|
MARGARET
MEE'S AMAZON - THE MOONFLOWER STORY
|
|
©
All the material is the copyright of either South American
Pictures, Nonesuch Expeditions or both
|
|
| The
original story was simple. It was about Margaret Mee and her life
beginning from her background in England to the moment of fulfilling
her greatest ambition. After many adventures in Europe and Brasil
she wanted to paint the night flowering cactus Selenicereus wittii
in the night shrouded heart of an Amazon forest. The story of the
search and the painting of what became known as the Moonflower is
told elsewhere on this site. In preparation for the story Tony Morrison
made many voice only tapes as Margaret related her experiences and
they are perhaps the only such recordings of her at ease. |
|
|
The
first set of voice tapes were made with the help of Bob Nadkarni
a professional sound recordist and film maker with his own Brasilian
company based in Rio de Janeiro. As a young media person Bob worked
on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, before setting out for
a career in television.
Bob
used a Nagra recorder and broadcast quality microphones. These voice
tapes include Margaret Mee's memories of early days in São
Paulo. Bob who is also an artist had lived in Rio for some years
and knew her socially through her exhibitions and other gatherings.
After Margaret's death Bob also made short pieces of film for Tony
particularly at a memorial ceremony held in the Rio's superb Jardim
Botânico, [Botanical Garden]. The ceremony was attended
by many of her friends and particularly by Roberto Burle Marx, the
internatioanally famous Brasilian landscape designer.
|
| |
Tony
Morrison's preparation for the film and the book later given the title
'In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests' continued through
early 1988 at all hours of the day and often into the night. More
voice recordings were made on a small personal recorder with excellent
quality and these are of random subjects occasionally punctuated by
the sounds of household activity. Tony also created a time-lapse sequence
of the flower opening. |
|
|
The'
pilot' sequences for the proposed film were made by Brian Sewell
a noted cameraman and director who has his own Brasilian based film
company. Brian used a brodacast quality camera to record on Betacam
tapes - the standard in those years in the NTSC format. Seven tapes
were made including one of Margaret Mee introducing the viewer to
the environmental problems facing Amazonia.
In
1989, the year after Margaret's death Brian also filmed the Return
to the Moonflower journey when Greville Mee, her widower made
his first Amazon journey. This report was made on professional Eastmancolour
16mm negative film.
|
| |
In
November 1988 on Thanksgiving Day in the USA Margaret was interviewed
by Robert MacNeil for the MacNeil-Lehrer Hour on PBS. His long and
friendly televised meeting was illustrated with short clips from
the tapes made for the pilot film which are also copyright material.
A transcript of the interview is available elsewhere on the web.
|
| When
Margaret died the story came to an abrupt halt. Ideas were tossed
about for using a narrator or another woman traveller to lead the
way through Margaret Mee's Amazon. Margaret had been such an remarkably
talented person with a flair for acting so without her the plot could
not be the same. Clips of the sound and vision will appear on this
site and later on a DVD. |
|
|
Every
care has been taken to check the information on this page. If you feel
there are inaccuracies or that you have details to add please send an
e-mail to the editor. This © material may be used free of charge
by scholars and for other personal non-commercial purposes. Please credit
Nonesuchinfo. For any other use please turn to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
'I
know my death will not be the end of my work. Wherever I go I will try
to influence those who are destroying our planet, so the earth will have
a chance to survive' Margaret
Mee in Brazil, 1988
|
|
