"I became what I hated, the succubus that takes over my lover," rages Duncan Wedderburn, the sympathetic heartthrob played by
Mark Ruffalo
in a scene set in a belle epoque Lisbon restaurant halfway through the film Poor People. creatures, by
Yorgos Lanthimos
, nominated for 11 Oscars (it was also nominated for 11 BAFTAs, the British awards, where it won five).
Bella Baxter, the film's heroine played by
Emma Stone
, doesn't seem to hear him.
She is captivated by the rhythmic sound of the orchestra serenading the dinner guests.
As if possessed, she follows the rhythm to the dance floor, where she lets loose with a joyful, primitive and sublimely crazy dance that became
one of the cinematic moments of the year.
For
Constanza Macras
, the film's choreographer, that scene was more than just having fun.
"It is a moment that defines the relationship," explains Macras,
a 53-year-old Argentine living in Berlin
.
"It's the moment when she begins to free herself from Duncan," says Constanza Macras, referring to Stone's character,
a woman reanimated with the brain of her unborn daughter
.
Duncan took her on a trip around the world hoping to get her drunk.
However, he realizes that
he cannot keep up with her either in the bedroom or, as the scene at hand reveals, on the dance floor
.
When Duncan stands up as well, he attempts to salvage the situation and assert control over him.
"He tries to contain her, he tries to teach her to dance normally," explains Macras.
"Their entire relationship is contained in that dance," Ruffalo, who received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for the role, wrote in an email.
"And it's incredibly fun and funny."
A scene that required a lot of rehearsal
Constanza Macras is 53 years old, based in Berlin, but works all over the world.
Photo: Telam
Although meticulously rehearsed, the dance scene in
Poor Creatures
exudes an old-fashioned, anarchic energy that makes the moment seem spontaneous.
Macras previously worked with Lanthimos
on
The Favorite
(2018), which also starred Stone.
Constanza Macras' contributions to that film included a courtly dance for
Rachel Weisz
and
Joe Alwyn
and a playful tussle in the woods for Stone and Alwyn.
"The good thing about Yorgos is that
dancing is a key moment in his films
. It has a very strong dramatic impact on the film itself," explains Macras.
"For me, it uses dance in one of the most meaningful and intelligent ways I've seen in film," Macras continued, pointing out other moments in Lanthimos' films in which dance
plays a crucial and memorable role
, such as the silent disco in the forest of
The Lobster
(2015) and the climactic ballroom scene in Canino
(
2009), the director's great international success.
Video
The movie with Emma Stone.
He also puts on an opera
Macras spoke with me the morning after the premiere of his production of
Carmen
at the Basel Theater in Switzerland.
Like Belle, the heroine of Bizet's opera refuses to be controlled by men.
In Macras' staging of the classic play, Carmen is not a seductive, man-eating vampire, but rather an activist championing the cause of women's emancipation.
Emma Stone, in "Poor Creatures."
press photo
The production includes allusions to Fritz Lang's German expressionist classic,
Metropolis
, American Western films, circus elements and lots of dancing, both by the singers and the members of his Berlin company, DorkyPark.
He bears the unmistakable artistic signature of Macras, who loves to combine high and low references.
"I work a lot with quotations. I use dance as a function, as a language. I use music and text," he explains of his integrated approach to dance and theater.
Lanthimos, who closely follows contemporary artists from many disciplines, is an admirer of their work.
The director, who could not be reached for comment, said in a 2018 interview with IndieWire that he was inspired by "dance and theater and all that kind of stuff."
"I knew that physicality would be very important to create the film in a way that felt like its own world," he said later in the interview about selecting Constanza Macras to work with him on
The Favorite
.
Benedikt von Peter, artistic director of the Theater Basel, proposed to Macras to make
Carmen
after reflecting that comic opera, the genre in which Bizet worked, was an entertainment based on the magazine.
"I thought, 'That's her!'" von Peter recalls.
"It mixes political speeches with fun mannerisms and dancing," he continued, adding that he somewhat expected Macras, whose resume does not include much opera, to reject such a popular title.
But she remembered that Macras surprised him by accepting.
"He told me: 'Yes, I like pop.' Because when it comes to opera, there is nothing more pop than
Carmen
.'"
Mark Ruffalo celebrates the Golden Globe for his work in "Poor Creatures", in January 2024. Photo: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
In all of his work, whether for stage or screen, Macras said his goal is to create a "space for the performer to do something that feels like that material is theirs, because otherwise it feels mechanical and strange."
The preview with Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo
Before filming, the choreographer and two of her dancers rehearsed intensively with Stone and Ruffalo.
Ruffalo says Macras came up with a solidly crafted version of the dance, which then evolved during the rehearsal process.
"From there, we started playing with her and collaborating," he explains.
"Yorgos would point out that a part of her didn't feel right and then we would all start trying other things to get her to a place she liked," she continued.
"In the end, what Yorgos
was looking for was a structure in which we could be free
. He wanted the relationship to be physical. It was really a fantastic collaboration with Constanza and her colleagues," he said.
Macras also worked with Stone and Ruffalo on the crazy fight that breaks out shortly after the dance
, when Duncan confronts a handsome older gentleman who makes eyes (winks, to be exact) at Bella.
The fight seems fueled by the manic energy unleashed by Bella's wild dancing.
"He likes to dance. He also likes to be slapped," laughs Robbie Ryan, the film's director of photography, nominated for a BAFTA and an Oscar.
In a video call from Edinburgh, Scotland, where he is shooting a new film,
he described Macras as an open and creative person
, and said his sensitivity translates well to Lanthimos's approach, which is artistically serious while embracing the absurd and even nonsense.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone, at the BAFTA awards, on February 18.
Photo: Reuters/Isabel Infantes
"Obviously, their style is in the DorkyPark name," said Ryan, who also filmed
The Favorite
.
"It's always a little bit like, not silly, but it's definitely an interesting take on normal contemporary dance and she pushes the boundaries very much in a way that's almost fun," he said.
"I think that fits with Yorgos' sensibilities," she added.
Macras said he feels that choreographing for the screen gives you something "that you never get in the theater."
Naturally, cinematography plays a key role.
"
The camera is really a choreographic work too
," he explained.
Ryan said that when it came time to shoot the dance scene, the actors' preparation made their job reasonably easy.
"We found a way to be able to dance around them," he said, adding, "I was worried about hitting them all the time, but we negotiated it."
However, things got tougher in the fight.
Ryan shot the scene handheld and, at one point, Stone hit the camera lens with his boot.
Luckily no one was hurt.
For Ruffalo, working with Macras allowed him to discover a different side of himself as a performer
.
"I realized that I know how to dance and that I can do physical comedy in a funny but also honest way," he said.
Translation: Patricia Sar