being made in the Thirties. By that mean that our set-ups and our shot angles would be those that techn, ould have been made with equipaent SNaiate io Thiriow directors Wh the oir, too: Il that to convey the fe ing of 1994 lcouldr’t use realatie 1974 ‘olor Sasha Vie [Bret of Pot raphy] and I-deciled. 10 ake the Fraeand tt was a calelated rsk—to ley tosimelate the style and colors of the Pathéorama films of the Thirties, ited ourselves toa minimum of Cok Gre, ldeally we would Rave Hked to ‘make a tichrome film, that is one in which the only two colors woulé have tion dark brown and red. Thet proved technically impossible, but we nonethe- less worked in tat direction, What we tlio cid was steep oursclves in the pl {otal magornes of the psod, which ped us orient our characters” pace find postons Dy the way the mau of the Pett ural you sce inthe picture, the one whore cover depicts Stvisky’s fest at Marly, b the actual 3996 sue ‘And, obviously. our filmed depiction of that scene, and Sacha's arrest, wee in- Avene by those Thies grapes RIS: Are colors symballe for you? One can't help remarking the almost postcird summer warmth of te open Fig scene, moving ta the browne and fraysof fl st Barbizon and the deathiy hte or Chamons. Bet the clon red Shek and white predominate ‘AR Their use Ts intentional, of cotise, though my" goal is to make them inobteusive, What Lam stiving for ina Bini tote to construct Kind Of compact object sn which all the pieces or elements interrelate, but in Eolation sem irational. What 1m ty ing to crete are diferent kinds of her tmonia, ch taken together mill make aremotionalimpact IRs: One final question: could you tails what the al stone pyramid is that recur, Tbtive twice it the fin? "AK: i's one of those rational but not meaningless elements I fast men tioned. The pyramid is located in the Pare Monceat in Pars, and no one, ine luding the guide books, seems to be ble to account forts origin. All they Seem to know is that it was there a any as the eighteenth century. Then too, Stavisky. lived near tNe Pare Monceau-—another irrational but n= texan cancer, nan Dr. ety poten atone point, Alexandre's youth i Fell of mysteries. So one can dream of the yourg Sacha walking in te park, paceing. that mysterious pyramid ‘There's something furereal about that pyramid, and sravieny «is ultimately out death And thee ine wel a Suggested, something mysterious an enigmatic about, just a the lite—and Gidlh vot Stavieky. wore mysterious and enigmatic. ¢ 44 JULY-AUGUST 1975 IN DEFENSE OF AR] by Robin Wood SGT TPE tne In October The Gordon Fraser Gal- lery (London) will bring out Personal Views: Explorations in Style, a book ofes- says by Robin Wood. Almost allof the material has never before been pub- lished, The following is an excerpt from cone of the essays. ‘And what rough beast, its hour ‘come round a act, Slouches tewaid Bethlehem tobe born? WB. Yeats, “The Second Coming” Thavenownr fit myself partof any eit. jaa establishment, sub establishment, or anti-stablshment; [have frie to be my fall, and to go my own way. Yet Lalways Seemed to get on easily enough with my fellows in different camps, despite my i termittent tendency toineuh some of thom in print. Then went to Canaca fer three years, and when [came bark, everything hrad subily:changed, to an extent that | hhave only gradually begun to measure. Everyone had read books [had never Iheard ol, in disciplines I scarcely knew existed; everyone was talking about ‘Semiology, and about "bourgeois ideol- ‘gy everyone gradually became revedled 8, moreor bss, a Marxst Thave never fel: exacily taken to the heart (oF hearts—it has undergone several transplants) of the English ertical frater- rity, but have never fet soittle welcome, ‘9 alien and alienated, or 50 viex eu, a6 | favesince my retum, The atmosphere en- ‘courage: any paranoid tendencies one may already possess; they germinate and funish init If sound at times like Kevin ‘MeCarthy in the later stages of 1WvASON OF THE RODY SNATCHERS, the Feader’s for fsivenese is asked in advance, low ssem {o me sometimes as if, every time I turn around, anater of my acquaintances has tecome spe “Everyone sof course asomewhatab- sud exaggeration, The Marsi-semio {tenon allof them are necessary Mar ints, and no allare commited to semol- gy, but the generic les iffeul 1 roid frm, ater aly qiten sll group. They are, however by far the mostactve, the mostansertive, the most dogma the ‘nost impressive, an the most onanised froup currently operaing. Besides, the History f Bish fm eric in the past eneraton han ben largely attr of Small groups cverlapping, displacing, Superseding one another each centered Gnramogasine the Sequence group, the Movie group, the Momgrom group, the Seren group What Bat impressive, andso daunting, abou the asf the impression it gives of impregnable organization; the sense of cer {ide Wlexades, as though eppositon ror wperfuoue-—nutmoted, at were, By defi the stent de fm ‘sting upon a formidable body of doe tine, fly ardeulsted tdologial su