Villanelle for Elizabeth not Ophelia May 01st, 2022

The first idea for this subject was filmed in 2018, but the poem didn't 'arrive' in my mind until earlier this year. Sometimes, I think you just have to wait! It has had its first screening as part of LYRA poetry festival, Bristol on 3 April, when  I screened the finalists of the first edition of The Frame to Frames: Your Eyes Follow ekphrastic poetry film prize. Of course my own film wasn't part of the competition! Helen Dewbery of Poetry Film Live curated a screening under the festival theme of 'Breaking Boundaries: New Worlds. This, in many ways is a follow-up to Selfie with Marilyn, being a performative poetry film, but it has a strong message for all women suffering abuse. Here is the synopsis: 

Villanelle for Elizabeth not Ophelia
 
Shakespeare’s male-dominated Ophelia in Hamlet committed suicide by drowning. This film is a warning address to all women but directed at Elizabeth Siddall, known for playing Ophelia in the famous Pre-Raphaelite painting by John Everett Millais. Life imitated art, since Elizabeth caught pneumonia whilst posing in a cold bath for the picture, and was also dominated by her unfaithful and controlling husband Dante Gabriel Rossetti, causing her to also commit suicide. Parallels can be made to today’s actresses and Harvey Weinstein, Me Too, and suicide from domestic abuse. In the UK alone ‘200 women take their own lives every year, and nearly 30 women attempt to complete suicide every single day due to domestic abuse’. Through a positive re-enactment of the painting, this film aims to bring hope, rewriting Elizabeth’s fate and the fate of all women facing such distressing thoughts. Here is the English version  vimeo.com/703270378   and I am also linking to the Spanish version
vimeo.com/703306907

Villanelle para Elizabeth, no para Ofelia
 
La Ofelia dominada por hombres en el Hamlet de Shakespeare se suicidó ahogándose. Esta película es una advertencia para todas las mujeres, pero dirigida a Elizabeth Siddall, conocida por interpretar a Ofelia en la famosa pintura prerrafaelita de John Everett Millais. La vida imitaba al arte, ya que Elizabeth contrajo una neumonía mientras posaba en un baño frío para la pintura, y también fue dominada por su infiel y controlador esposo Dante Gabriel Rossetti, lo que provocó que ella también se acabara suicidando. Se pueden hacer paralelismos con las actrices de hoy y Harvey Weinstein, el movimiento Me Too y el suicidio por violencia de género. Solo en el Reino Unido, ‘200 mujeres se quitan la vida cada año, y casi 30 mujeres intentan suicidarse todos los días debido a la violencia de género. A través de una recreación positiva de la pintura, esta película tiene como objetivo aportar esperanza, reescribiendo el destino de Elizabeth y el destino de todas las mujeres que enfrentan pensamientos tan angustiosos.