] The film looks at how the dancers' gestures and postures shaped Rodin's thinking about art.[1]
In the 1930s the colonial administration cut French subsidies to the palace, which damaged the ballet.[3] Queen Kossamak revived and modernized it in the 1950s and 1960s while keeping its traditions, and men joined the troupe for roles such as Hanuman and as musicians and singers.[3][1] Princess Buppha Devi came to embody the queen's ideal of the apsara dancer.[1]
When the Khmer Rouge arrived in 1975, artists were forced into exile or hiding, and open artistic practice stopped.[3] The film states that the Royal Ballet disappeared in those years and that 90 percent of its members died in the genocide.[3] Survivors tell how they kept Khmer classical dance alive in exile and in refugee camps, and teachers who lived through the Khmer Rouge describe dance as a form of resistance.[1][8] The film follows the revival of Cambodian classical dance as part of Cambodia's cultural reconstruction after destruction and displacement.[1] As Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Princess Buppha Devi helped win UNESCO recognition of Khmer Classical Ballet as Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.[3] The Royal Ballet was inscribed on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.[2]
Production and credits
Production began in 2017, and the journey from idea and script through casting and filming took five years.[3][2] De Lauzanne wrote and produced the film with filmmaker Pierre Kogan, and the two wrote it and began filming without pay.[3] alOest Production, represented by François-Hugues de Vaumas, produced the film.[1] The Asia-Europe Cultural Festival lists François-Hugues de Vaumas, de Lauzanne and Kogan among the producers, and its 2023 brochure lists de Vaumas and Sophie Parrault as producers for Aloest Films and Bonne Pioche Télévision.[9][5] Camille Rocailleux composed the score.[1] Prince Sisowath Tesso and the Princess Buppha Devi Dance School in Phnom Penh supported the film, and it was made with Cambodia's Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture.[5][3] King Norodom Sihamoni, himself a classical dancer and dance historian, gave it royal approval.[1]
Interviews include Princess Norodom Buppha Devi and Prince Sisowath Tesso; ballet mistresses Voan Savay and Sam Ouen Tes; Sophiline Cheam Shapiro and Men Kossony; ballet master Chhieng Proeung; costume designer Lim Sylvain; dancers Sok Nalys and Serei Van Kosaun; and historians Nut Suppya and Olivier de Bernon.[1] The film is fully dubbed into Khmer, with English and French subtitles.[3][1] Angkor Database gives a running time of 86 minutes; the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival and the Minneapolis Institute of Art give 90 minutes.[1][5][8]
Release and reception
The film premiered at Chaktomuk Theatre in Phnom Penh on March 26, 2023, with King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk expected to attend, and it opened in Cambodian cinemas on April 1, 2023.[2][3] JaiKon Cambodia and Legend Cinemas distributed it in Cambodia.[1] Le Petit Journal called it one of the first documentaries to have a theatrical release in Cambodia, and Angkor Database presented it as the first documentary to draw 10,000 viewers in the month after its release.[3][1] Three study guides for teachers were made from the film in French, English and Khmer, and school screenings were planned.[3]
The film had its Singapore premiere on October 22, 2023, at the Asian Civilisations Museum's Ngee Ann Auditorium, as the opening screening of the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival. It was followed by a performance of the Preah Thong dance and a talk with de Lauzanne and Prince Sisowath Tesso, director of the Princess Buppha Devi Dance School.[5] Its official European release followed on March 13, 2024.[1] The Minneapolis Institute of Art screened it with a Q&A with dancers from the Wattanak Dance Troupe.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Angkor Database, ទេពហត្ថា - The Perfect Motion Movie (Official Trailer) (2023-03-23)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Phnom Penh Post, Khmer ballet documentary debuts April 1
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 Le Petit Journal Cambodge, "La Beauté du geste", une histoire du ballet royal du Cambodge (2023-03-10)
- ↑ Asia-Europe Cultural Festival, THE PERFECT MOTION (2025-02-06)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Asia-Europe Foundation, Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2023 brochure (PDF)
- ↑ ASEF culture360, Crossing Continents, Converging Culture: The Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2023 in Review (2023-11-21)
- ↑ The Perfect Motion, official website (2024-02-01)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Minneapolis Institute of Art, Film Screening: The Perfect Motion
- ↑ Asia-Europe Cultural Festival, THE PERFECT MOTION - Asia-Europe Cultural Festival (2025-02-06)