Structure, as wells upenascience wthits ‘vmclatorted vocabulary and tsownex tenaiveBtlogephy. Al Must el inti dated, as they never were by Movie or ogra: the commonest resctone seem tobetoaubmit humblyror ttn, easly, 1 laugh i all off. Neither strikes me as fealty The problemsof yeppling wih tall, however, immense todo so adequately ‘woul require an intimacy with bath fhe Ieolggy and te scence that dont pose sess, What follows will scarcely wor the ‘exponents and champions cf the new ci ‘Sin. who wil organ tas sm eecove halonge lofi at moat, 4 sees of it tmishens nota major bate, My aim istovore doubts, questions, and anxieties rather than to demolish donot believe, however, that lamcon- ccemedimerely withthe peripheral On the ‘contrary, the tendencies and implications that most worry me are so deeply embed ‘ded inthe proves we are experiencing, a {seldom to dee tothe surface in the form of explicit admission. My attitude to the movement asa whole, and to any of 1 major components (Marxism, semiciogy, the recent work of Godard, the investiga tion ofthe Hollywood cinema, the decor stration of Realism), i fr from simple. T hhope the series of probes that fllows— deiberately dscontinuous, allowing me ‘opportunises for digression, qualestion, approsch from different angles—will be found ultimately © have its own unity as the expression of a complex but not ity coherent positon, IL AGAINST IMPRESSIONISTIC CRITICISM, ‘ne mh has ecto we on wih any prscson wll dob fora momene the need For analytical tots that can help guard inst vagoeness and spss of em ahd make imposible the sort of eles ‘Reoedored eatea otings that kequenthy for perceptive enc. P-Gne Gould state what is meant by “nprossonism in thie conto and £0 give force to these assertions, rom a Superabundance of sources including tmch of my ovr past work. T choose Manny Farber’s Negative Spceparly be: ‘Cause the bockishighly regard in some Guavtos party brome oft general of nfidenae and the appateré precision of snany of uber’ observations, or stking amples one need lock no father than tteintroducton Hers Faber on Orson Weles' rouctt ont: "A fvesminute street panorama develops logically behind the creda, ‘without ne ct, justo aveat sspectacs- tar reverse zoom away from & bombed Gidine” eda. perhaps to point cut that the opening shot lasts these minutes and twenty-five secords, and that * panorama issomevhat mideading 33 8 stgeat a panning shot less pedaiic it out that, just afer the explosion ardoffscrer, Wellescus toa sha ofthe Dang cart woud Ravebeen dificult do otherwise without actually blowing up {we actrs}on which he then 00m ‘few pages lr ve find Foer sum ming up the “resonance” of wEsEN thus “These hoppedsap nuts wandering ivan Everglades, dratrmng song the Mehavwhy something about Ligh Au fust, a fanny. section where Anne Wiacersky is just siting in grass, thumb Inimouth,fendinge book” The termine Dressionistic” has particular felicity Epplied to writing ike ths the sentence ctekes« penealzed impression of Jean: Luc Godard movies with which the sual feader and viewer isossumed tobe satis fed. There wee funny scenes in wees (though whether Farber means fanny= pecularorfunnytachalm nets) here as ashotin whith anne Wiesemshy sat bya late readings book, though it die fut to sce what Fiber foundfunny about te She wa, in fat, smoking a cigaete, bur perhape she was abo tucking her thu in anoer movie, or perhaps that twas Anna Rarina somewhere else, oF pothape Farber (hong ass Tw me leer few pages earn) was confi Herarth Caren stemwoog, an Godard Sal comewhere that Made Iv Uea wae 3 emake of rw str, sot ll sort of ins up so what the hell ‘The whole chapter, with ts extraord- racy sssoiationa processes, comes ve eee at tines to steamcc-conscowness, Sidi worth loling up as an example of what you can getaveay wath, wih abit of Swagger. Such “impressionism” says as trac about Ferber acumptions sbout Ris eer ast des about sown pe Ceptionsandhis way ofexperencing kms {tip assumed that they won't brow te fms ery wel either batwor el iss rachof handicap in attendingto dscus- fons of them s0 vague asf be unchal Tempe iced with wnting ike Frbe's, one's sympathy for sembology certainly tn- Crease, Theouble thatthe clamsmade forites dhe aberatve to this kind of thing restona tse the word impressionist Tocaver prety wel everthing from Sight dd Sauls Culde 1 Curent Releases to Vin perkine: Film as Fm: ait ior t renilogial then i impressionistic The term becomes means of wiifyingevery- thing indserminately by Slatin al Teter Harcourts studies of Sis Ewopeut Diners are hough so prene to deserp- theron) ina diferent dasetrom Fabs “impressions,” offering the precise and cogent arcution of responses to central features of the directors’ work. The analyses in Perkins’ book gain their va ity from their meticulous precision; the term “impressionistic” cannot possibly do justice to ether. Both bocks demonstrate that it is possible wo present precsely de fined and arguable propositions about films and still write what the general