On an assignment to El Salvador in 1997 I had, as always, brought along my favourite travel companions. The supplicant kind who don't leave you picking up the bar tab at the end of a weary day. A brace of novels for those protracted down-times when seedy hotel rooms follow on from the discomfort of long-haul flights across time zones to destinations where the solitude of the documentary photographer gnaws away at the mind after the thrill of a foreign land has waned. On this occasion I bought at the recommendation of W.H. Smiths in Paris ‘The Dancer Upstairs’ by the English writer and novelist Nicholas Shakespeare, a thrilling tale inspired by Peru’s Maoist guerrilla organisation Shining Path; most appropriate considering my destination. Some years on the French daily newspaper Le Monde approached me to produce a story in images for their annual summer series. Having recently befriended the American actor John Malkovich I enquired as to what he was up to and, by happy coincidence, he was embarking upon his directorial film debut and would I like to come along, he suggested. Again, by happy coincidence, the film was Shakespeare’s adaptation of the gripping novel, my 1997 travel companion. Enthused by the prospect of a trip to Ecuador, the only South American country I hadn’t yet visited, and with Le Monde’s blessing I spent two weeks in the company of a Spanish film crew, lead Spanish actor Javier Bardem, Italian actor Laura Morante and of course, John. Working on film-sets for invitees can be as tedious as watching paint drying on a winter's day. The exception on 'dancer’ was being accepted as one of them, the most amenable crew of mainly Spanish grips, sound recordists and runners bolstered by a Belgian set designer and French photography director. These photographs both on and off set were a delight to make: Javier Bardem whose spoken English was less refined than today was hilarious and brilliant. John with his usual unflustered and accommodating demeanour. To my regret Nicholas Shakespeare hadn’t made the trip as I had hoped, leaving my sales pitch to my editor a little shy of expectations. A selection of these photographs ran every-day for a week in August of 2001 to a warm reception. My idea had been to ask Nicholas Shakespeare to write the extended captions accompanying my photo spreads; John Malkovich obliged me with the task.
Copyright © Derek Hudson 2002