![\"\"](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RkXsQHkO0PI\/AAAAAAAAATE\/82m-tQP_Fk4\/s1600-h\/miriamtoews.jpg\")
<\/a>The Globe and Mail<\/a><\/i> has an article on Mennonite author Miriam Toews<\/a> and her acting gig in Carlos Reygadas\u2019s Luz silenciosa<\/a><\/i>, AKA Silent Light<\/i>, which premieres May 22 at the Cannes Film Festival<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n
It all began when Reygadas was in Germany about a year ago, looking for actors (that is, non-actors) for his film, a love triangle set among the Mennonites of northern Mexico<\/a>. A leading advocate of Plautdietsch<\/a>, the archaic German dialect that originated in the country\u2019s lowlands, gave Reygadas a copy of A Complicated Kindness<\/i>, figuring he\u2019d enjoy its story of a Mennonite teenager growing up in small-town Manitoba. He did enjoy it, but he was even more thrilled when he turned to the author photo at the back. . . .<\/p>\n
Toews plays Esther, a mother of seven and the wife of a Mennonite farmer (Cornelius Wall) who, \u201cagainst the law of God and man,\u201d according to an official plot summary, falls in love with another woman (Maria Pankratz). She still doesn\u2019t know exactly why Reygadas chose her for the role. \u201cI guess he just thought somehow I looked the part of Esther \u2013 this spurned, rejected woman \u2013 which is kind of funny because I\u2019m a pretty happy-go-lucky person. Well not so much, but relatively. I didn\u2019t think that I had that sort of sad countenance. Maybe I do, more than I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though she was nervous in front of the cameras, Toews says there was something relaxing about being a cog in someone else\u2019s machine. \u201cNormally I write books and that\u2019s my life, and here I didn\u2019t have to think too much about creating my own characters, my own story. It was kind of nice to be part of Carlos\u2019s vision and just follow directions. So that was a relief, and the collaborative aspect of it was also fun compared to the solitary existence of writing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And she discovered some similarities to her own work. \u201cI inhabit the characters in my writing, for sure, I become the characters. So in that way I guess it felt like a natural thing to be wanting to do. I\u2019m not sure I succeeded at any level,\u201d she says with a self-effacing laugh, \u201cbut it certainly felt like, \u2018Here we go, this is something I\u2019m familiar with attempting to do.\u2019 Whether it\u2019s successful or not, who knows? But it was a familiar process.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A non-thespian artist being approached for an acting gig because of the photo on her cover? Reminds me of how Sam Phillips\u2019s album Martinis & Bikinis<\/a><\/i> was noticed by the folks behind Die Hard<\/a> with a Vengeance<\/a><\/i> (1995), who cast her as a mute terrorist.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Globe and Mail has an article on Mennonite author Miriam Toews and her acting gig in Carlos Reygadas\u2019s Luz silenciosa, AKA Silent Light, which premieres May 22 at the Cannes Film Festival: It all began when Reygadas was in Germany about a year ago, looking for actors (that is, non-actors) for his film, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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