reader can recognize as the English late guage. One can imagine readers of Brit fins weekly “journalist” citicsmleamin to master Harcourt and Perkins—an learning. a8 a corollary. to reject most of thejoumalsm—but they couldn’tmastera gre proportion of recent issues of S76" Miithott substantially re-educating thorn selves. This may be, as mest Screen ecitors and writers would claim, because Har court and Perkins both write "within the Prevailing declogy.” “The implication that one cannot make oneself generally intelligible without thereby becoming "bourgeois —is an alarming one, and relates interestingly to Gedard’s present quandary as a film maker. Lam less pessimistic, perhaps be- Cause [ama bourgeois mysel. Itseems to ime that semiclogieally oriented critcism ray in time. after its necessary perind of intensive consoldation, leern fo move from a WIND FROM Tax LAST phase toa ‘your va MIEN phase. Meanwhile, my qua- relis evs with what itisactualy doingthan ‘with i arrogant selfasserton: the com- tron assumption that any altemative how discredited and made obsolete by its example. 1, SCHUBERT REPLIES TO COLIN McARTHUR In The Tribune ast july, Colin Merthur reviewed Peter Harcourts Six Euopeyn Doecors—and suromarized Martiat- Semiclogial sbjectons Yo tional fi item: isignfcantandsymptomate, Thin, tnt, whe granting the bo a tain inteligence, McArthur nowhere at- tempts to grapple with ks arguments. He Simply eject ft positon on elogéal giounds-the intligence being, appa- ently, nether ere vor there, TRA ualty isto longer a relevent concern is ns Sumpton one encounters in many forms FILM COMMENT 45,ovals Asbo ene sa “Eng Hao hon iin strieata gee ew he coven ma cs Sere Meet "a Honea nde a are FROST ala. ns sami i oe soln iene Sei weet Shy Rye a Chorin a’ eee sonst le Seas Epes pre ee Ramah flee cea Sart ing hing sett nt mec eaten Mex Sepa aegis laa etapa datas sR yee oc ewes ote Sihoned rae pba tacgroond caret Ekmrar eetinny cr eceeetesy Senay eeu tomesay Sen a SNE ies Scere ara oat al Sageunta eel aching ta “Posie ee Entel eam ay oie ainntayaaciten on’ Biting het ed ty Eid dhe he mea ey eres See a mou yl shu atumoatamc ‘fee ny es oe oA as esrb cn ns cheat cece eee ae SNPUM Taineth pa Soyuhl suena ie eee cet once Shaheen an Seacbalar sateen ‘Soote tet Stn ed atte rnin atric ae Seer Aer pa 25S sca nen ee Spdteaentnen wre Seti det ait ee MNRAS ee eee ature res ne Soman vam ed it get sees atm te ong rata ese rsh teense ShoUbal hv rbrlesne dee sf er te ig ey mecainigecrs te ceact sya aeah n M6 JULY-AUGUST 1975 found theway toate thetwoimages the pub, scr Ie and the psa daly He One mag expect fro ts dese fn hat the sand cot woul hoe or Sting bolore the fre with her Bours patents during the fad toccnge Not EVIL we see her relating with some fallow-stadents to what looks Hke = communal home Tow atone may ek, does Godard swan the poor gto da? Can tahestand Chteth ber end? Muse Beene og Sorssous (and el consious) cacentre tion? Thereof couse cea quandary hae to which one connot but be sym piece torevolutonize te whe oo. Patpmest bts ever ovary spect otone'sownle Yetihe damage isms {newably do fo the Pema personality Corey brs think of Yeats aes on fers orm op orn they aaa ne Cnty when wath cen Codd Tear with one parpowe acre ‘Thcagh wir Sadun com Enchatted astone ‘Tolrubl the feng seem Ihave ben o¥ on very good author, that amv “anatase” becuse ‘my work conssten imps & resto Seperate ny emotional i orm my int. iegaiie: Sach asparston, ae. ‘only sonttbute fo the detent and Iimpnvershment cath "cre sth wl objection to the {postion implatt in McAnthurs review {iy elven the pages of Seen) Sppeatstoackany sre ethe Fncon of ae The review continues: "He (the ‘Potent rel would baconcemed th the einem aso socal proces and with Producing knowledge about that ‘hich iples knowing equal” about Stioeconomc structures and sethese Structures and posing relatonships Be- ree eon Tete sy at once thatthe posing of = Intonships tetwernsoveconomistra {ine and seth struct soos to me Salma al powntely very real geal puri Also, there soviet fpsile objection :o anyone's earns Evcinomaarssocalprotre. Tuscan owever lial be Considered «subve- {tc forthe tadional eatonahip Be. fcen at and otto, The fc reais tha arts dont ereute monks of at fnler to provide socbiogits with data ‘Works ofa ne everything ee eae Frontal anologcal dat, Sd ie pore ty alt esplore thelr sigricance for that pots vow. Bat Srthouts Sens of the creative process on the one ind and the experince of at on the ‘other—tn other words, of personal ako Se personal reaponsa thease cant ‘Sic about a as art eed. be denying Sits ongina, conta end dering fane tion. Uitmatay. an excusive approach Atlin efit eas Un acs oar eap {tan only be desiractive of ‘Awotk ofr afets ouremotns, fs cinais out mind, becomes a part of our Sarssoveness and stor mnconecate—a ocala. Repestely trough ie Fon found myollitng wth » pte ‘work or the works of parla att ‘ver’ prod of tino, wth the grastet in tert anc prong nna. At pes ita Schubert's Winfast, which Fe we