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THE DP VIEW
ERNIE VINCZE BSC
M y two previous collabora- tions with Merchant Ivory happened in the concrete
metropolis of New York. So
it was a big leap cinemati- cally to the tropical island of Trinidad.
I knew of Ismail Merchant’s long-term plan to film VS Naipaul’s novel from the outset, so imagine how thrilled I was when eventually he called and asked me to photograph it.
After our initial recce to Trinidad, I was impressed with the island’s lush beauty and staggering landscapes. My brief from Ismail was to use this as much as possible in the context of the story. It is a lifelong custom of mine to cast the film stock to suit the script and the locations.
For aesthetic, practical and eco- nomical reasons I chose Fuji 500T. From previous experience I knew it could handle the extreme contrast I would encounter and I could manipulate the variety of tropical greens with it.
I had a mixture of British, Indian and American crew who, together with the locals, made the shoot very pleasant and efficient. Between them all, they managed to circumvent any potential technical problems leaving me to concentrate on the aesthetics. We also had a fantastic art depart- ment who made modern Trinidad look like the fifties as if by magic.
It is very rewarding to work with Ismail as director. Once trust’s established, he’s very receptive to the cinematographer’s input. All in all, I had a wonderful time filming The Mystic Masseur. ■
School of Filmmaking,” one observer dubbed it. “I don’t like to linger. I pre- fer to do two or three takes and then move on quickly if I get what I want from the actors. I probably tend to cause headaches for the art depart- ment because we move so quickly,” he laughed.
“Jim’s much more painstaking than me because of his minute attention to
detail. That can, of course, be frustrat- ing for a producer,” said Merchant.
Meanwhile, The Mystic Masseur is being readied for release but not before it gets an invited premiere at this year’s Regus London Film Festival in November.
“You know,” reflected Merchant, “there’s really no such thing as a James Ivory Film or an Ismail Merchant
Film. It’s always A Merchant Ivory Film.” Forty years of classy production would testify to that. ■ QUENTIN FALK
The Mystic Masseur was originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative