Massive marionnettes

July 31, 2005 12:31 PM

Massive marionnettes in Nantes, France.
posted by mildred-pitt (27 comments total)

Damn. Those ARE big. *paging John Malcovitch*
posted by Balisong at 12:57 PM on July 31, 2005

That is weirdly cool. Nice post!
posted by Eekacat at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2005

And I was just thinking of the havoc I could cause with a giant robotic elephant, too.
posted by Balisong at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2005

These marionnettes were constructed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jules Verne's death. The characters and scenes are taken directly from his stories.
posted by lilnemo at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2005

More info can be found here.
posted by lilnemo at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2005

Incredible. From what I can tell the "story" actually starts here on Thursday, May 19 -- with the crash landing of a space rocket -- and progresses through the city of Nantes, ending on Sunday, May 22 with the "girl" taking off in the rocket. It is a reenactment in honor of the centennnial of Jules Verne's death.
posted by ericb at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2005

Cool - impressive stuff. And I thought our gigantes were impressive!
posted by benzo8 at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2005

Uh, what lilnemo said.
posted by ericb at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2005

And here is the press kit (warning:pdf). Apparently there will be various exhibitions running through October '06.
posted by lilnemo at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2005

More info can also be found here.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 1:21 PM on July 31, 2005

Thanks lilnemo, I have always wanted furtinure that urinates continuously I just didn't realize!!
posted by longsleeves at 1:27 PM on July 31, 2005

I love these--i wish we did stuff like this.

And I thought our gigantes were impressive!
Yours are (i caught a Sta Eulalia thing with them ages ago there)
posted by amberglow at 1:32 PM on July 31, 2005

Video mix [wmv] of the event; from the videos on the page.
posted by glider at 1:54 PM on July 31, 2005

I love the part in the video when the girl marionette was rubbing her face with the giant lollypop in a "licking" motion.

It would have been sweeter if she started backhanding spectators with it though...
posted by parallax7d at 2:02 PM on July 31, 2005

It would have been sweeter if she started backhanding spectators with it though...

Ala. Sauron in the opening of LOTR? That would be a show to remember!
posted by Balisong at 2:05 PM on July 31, 2005

I for one welcome our new marionette overlords.
posted by hifiparasol at 2:07 PM on July 31, 2005

In 1986, I came upon a bunch of actors who were giving a free public performance in my street. They were playing some sort of 19th century melodrama, with heavy makeup, a lot of screaming and over-the-top acting. It was fun but nothing remarkable, until things started to get rough. To the amazement of the spectators, blood started flowing, body parts started flying, characters got dismembered and killed in increasingly gruesome ways. The quaint melodrama had turned into a bloodbath and Grand Guignol had met the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in a nice little sunny, peaceful street of Toulouse in front of a delighted, though a little bit shaken, audience. Only years later did I learn the name of the company, Royal de Luxe, once they had become successful with their giant-based 360° performances.
posted by elgilito at 3:09 PM on July 31, 2005

Where's The Teacher?
posted by The Deej at 3:19 PM on July 31, 2005

Discussed here previously.
posted by O9scar at 3:26 PM on July 31, 2005

It must nice to live in a country where they do things like this, and do it without naming it after a sponsor and slapping logos and advertising on every vertical surface in sight.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:28 PM on July 31, 2005

This reminds me of the Vermont group Bread and Puppet. I miss their Domestic Resurrection Circus and Pageant that used to be held in Vermont every year. If you don't know their work, you should check out their pagentry
that includes both human size and giant puppets. They still perform, they just no longer have their giant annual event in Vermont.
posted by nyc stories at 4:38 PM on July 31, 2005

George_Spiggott, I'm not sure if you live in the US or not, but you may have heard of The Gates. That very public art experience had no sponsors slapping their logos on every vertical surface in sight.
posted by soiled cowboy at 4:44 PM on July 31, 2005

Dangit, I was hoping that this was an update or new Royal de Luxe event. Tease.
posted by loquacious at 4:52 PM on July 31, 2005

it's like Being John Malkovich
posted by joelf at 5:53 PM on July 31, 2005

joelf, yes, it is.
posted by jonson at 8:00 PM on July 31, 2005

benzo8, I was totally thinking the same thing. The BCN gigantes are awesome. Hell, BCN is awesome. Such a great city.

nyc stories, there's no more B&P?! Crazy. I went in '93 and had a blast. I had no idea it ended in '98. How sad. Thanks for the link/update.
posted by shoepal at 8:34 PM on July 31, 2005

It's so inspiring! Good lord I love it! Sorry if it was referenced before. I REALLY like it!
posted by mildred-pitt at 11:31 PM on July 31, 2005