Ceniy discovered, sno jo hat wort ‘epestedy to lsten toh i's part ofm Traut every morning it uns vou tty deanna! aight swith ne whee {he cooking or fale about the garden. Gradua Telit becoming «ps of we srl the sheession begins io dosti Frm theron Ineed wexprinoe tes teeuseitsabiortedinte my le, iainny Neodsteam. “hi ind of simiation—of wich oo ‘sen an extreme Gamal, fr we arent Sapbie of ving’ every wrk of ort we feounter at stn a pteh of intensity ‘Scene tome fundamental to any under ‘Sanding of what sts and what art or ‘The prccos of abacepin Fe dexrbed ty eh npr at een Ending and of intelectual exploration irs process engaging he emonions and Incite se muchas the ming. I bocce Impossbie witout some depee of ts trstefon own renpone, ret ofthe mt Stand the work econ tose trom {he art sew pot, this tut lon Ssepect of tourgeis denis. crater oieere wheacly fetid mn por poate tel, Votre deny tment fe that we deny our own many and ‘deny tae Godand has done, ast ted to, ‘A the ame toe, ech tat a 0b counterbalanced ty Is cppost, by the ‘hivement of eal diane, by gure fee of choke ard alse. The pres by vehi we dead wha orks ort re we Twseth—hat re shall oats in acne and modify oer senabanics—> tiny a complevcne. When the deck Sion besumesealusively One ofthe ie ied and th lsc #t Sree, tbat bya egy held boy of doa lngurce which demandathat ou pon taneous fespenses be suppresed—ihen ‘we do both eunctes encarta nay. I. ScREEN’s DIRTY WORDS “The general atlack on taonal ses thotce ef wbich Scene hae placed ies ihe fon ie characteriza the Emergence of whe now vocabulary Ga) words’ —termsweach sexe need {Gib defied or enmined bot son bo re- led upon. apparent to ec an snstant sock wespanse from readers. My own tenders cn test her postions. perhaps. {yscing hetacoca wht pot in he ‘Siowrng lat they bog fo fel surprise thatthe words oud be atomic cepted os rip of abu: Hoare feo obra, humanist, eis RomanticFraFlippolipp's The Amnunciaton, in Londen’ National Galley. Seve siais peel eat, Ne aa as can se ee been seeold emormat Apps ben aucune os Ss neerene evn os eters Sie te rece ie ee greoatag repeen ee Sa as wi re san ee eee oe sone None of wan te ua oe naee ene eee wecee tates rerio met aes ee Sele ore Shey cae cemeten otro ene eee ae Sata eo ba oe See cements pene eeeeerans etal aie rene comme nee © fete clad alent a at sn soot beat awe eto reas Beehc roa: somes mere ae a oer preening eal Lo otk oe Pie eer ke seer es nnn ee Seah lay tan a grrneee es pide renal eet deuce eae an ck en conor alee ee ee eee Se ee el og ae eaeees Se eet aacee amen. etemetnee tee Sera you have to han to appreciate. But the Zimphasts suey, must ways Be on se ‘tcaton-or athe wor stom sive ooperaton tetween pupil and teicher No merely passive (i alone hostile) pup can be mide to lar fo undorand anh evaluate works ofart Our, then, con- Sists of people who efther sponlancousyy ‘vant, of dlfborstsly choose to want, 12 tics themeves (lam not, ofcourse, {Shing about thowe who cultvate the ars Sesome kind of socal performance, for Sonktal erty reparce: {presi the = fgament fen! about then) It isa Cosed EX only in mfr as sol ourseois) pressures encourage philstinsm. t's not 2 dub with exclusive conditions of men test The spent fen years educating my seftorespond toandfeelat home wih the Scionbery quartets process at ustpalne folytrstoting lately deeply ward ing, Tean now “hear” the Third Quartet (Cepuediy the most dificult) shmost a3 hatualy a6 I hear the Beethoven Third Symphony. Ths places me among ve Stall mmo, bat am nos awa of set congrtubtony feelings of supertonty {mo pricully musa, have dro trang, sn que fat grasp the techn {slnutacoe sf brelve-tne compostion {The experience I got from Schober seems 10 me to be open to anyone Whe rants i fT fel no pride berate Leniey “llgedly elitist ar, alto fel no gull "ioe seen 19 me howeves tat the development of eny fll responce © ig. hilcan art demands effor, dcipine, and Patience There ee gest works of set Plenly of them—whit havebeen enjoyed Feaiy-by the general pic ut acon tion ofthis enjoyment seems fo be that they ove not peneived as art One gd that wy axcive ciweNint ano fnavo were commerciel successes, but Aonvt et ts hd ourselves: the audiences thatenjoyed them made no sgrificant ds tinction between them and GUNPicT AT ‘i ox coma and wit NOD (ues, the cose of lat they fel they were seeing Semething more seious and impertant, ‘witha Message). ‘The (Martist) editors of Cahiers du items have demonstrated very conte: ingly that vouNe MR LINCOLN & every Bt edict fl a macovea or psnao iz rou, Ite tem “litt” is defined as “anything that can't be fly appredate by anyone, iespectve of backgroune, ttuining, sid ecacaton then i ar tlt, Ke soon as one ave forthe de- Siebilty of siscrminaton, then elm reepsin, What, for that mater, could te tore elitat than Goderd's politkized ‘movies on the one hand and semiologal “Bscourse on the other? Of the fommer, tristopher Willams writes in Sacer “he [Dra Vertov| group tel! stresses thot the fins are rot Intended