AceShowbiz - Austrian writer-director Angela Summereder presents a profound cinematic reflection in her new film, B for Bartleby. Rather than a straightforward adaptation, the movie uses Herman Melville’s classic short story, Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, as a launchpad for a deeper exploration into the very nature of storytelling and translation across mediums. This unique approach challenges conventional notions of literary adaptation, inviting viewers into a thoughtful meditation.

The film delves into what a synopsis from Austria’s Viennale — where it screens this week following its world premiere at Doclisboa — describes as “the impossibility of translating written language into images and sounds.” B for Bartleby doesn't attempt to merely visualize Melville's text. Instead, it ingeniously employs a diverse “catalogue of ‘adaptation’ styles,” including guided tours of the author's property, actors embodying a fictional Bartleby, and performers rehearsing the original text. This multifaceted strategy serves to illuminate the complexities inherent in bringing a literary masterpiece to the screen.

At its heart, B for Bartleby is also a deeply personal project, fulfilling the long-held wish of Summereder’s late partner, Benedikt Zulauf. A librarian who had acted in Straub-Huillet’s Geschichtsunterricht (1972), Zulauf harbored a lifelong dream of transforming Melville’s story into a film. Through Summereder's work, his vision finds a powerful, albeit unconventional, realization, weaving a poignant layer of personal history into the film's intellectual discourse on adaptation.

The film further distinguishes itself by embracing Summereder’s own creative struggles and hesitations. As the audience witnesses the couple’s past discussions about the project, we become intimately involved in the director’s artistic process. This injection of raw emotion is a rare and welcome trait in the often more analytical genre of the essay film, offering a human touch to an otherwise predominantly textual approach. Ultimately, B for Bartleby emerges as a heartfelt celebration of both cinema and literature as essential conduits for engaging with others and understanding the world at large.

Explaining her distinctive methodology, Summereder revealed in an interview that her approach arose out of “necessity.” She felt she couldn’t, or didn’t want to, create a classic film adaptation of such a challenging literary work. “It’s a really complex, difficult story, so the bar is set pretty high,” she noted, underscoring the formidable task of translating Melville’s intricate narrative. This candid admission highlights her thoughtful and deliberate choice to explore adaptation rather than simply execute it.

The genesis of the project is rooted in a compelling personal history. Zulauf had asked Summereder twice to collaborate on a Bartleby film. The first instance was when they initially met, though the project never materialized. The second, more poignant request came “many, many, many years later, after parenthood and separation, when Benedikt had cancer.” He asked her, “Do we want to make a Bartleby film now?” Despite not being “on the same page” with their ideas at that time, his enduring wish laid the groundwork for B for Bartleby, a film that profoundly honors his memory and passion.