The Academy of Muses

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Baader and Meinhof as the ultimate poster stars for a revolutionary romantic rock 'n' roll dream of a youth rebellion. At the University of Barcelona, professor Raffaele Pinto is teaching the muses – the goddesses of the arts, sciences and of inspiration - to his students. The students and Pinto are real enough, but José Luis Guerin's latest, elegant film practices what Pinto talks about and lets Raffaele Pinto play the role as the professor Raffaele Pinto at the university where he has lectured for more than 40 years. From the real framework develops a romantic causerie and thought-provokingly complex meditation on the relationship between art and life, while the film seamlessly glides ahead and explores poetry as a way of life. “The Academy of the Muses” is a hybrid narrative that cross-fertilises reality with imagination. Guerin has cultivated a cinematic mixture, where the spontaneity of the documentary and the precision of fiction have twined round each other. An improvised choral work during a visit to the countryside reaches a touching climax when a farmer sings a poem he has written to his late father.