forlarpe at dlences, but er small groups corecieus of ideologies questions." Yeu cnt get more elt than that he paradox_—thatit those very rites who tle contmptaly about est at nt eitist postions who aio champion the mest ets! of all ata be explain bout ot very stietactorly resolved ‘Sat garde at ny va gid at ne infers fom the remarkatie eraecr Peter Wollon added for the second ition of Sigs Mearng nthe Cea) svaliabie inutile “progressive” The work of GodarsiGorin ef ours the cote ofa traction bat even when hearts no pe Sealy revelatory inthe pital =, istendeney b foundernine and estoy "poungeos” forms and "bourgeois" a Ti avantgarde; notes wo sna only the bourgeoiscortex, a8 means toan end, When the revoltion Comesanés Marist xey exalinbes Sei it wil automaticaly esome redan- Gant. Wino tow Tie Ast, itis workh ning ou athough twas very dificult Piimald ttn tne bourgeosaptalst Context, would be impose to make out Sige tsmetiodl sy, pect ques, Sr all diwetly depend onthe dic: tes So what sort of aru be abe wo exstin courcoming Marist opin? What eho temative othe east ar that i being dis Credited? I find myst unable f9 Supp Sry answer, but dont wish to ply tat thine ness one. (may be too such determnecy andencosed ntaeh- Tonal ideelogy tobe capsbleof imagining seca Sis be ating tat Suggests the traditional ("bourgeois") ettete which wi be soothers: andi ant be anything avantgarce, whic wil Se redundant. The probiem wih sl Miopin i that once fow'se got thers, there's nothing to be progressive about anymore Inthe sme ight, think he interest of Marxist cc in adonal art needs 0 be Shamed, and fandamen‘l questions ‘Shked The mostintrestng and simulte ing Mart tics cleat thatin which the impulse snot to denounce and ret buttosatvage. Lurking nthe Backgpound Ot the Cars tect_on YOUN. Me Envcoun—and necearily suppressed, bovimpuaitin the acies own gaps and Salant one conse the quandary of “rics who grew up loving Fors movies, Fim COMMENT 47became converted to Marssm ater the events cf May 1968 and were faced with the task of esrucurng their ow pas a: Iesinees (is staking tat the change in ielogy hae notbeen accompanied bya gnc change in he works and dae tore admired the pantheon =the same, bathe ges have to be reinterpreted) “The solution of the Cahiers ets fupht iveligent and sophisticated. The flim i arated, and imply série, for precsey those fares which would peas fo or lures reaeton fromm 2 traditional vewpoint gaps,” “dislca tions inner contradictions that ABrupe find subvert the fn’ ostensible (co cous) purposes, and thet Grally presre Tipcoingea"moncter” Tam ret tal sure ‘what fs Tet of 10UNG tex. UNCDLN as & Work of ar ater the Cobos Team hace done with t Norisitcear tome Wether “his fas then us some dsiance fom sy Indl defense ofthe eit postion ‘whichis perty a deferse of against toe term “cae but hope ito win Sent Before passing on let me etum to ih an vious bu, T hope, provocative question. ‘Can anyone ‘capable of eavlnely apprectiyg and ssinating NicoanandNtroguch posi say thathe sro. that respes, measly bet ‘ff han someone whe eats horizon {slimmed to bingo and Tae Blick ent te easel Show? The asiilaon will not recestany make Rum a beter person Common, and obviously llecous, Samption), but il open to him pos Slies tht ae closed otis les fortunate fell humans thats whats meant an et, then 1 fr on shall not wing ‘rf ay membership of tin the nae ff some. perverse and destructive fepsltrianisin. To pu it succinely, noth: Ings ever ging to come teween ve and ‘The Magi Fate eis po however, anole fom which { would wish anyone fo fel cehuded onthe conte, would Be © Share my advantages wit 3s mang otters {5 posse, Thats why Tama teacher ‘Romantic aesthetics genius, creativity. What is actualy under atack here tums Sut ways, on inspection, to be tome be Surd parodyeconcept that ao one Today ould possibly riche defend, snd which ‘ould have loked excessive even atthe Tight ofthe Romantic movernent the Po tion that werke of art are produced Dy Some process of immaculate conception ‘ut ofthe creativity ofan isolated indi ‘idual gerius. But the opposite aoton, that dee the enceptor personal reat: Iiy end individual genius ery vlidity whatever ino les aboard Do execs really suppose tht Ford'sor Hawks ins ‘would somehow ave come into being by ‘cident if Ford and Hawks had nevet ‘Sisted? Or that come oscly interchange: ble substitute would have been "prO- used” (product beng, apparently the alemaveto "easy? There 80 48 JULY-AUGUST 1975 phatkoveieeae weet cat wr aan sa gots mah Ae sora ag ne Wh Ce Sete va as Sahara ee ssa Sateen a Seta Sewtarnnar tease Sig ne a ge See a Tae ac Soar Se nal SSSoen et coat SRGae neni Sanat ST ean Lee Seco Sor et i Fag Pee a seapep ag Biaescaanen Seat e ie na in SEL ieee SekS the a eet SQ ie wee! ideevaea hehe SEES Che Orne as spite aha anon Wee tea baena ‘Sp ert ngs Sesh Pearse erred ag eee Phomanighs Siehagebets iiompenernrene se SOAR eter Tete fional ears SCR erent bie ie Shela ea i erly pe Ne ey JIRA TE ee pinta pute ees Sephiay Sa ne Noel