Eugène Ionesco: Voices, Silences

As a man of letters, Ionesco is best known for his contributions to the theater, notably La Cantatrice Chauve (The Bald Prima Donna), Les Chaises (The Chairs) and Le Roi Se Meurt (Exit the King). When he tires of the clamor of words, Eugène Ionesco starts painting. In a studio in St Gall, Switzerland, he exudes colors and forms as he would words, and he never stops talking, confronting us, laughing at us or himself, expressing the same anxieties and dreams, and interpreting excerpts from his plays. Tragicomic beings appear on the paper: there are false masks and real faces, knights clad in black or sheathed in a multicolored armor; there are the branches of unknown trees, and bursts of grim laughter, and hieroglyphics. Sometimes he accepts a question, shares a confidence, a wink, a smile, then he takes up his brush, leaves time in suspension and traces a line.

'A film of rare quality ... The director succeeds in playing down his own rôle, the better to bring out the connections between painting and speech, the image and the voice, abstract thought and the irrepressible burgeoning forth of forms.' La Libre Belgique, Brussels

'An extraordinary vivid portrait...' Le Soir, Brussels

'A very fine film...' Pourquoi pas?, Brussels

'...creativity and old age ... a new creative language aptly documented in this video ... the artist's own statements and his reading from plays, essays, and fiction on the nature of art, creativity, and aging are worth listening to. Skillful camera weaving of paintings, the artist at work, and the artist musing on creativity in dramatic settings ... imbued with intelligence, wit, and wisdom.' Video Rating Guide for Libraries, USA