Beware of the Trees
A short film inspired by The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Duration: 7.50 min.
United Kingdom 2008
Directed by Maria Escarabajal, Joe Wild and Viola Conti
Set Design and Costume: Viola Conti
Choreography and Performance by Joe Wild and Laura Moy
Camera and Editing: Maria Escarabajal
Music by: Dosh, Murcof
see the video
The Baron in the Trees is a novel written by Italo Calvino, in 1957, and is part of a trilogy called (Our ancestors). The story tells of 12-year-old Baron Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo’ who, one day in July 1767, decides to protest against the rigid education imposed by his parents. He takes to the trees and spends the rest of his considerably long life there. His initial departure is prompted by one rather insignificant protest, but his persistence becomes a way of demonstrating to himself and the world that there are different ways of doing things, which might even be better than what one group of people imposes on another. Through Cosimo, Calvino is talking about rebellion against social conventions, about freedom and autonomy. The Baron in the Trees is just a starting point for us to discuss these vast and timeless themes.
In our film, Laura represents a free and conscious human being who decides to follow her individuality. The set is composed of an inhabited tree, where Laura lives. For us, living in a tree is a metaphor for a life lived away from conventionality, of independence and self-determination. But at the same time, a life filled with uncomfortable choices. Calvino wrote in the introduction to the novel: “The first lesson we can find in the book is that disobedience only makes sense when it becomes a harder and more rigorous moral discipline than the one one is rebelling against”. As a counterpoint, Joe represents the human being who lives a life conforming to the rules imposed by society, in full respect of traditional values and the standards. He represents a man who never doubts the rules that shape his life, rules that are imposed by a group of people on another group of people. Joe represents a man who runs towards freedom, but is not able to “climb the tree”, perhaps unable to abandon the mainstream because it is somehow comfortable and reassuring.In fact, his half human, half animalistic features represent a man who needs to belong to a “flock”, behaviour which is much more similar to an animal than a human being.
A short film inspired by The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Duration: 7.50 min.
United Kingdom 2008
Directed by Maria Escarabajal, Joe Wild and Viola Conti
Set Design and Costume: Viola Conti
Choreography and Performance by Joe Wild and Laura Moy
Camera and Editing: Maria Escarabajal
Music by: Dosh, Murcof
see the video
The Baron in the Trees is a novel written by Italo Calvino, in 1957, and is part of a trilogy called (Our ancestors). The story tells of 12-year-old Baron Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo’ who, one day in July 1767, decides to protest against the rigid education imposed by his parents. He takes to the trees and spends the rest of his considerably long life there. His initial departure is prompted by one rather insignificant protest, but his persistence becomes a way of demonstrating to himself and the world that there are different ways of doing things, which might even be better than what one group of people imposes on another. Through Cosimo, Calvino is talking about rebellion against social conventions, about freedom and autonomy. The Baron in the Trees is just a starting point for us to discuss these vast and timeless themes.
In our film, Laura represents a free and conscious human being who decides to follow her individuality. The set is composed of an inhabited tree, where Laura lives. For us, living in a tree is a metaphor for a life lived away from conventionality, of independence and self-determination. But at the same time, a life filled with uncomfortable choices. Calvino wrote in the introduction to the novel: “The first lesson we can find in the book is that disobedience only makes sense when it becomes a harder and more rigorous moral discipline than the one one is rebelling against”. As a counterpoint, Joe represents the human being who lives a life conforming to the rules imposed by society, in full respect of traditional values and the standards. He represents a man who never doubts the rules that shape his life, rules that are imposed by a group of people on another group of people. Joe represents a man who runs towards freedom, but is not able to “climb the tree”, perhaps unable to abandon the mainstream because it is somehow comfortable and reassuring.In fact, his half human, half animalistic features represent a man who needs to belong to a “flock”, behaviour which is much more similar to an animal than a human being.
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