SPREE Aang hae Sus aacapeaeafaichpa ce Soe epawr ofleors theeyesot Angand Viggnboth SE ee et ee wae aa Ca PSE IS Thali area eon SUS Deer ae SEAT, Picea Sai 7S dnl eo nag ona og See expen ne er pc Sonepat deh an a ee ‘Senta tea a stepmania Sone Rr toe See Fetet er neneras erent Se Steuncl eee coms Senge. pt sr aape aerate her. the dove the nerbage, the fy prec artes Anan, by “a ower of Fre Angchin that Range in the same room, proetly pte shy a Seciheoei sen deren rtny ort tored eyes muth dunsler lacking the ec ‘rhonda caleacy and renames the precio of tance, of symmetry and eymmety ofthe Upp have wish denignte schobesip: Lam soe that ny reponse to dsp, oul be refined and deepened though & tor metals Knowledge ofthe fon Verons within whieh the ait worked Yet dace ease that both the potace’s “conventional” and ite unique ual cen be pertleduced, port ntuiea by Simply Studying i in She context the Natlonal Galery provides. And {would rake equivalent ateorone about yan Shimphany, of about mo wxav0. "The rac oth wae eri lo! question clearly the queston of ind ‘eli wether ent, and hat alc Should be placed on. The debate stot ‘Personal ety wa detec fine epable fom Pe debate abe persona ‘apense vo scenic Knowledge. The [minus repeatedly exproscd inrocont rls ogalnst the noon of nc Erestiy hor ate ness cory the ‘whole massive, formidably organized Search lors scenic objective erie, the purpose of which isto do away with the incvidual vee aopehes isa ‘ght that tne guage the voebulry the {aetcsalSvect hve herve spree ‘hiss scarcely the pice for pot de tuted Tam scaly ple fuk), buttiecimey relevant asl work se rand eaher tut Fst supreme veloc Sth quand indi of the veal ie thet cannot comet favorably ay foem of socal engarisation that doeserttave te preservatonandle- ‘elopennt of navi as er and that Tregare the funn and meaning of srasavortal rated thatconcept Lie ina soaety from which beet in pera creativity was banished woud neteserly te incapable of tranconding te dates ‘Pedr rt weal ie isd wiht 2 that which nthe cl ie core Spor erresponcs toon "Laos bun car about th Wahoat ‘personal creas (bth the concept end {Relea Hherecan be no art There maybe Semething ea sort of game played with counters or computers for which Same other name woul have be found Meare, we have rt to reckon with, and art, fall thee complesty nd Aetna ‘The come to fe, uring he pet yea tha nanan te aii or TORO Fromy say be tuporir t any Amesian in ieww superior even 1 N10, 0 ‘NoMAN—saperorina reser matunty of “oon and ithe complatenas tnd cone Sous auton wt wie thet vonrealizad, But I do not fase this intimation ‘of value on any simple assumption that ‘Mizoguchi and Ozu tere semenow mys= tially blessed with greater powers of er- sonal creativity than Hitchcock, Hawks, and Ophils(justas Idor't assume thatthe treason Mahler’ ssyeaphonieearerather dit ferent frem Haydn’sis simply a matter of personal temperament). An attempt to 2c- Count convincingly for the superiority ‘Would clearly involve a very thorough in vestigation of working conditions, the ex pectations brought by Japanese audiences, the conventions and tragtions availableto the artists, the general background and history of Japanese culture, the socio~ economic-palitcal circumstances cf con- temporary Japan. I would, at the same time, envisage ne possible way of explain ing the fms’ greatness without refererce tosuch concepts as “genius” and “per- senalereetivity” [vould see no possPbilty ‘of supposing that the flms could some- hhow have come into being without the presence at thelr heart of individual ea five gens, eto bit IV. THE MYTH OF MODERNISM “The questions raised by the emphasis on progressive” avant-garde art can be pur- sued further va an examination of tho fon clusion to the second edition of Signs and “Means i the Crema. Let me preface this bs remarkingthat, applied to works of at, terms such as “progressive” and “reaction- ay have mo evaluative sttus, they are parely descriptive. They may, however, {ake on a relative or transitory evaluative force in accordance with shifts and changes in society. One might argue, for Instance, that ina period of revolution, ‘reactionary’ artasstmes potential impor: tancein that Bembodiesconcepts and val- tues that are threatened with obliteration and which might have something to be ‘al fr them, ‘There are twoimportant documents by Feter Wallen on modernist cinema, the citer being his essay on WIND FROM THE rast in After Image 4. Lfind them very lferent in quality. The After Image article, ‘hick [take tbe the ater in composition, is incomparably the finer, reasonable, ds" GGplined, and iluminating Lind Stmost wholly acoprable. Its» pity that the Signs and Mewning additional chapter, because it has the comparative perma- renee of book form, likely to be far more widely circulited. (The After Image article ‘eserves to be top prionty for any current complersof etal anthologies) Tam compelled to say that Wollen's ac- ‘count ofthe difference between our read- ing of mosdemist works and the rational