The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (writer)

Release Date:

18 July 2003 (Spain)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Plot:

The first of three parts, we follow Tulse Luper in three distinct episodes: as a child during the first World War...

Plot Keywords:

Utah | Suitcase | Mormon | Flashback | English

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

JJ Feild	...	Tulse Luper / Floris Creps
Caroline Dhavernas	...	Passion Hockmeister
Jordi Mollà	...	Jan Palmerion
Steven Mackintosh	...	Gunther Zeloty
Raymond J. Barry	...	Stephen Figura
Scot Williams	...	Percy Hockmeister
Drew Mulligan	...	Martino Knockavelli
Yorick van Wageningen	...	Julian Lephrenic
Jack Wouterse	...	Erik van Hoyten
Naím Thomas	...	Hercule
Nilo Mur	...	Pip
Valentina Cervi	...	Cissie Colpitts
Tom Bower	...	Tom Fender
Michèle Bernier	...	Sophie van Osterhuis
Barbara Tarbuck	...	Ma Fender

Also Known As:

Las maletas de Tulse Luper: La historia de Moab (Spain)
Le valigie di Tulse Luper - La storia di Moab (Italy)
As Maletas de Tulse Luper - Parte I: A História de Moab (Brazil) [pt]
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (Greece) (festival title) [el]

Runtime:

France:127 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

UK | Spain | Italy | Luxembourg | Netherlands | Russia | Hungary | Germany

Language:

English | German | Dutch | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

ABS Production

Trivia:

'Tulse Luper' was first mentioned in Greenaway's A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist (1978), as the owner of the 92 maps.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish (2003)

A worthy exploration of multimedia

The Moab Story is a fascinating cinematic experiment - it really is an encyclopedic CD-ROM-like film - it reminded me of The Pillow Book and A TV Dante in its presentation. The screen is predominantly busy with informative movement. I watched the film on DVD and the text on screen is small, but I was constantly zooming in on the picture to read it so it wasn't a problem. But the viewing would be enhanced watching it on as large a screen as possible, but having said that it is appropriate for DVD with its interactivity. The project as a whole begs for interactivity with the individual user.

The film begins with showing us actors auditioning for roles, which is also used later. Tulse is a young boy with his friend Martino Knockavelli in the back yard of his house in Newport, Wales. A red brick wall collapses on Tulse and then we progress through history, with war footage in the background. Tulse travels to Moab where he is abused and jailed, and then later travels to Antwerp and faces the sinister Red Fox fascists. Throughout the film a small box with the head of a talking expert inside appears (like A TV Dante) describing the background of what is happening. Characters are noted on screen with name and number when they appear. It was fun reading all of Luper's Lost Films that scrolled down the screen, as well as seeing the other suitcases (suitcases 1 - 21 are featured in this film). It was good to see former Greenaway films - Vertical Features Remake, Water Wrackets, A Zed & Two Noughts, and The Belly of an Architect - referenced and appear. Greenaway is really experimenting here with image and sound, using repetitive sound at times giving an echoing effect. He plays with connecting numbers to draw shapes on screen when Percy strikes Tulse. Sometimes the screenplay is shown on screen after the characters have said it. The cinematography by Reinier Van Brummelen is good. The music by Borut Krzisnik is superb and feels appropriate. In the acting stakes Caroline Dhavernas is the stand out, and J.J. Feild does a capable job as Tulse. It's a film that (like all Greenaway films) needs to be watched several times. I look forward to seeing Vaux to the Sea.