Puppeteer Cristina Pavel

What does it take to become a master puppeteer? According to Cristina Pavel, a Romanian puppeteer who recently landed a leading Hollywood role in a marionette biopic of French martyr Joan of Arc, those who are successful in the art are born, not made.

"You have to have it in the blood," Pavel mock seriously tells The Prague Post. "No, you can learn it; it's not that complicated. But you have to like it, because otherwise it's just holding a piece of wood in your hands."

On a bustling mid-week Vodičkova street outside Lucerna Café, Pavel awkwardly produces something from a plastic carrier bag. It's not her grocery shopping, but rather an acquaintance of hers: a delightful, hand-carved marionette of Don Giovanni's Donna Anna. As Pavel poses with Donna Anna, to more than a few non-plussed glances from passersby, one could swear the puppet is smiling at The Prague Post's photographer along with its puppeteer. Pavel gingerly places the puppet back in her bag before stepping inside the café for a coffee.

Pavel, a member of the International Institute of Marionette Art, became interested in both puppetry and acting after casting aside earlier ambitions of becoming a doctor. She went on to study in Iasi, Romania, before moving to Prague, where she now lives, to work with the World Festival of Puppet Art - the largest gathering of its kind in the world. It was at the festival that Pavel was spotted by Jim Henson protégé and film producer Steven Ritz-Barr, who decided she had the string mastery to tackle the demanding role of Joan of Arc in a movie that will commence filming in September with Ritz-Barr taking the helm as director. Some scenes will be shot in Hollywood studios, while others will take place on location in Kazakhstan, lending the film an air of realism unusual for puppet films. Behind the production is Classics in Miniature, a film company that adapts literary masterworks such as Faust, Don Quixote and Moby Dick and acts them out with marionettes.

Pavel will work alongside Hollywood veteran Michael York, whose credits include Logan's Run, Cabaret and, more recently, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Mill and the Cross, a film about Belgian painter Brueghel's The Procession to Calvary that previewed this year at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In Joan of Arc, York will play an omnipresent puppet master; an original slant on the genre, as it will combine live action with puppetry in telling the story of Joan of Arc, who led the French army to a number of victories against the English during the Hundred Years' War. The teenage peasant girl was burned at the stake ostensibly for wearing men's clothing, but posthumously pardoned and later canonized.

Finding herself working on such a high-profile project has left Pavel ecstatic, although the actress admits she has always found slipping into new roles to be the most challenging aspect of her profession.

"We were once playing Chekhov. It was difficult. You have to read and reread the part. You have to know the mentality of that time ... [and] the conflicts of interest so that you'll understand the character," she says. "All the way through university, I struggled. For me, the worst bit was when the teacher would come and say, 'You have to show me a cat or chicken.' I hated it. I was embarrassed and thought, 'I can't do this. Why are we here?' "

But assuming she can come to grips with the Joan role, Pavel is hopeful the film will pave the way for a revival in traditional shooting methods, as an alternative to the profusion of CGI-based movies.

"They don't make many classical films anymore," Pavel says. "It's a shame to lose old traditions."

Until Joan of Arc begins filming, Pavel is in no short supply of work. Presently playing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Prague's tourist theaters, she also acts in various commercials and poses for photo shoots for the IMG modeling agency. In addition, she is now busy with rehearsals for a new production of The Barber of Seville, which will premiere in the capital later this year.

Will Noble can be reached at
wnoble@praguepost.com