wwaysin which art has been cead seems to me compounded of confusions, distor- tons, and self-delusions in oughly equal ‘measure—an extraordinary piece of fen- ied mystfication. In traditional aesthetes, ‘Spparenily, the mind was “an empty treasure-house waiting to receive is trea sure,” but the modernists force us to do some work Instead of meaning being communicated itis now “produced,” 36 the resultof this dalogue. ‘Wallen creates contirual problems ‘or the reader (but 3 compensating conven ence for himself by never alowing us any very precise idea as to what he is talking about which works, which eritss, But we ‘an safely assume, Ttake it, that he would Accept WIND RON THE East (oneo the ew etual works he specifics) asa mpresonia tive example of medemism, We might ‘conceivably read ths film in the way Wol- leq appears Yo aaggest as a sort of un coordinated rag-bag of bits and pieces— Until we have mastered the principles on which it built: When we hate mastered those principles, however, the film is no more diffeult to wad than Midilonarc. ‘Correction: iti much exser to reed George Eliot's novel making far greater demands on the reader's intelligence and ancentration, When [ead Middlemarch 1 enter into a continuus dialogue with it ‘And that is the only way to read i. The ‘mind tht Is “an efapty treasure-house ‘waiting to reveive ite treasure” is fated to remain empty, forthere nc work of artof any significance thatcan be adequately "e- ‘ceived bybeing passively absorbed. “Modernism,” according to Wollen, ~ produces works which are no longer cen tnpotal, held together by their own centres, but centrifugal, throwing th reader out of the work to other work What works sctusly perform thi function is no! revealed; presumably wind FROM "Tue EAST can again be taken as an example. The gaps and dislocations that cis mow seek in traditional texts are presumably raised by moderriststo the satus of con scious artistic principle ‘There are serious problems here. Obvi- ‘ously, any bad, incompetent work sso be- ‘cause of is failures Hs gaps and disloca- tions. One could argie that an inept mys {ery storyin which the solution & inadver- tently made Dbvious trem the beginning. decorstrocts tse, gives the roader critica distance, enables him to inspect the ‘dcologial structure, ete. Gaps and die ‘ations only become of positive interest ‘when they’ are felt to have constructive ‘meaning tobe sigifleart when they be come, thats, an aspect ofthe flm’scoher- tence, This seems to me the cise with WIND rrowrite east, Like any werk ofartol any value, Gedard's film challenges me 10 look al my assumptions about lle, to question Iny own values; tdeesrt thtow meoutof itself to ether works, except in the abso- Intely traditional sense that fam compelled tw place my experience of f beside other expenences, ‘The reluctance to specify makes it equally difcuteto pin down the distor- tions in Wollen's arcount of traditional aesthetics. “Non-realst aesthetics. are fccused of reducing or denydrating the "ichness of reality: by seeking to make the cinema into 2 conventional medium they fre rcbbing sof ts potentials an alterna five world, etter, paror fur and 0 om In fac, this aesthetic resis on a morstrous sleuson: the cea that trath resides in the sal world and can be picked out by 3cam- era. Obviously, ifthis were the case, everybody woul have access tothe truth, Since everybody iverall heirlifein the ral world. The realism claim rests on a Skightol-hand: the identifeaton of su- thente esponience with truth.” Just asit i impossible to identify these “centrifugal” medlernist works, soit im- posible 10 grasp exactly whom Weller ix talking about here. Weo is supposed to hold this incedibly naive and sil posi ‘ion? Simply to place @ Hawks film beside ‘a Bergman isto realize that they can't bh be presenting an absolute, cbjective truth; to add a third term to the comparison ‘would be to suggest that neither does ‘Simply te speak ofan artists" view of ie” Is implicely to recognize that he isn't en- parting “truth” in Wollen’s sense /”Au thentic experience” is obviously one of the things the entc Is concermed to keentity ‘and evaliate with al the complexitis and {Qualcations that will nvelve. But who Ientipesit with “truth”? “These arguments are elaborated to jas- lily acommiiment to an avantgarde that appears barely to exis apart fom recent Codaed, no eno allowed in it without rs servations. The commitment, nonetheless, ‘is extaordinarly intense: “It is necessary totakea stand on this question ond to take most seriously dzectors like Godard him- self, Makavejev, Straub, Marker, Rocha, some underground directors." ‘There isa Verycuriouspassage about the potertial” destructiveness” of texts. "Ul Se oF Fnuega’s (sc) Wate ore destructive Of the ninetoenth-century novel” But de- Structve in what sense isnt clear, Obvi ‘ssly they have made fe dificult to waite nineteenth-century novels, but one hardly reeds tobe told that;anc one suspects that Wollen means thas alsomade Wtrelevant to read them. [find