Angoroj
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| Angoroj | |
|---|---|
 Title Screen | |
| Directed by | Jacques-Louis Mahé |
| Written by | Atelier Mahé |
| Produced by | Jacques-Louis Mahé |
| Starring | Michel Duc-Goninaz Raymond Schwartz Gaston Waringhien |
Release date |
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| Country | France |
| Language | Esperanto |
Angoroj (Agonies) is a 1964 film. It is the first feature film to be produced entirely in Esperanto. It was directed and produced by Jacques-Louis Mahé,[1] a friend of Raymond Schwartz who, under the pseudonym 'Lorjak', had previously produced a silent Esperanto publicity film before World War II titled Antaŭen! (Onwards!).
Overview
[edit]At the start of the 1960s, Mahé, a professional photographic and cinematic expert, invested in the production of the first fictional film in Esperanto. Using a scenario by Mahé himself, the actors of the Internacia Arta Teatro (International Arts Theatre) presented a crime story, set in the Parisian periphery of petty thieves and cheats. Other notable people who played parts in the film included Schwartz (the commissioner), Gaston Waringhien (the voice-over) and many from the environs of the contemporary Paris, including Michel Duc-Goninaz.[2]
Plot
[edit]Caution: Proper Nouns might vary from the origin.
In flea market, Paris, France, Irena, young woman, Henriko, old man with hat, and Karleto, old man are introduced. The opening credits roll with the announcement that theft and the movie will begin.
The police lament that there are many crazy people these days after seeing Irena running around the street like crazy. Then they see the iron gate broken.
The presumably police chief says that if the two idiot cops had caught them in time, they wouldn't have had a hard time guessing what happened. Because after sending the woman away, they went to a nearby house and found two bodies and two revolvers. Even the bodies weren't killed by the revolvers, so they're not related.
Still, since they found the woman, they hope to solve the problem in the end. They bring the woman into the room and begin interrogating her, and she says that the incident started at the flea market on Sunday.
The scene switches to the past, and Henrico and Caleto find a flea market passerby who looks rich. Caleto approaches him, asking if he is interested in antiques, and then offers to sell him the autographs of famous people. (The people mentioned as famous people at the 17th minute are related to Esperanto.) Caleto lures the rich man by saying that he has items in his house, and then locks the door.
Henrico argues that he almost got caught because the place was inappropriate, and Irena, who was next to him, tells Henrico to stop complaining. The passerby, who was thought to be rich, actually had only some paper in his wallet instead of banknotes, and what looked like a business card related to the academy. After searching a little more, he finds a photo of a woman, Paulette, from 30 years ago and only 500 French francs. When Henrico tries to take the entire 500 francs, saying that he had suffered more, Caleto objects.
Irena reads the letter and tells him that the woman eventually failed to like the man, Raoul, and left, and that the man threatened the woman. Henrico says that we saved the woman by killing the man, so let's go find the woman and get more money, but Caleto says that he is not a prince charming and tells him to stay still.
Irena asks if he should search Raoul's body a little more carefully, and while searching through the things he brought, he finds a piece of paper asking that if he dies suddenly, whoever finds it, give the enclosed letter to Paulet.
The two men argue again over the distribution, and Caleto reads the letter. "I forgive you for hurting me. But I've done things so far that you won't trust me, so I'll show you through my actions. I still live in the house I bought you, and the lock is still there, so come quickly with your key. 8, Joshinnet Road, go to the basement of my house and open the 'very special container, that no one knows about, that I made just for you.'" It says.
Caleto and Irena suggest that they go and look for money or precious metals, but Henrico says that since it's an old letter and the police might have found the second letter, he'll just stay put. Caleto agrees and decides to spy around during the day and work in the evening. Irena also says she'll join in, but Henrico says that this is a man's job, so women should stay out.
Caleto and Irena promise to meet tomorrow and leave. Henrico takes his tools and a revolver.
The appointed time comes, but Henrico doesn't come out, and Caleto waits alone. Irena, who was told not to come out, comes out and briefly argues with Calletto, and Irena says that Henrico won't come anyway and leads Calletto to the house.
They see that the lock on the iron door of the house has been broken and they hurriedly go in. Inside the house, there is a picture of Paulette on the table. And all kinds of things that Henrico was searching are scattered around. Seeing that the light is on, Irena guesses that Henrico must have left not long ago.
When they go into the basement, they find a very large box there. Irena is startled by the sudden wind and the passerby she sees through the window. Calletto keeps trying to calm her down, saying that it's nothing, but it's no use. While Calletto goes to the first floor to check once more, Irena stays in the basement alone and looks around.
Calletto comes back without any problems. However, after Irena finds Henrico's fallen hat and picks it up, she asks if he's ever seen Henrico without his hat and becomes anxious(Esperanto:angoro) again, saying that something must have happened.
Irena says that she's really going to go out now. When Irena is pushed by Caleto and crouches in a corner, she finds Henrico collapsed. After seeing Henrico's body and the bullet wound on his stomach, Caleto also admits that something is going on and takes out his revolver.
Ignoring the surrounding noises that suddenly seem particularly loud, Caleto decides to open the box. The moment he opens the box...
A gun fires from the box and Caleto gets shot and falls.
Irena is startled and tries to run away, but sees a bill sticking out through the gap in the slightly opened box. She tries to pull it, but the gap is too tight to pull it out, and she tries to open the box, but she's scared of getting shot, so she tries for a moment and stops. After seeing the fallen Kalleto, Irena goes crazy and runs away from the house.
Production
[edit]The film was produced from 1963 to 1964, but the market did not react favourably. Mahé, who lost a large sum of money, accused Universala Esperanto-Asocio of a boycott. At the highest point of his depression, he destroyed almost all copies: only two remain (acquired eventually by the Château de Grésillon and the British Esperanto Association, both already used) as well as the original, which LF-koop (Kooperativo de Literatura Foiro) rescued in 1991, distributing a 61-minute videotape.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Angoroj (1964)". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
- ^ Y, Lindsay (2023-03-24). "Angoroj (1964) - La Unua Longdaŭra Esperanto-Filmo". Videoludoj. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
External links
[edit]- Angoroj at IMDb
- Angoroj (Anxieties) with English subtitles