Text and Image by Corinna Heumann
The documentary film Love & Justice by Kerry Candaele delves deep into the abyss of Chile’s tragic history. It intertwines the personal drama of the arrest and execution of composer and conductor Jorge Peña Hen with Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. Moviegoers are taken on an imaginary journey back to the time of the military coup on September 11, 1973, portrayed in the expressive dance of Jorge Peña Hen’s granddaughter, María Belén Espinosa Peña. Jorge Peña Hen led Chile’s most famous children’s orchestra before the coup. The widespread human rights violations and incarcerations by Augusto Pinochet’s military junta, which violently ousted democratically elected President Salvador Allende, sparked global outrage and horror.
Valparaiso
Some time ago, filmmaker Kerry Candaele traveled to Valparaiso with the intention of assembling an orchestra to interpret Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, in a location and time-specific manner. Valparaiso is also the birthplace of General Pinochet, the leader of the military coup at that time. Instead of staging the performance in a traditional opera house, Candaele directs at lost places, at abandoned and dilapidated locations. In this aesthetically desolate environment, the film impressively sets tangible metaphorical accents. The reality of ordinary people suddenly disappearing into improvised dungeons starkly contrasts with the radiant universal humanism of Beethoven’s musical utopia.
Eyewitness Accounts
As the documentary progresses, eyewitness accounts and the dance of the murdered man’s granddaughter, the preparation and performance of Fidelio become an allegorical battleground against tyranny. A new, multi-layered, and poetic narrative unfolds within the opera libretto in the expressive dance of María Belén Espinosa Peña. She is a Butoh dancer. Butoh or Ankoku Butoh is a Japanese dance form, translated as dance of darkness.
Butoh Dance
María Belén Espinosa Peña’s expressive dance not only reveals resilience against tyranny but also her endeavor to revive and mirror her incarcerated grandfather. Dressed as her imprisoned grandfather, María Belén Espinosa Peña adds a particularly poignant layer to the narrative. Through her Butoh dance, she breathes life into the forgotten, embodying the enduring spirit of love and justice. Deeply touching the audience with her communication across generations, she portrays a beloved one she never had the chance to meet personally.
Transformative Power of Images and Music
The film wonderfully explores the transformative power of images and music, showing how love and justice can endure beyond time. In the course of this poetic drama, the film becomes a testimony to the power of a creative force that sensitively conveys its humane message across cultures and continents. This film makes Beethoven’s music’s ability to overcome political and personal tragedy in time and space palpable. It inspires contemplation, particularly on the significance of art and culture in healing societal wounds through the indomitable nature of the human spirit.
Resilience
“Love & Justice” also captures aspects of Beethoven’s own struggle with deafness and isolation. The documentary draws parallels between the composer’s message and the resilience of those forced to endure times of political turbulence. The emotional multiverse of his music in the face of oppression and personal tragedy leaves the audience with a powerful message: Even in the darkest moments, the harmonies of love and justice can resist, echoing Beethoven’s timeless quest.
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