the whole paragraph (pages 171-2} extremely confused and con- FILM COMMENT 49)fusing. One can give most of the state- ments, considered separately, « guarded assent, but the overall argument remains perly uninteligibe “The passage culminates in this: "A valu- able work, a powerful work at least, is one ‘whit chellengescodes, overthrow sestad= lished ways of reading or looking, not simply to establish new ones, but to com [pel ar unending dialogue, not at random Dut productively” Tam not clear asto the distinction implied by that “atleast” be- tween “powerful” works and “valuable™ ‘nes: Lstippose a powerful workmight pot necessarlty also be valuable, but value ‘Seems implied by the west of Ihe sentence isobviously uethat a greatartist—an artist, that is, who achieves, through per- tinaciy, integrity, discipline, dedication, and personal genius, a truly individual ‘voice modifies our sense of al that has gone before, forcing us to readjust; and Sivious oo that the history of ert ina Rs tory of continuous transformation and de- velopment. But many of he greatestartists have been as much consoliators as in novators. Bach and Haydn, for example, scarcely “overthrew established ways” of listening they built on the formal proce- dures and exiabished idioms with which their audences were familar, developing and extending thelt possiblities, There ‘may be seays in iwhich the B-minor Mass ‘which | take it would be generally ac cepted as both valuable and powerful challengescodes, but any account oft that Sew its significance exclusively or even ‘primarily in sich terms would surely 5 extremely partial It becomes diffeul! to separate Wollen's arguments decisively from the most naive bealiof in progres, fom 2 gence that only ant that aan te unequivocally essociated with progress is valuable, and finaly from a desperate commitment tothe latest thing, imespective of quality. Welles, for ‘example, has come to look “hopelessly fold fashioned and dated," apparently be ‘cause it can now be seen that he was orly fn innovator within a certain context— trac, T would have though, of most iy novabrs ‘Wallen actually lets himself get caried (tereisageneralsense efsometne not e- ally in control of his ideas) to the point ‘where he findsit necessary to warn us that Folywocd should rot be "dismissed out ‘ofhand as ‘unwatchable ” (Whom can he bbe warning of ths except himsel?) Works that challenge existing codes may make those codes unusable, but they are not de= Stuctve of previous works that employed those codes, No one cul or would wish to ‘writes Mdlanarc today. but Middlonah isnotthereby invalidates. Whatis destruc- tive isa vew of art that nsisis that 8 Only real interest sin ite destruction af the past, and that sees the critic's fist pri Drity 25a frantic quest forthe latest thing, ‘Gro ofthe greatest “progressive” arte fof the present century saw things rather 30 JULY-AUGUST 1975 differently. “His lessons were very in teresting, He never said a word about the twelve-tone system, Nota word. He looked theough ovhat hed writen, he cor= rected it in a very wise manner. and we analysed Bach motets..." —the lite Dr, (Otte Klempereron Schinberg, eno Bees Reso eer \V. IN DEFENSE OF “WIND FROM THE EAST” Tat of the problem raised by Gadai's recent work canbe sugested bythe ques tion: Whom sre the fms for? The obvious answer, supplied by Godard ang Gorin itemelves fora smalleducated Manist elite. With this goes the implcation that the fimsare alos insianty doposabe ‘evolutionary toce rad fors spec losl Dpurpose, redundant as soon 2 that par pose nas been served Related to this ae the questions: How dloes arti who fs not 8 Marxist, oF 8 Marnst-Leninst ora Maost, cope with Moor Godard honey And ow dose 4d erica justice to an artist who Fas = ‘ounced a shor of renouncing? The Namnst answer willbe, presutaby,tht fcoutsehe can’ ation ology is Snedlfce of lies and anyone who she a Marvatisa bourgeois (icing tnework ers, who would fr rather see NN AND {hype than WiNDFKoM Ti east), THoseof th who re seratve tothe enormfics of CCopitism, yet al find Mars aac feplobe sterstive, may fel that she probem tna simple (Ore ishelped and encouraged by one's intermittent recognition (despie appear- tncento fv contay) that Godard ese Sisaye find problems srople either His fly work up fo Pennor Le rou and ait beyond can fe se in terms of above al Iv eflor fo define and holdin faance bic Unceraleies: "fone sas ps," opening ine ‘ofboth CONTEMPT and" WAERIED WOMAN team appropriate motte, And, although the bounds of his uncertainty are now srore securely hed, more narowty de. Fined. doconttonativones, a ef cihe 0 assert orto uly (ules tem Poranly submerged in he tense repres- Elract of wine mont rie sar) othe facein our va WEN, People hs ls == ser al the ime, but tha i deal not dhe Same thing. Except when Viadame and Ros supervene i fs ificu o think o 8 gle statement (beyond that of uncer tainty perhaps) delivered ina Godard fim thatcan be unequivocally construed Au thor sMessage-The sattmentsareset ste by side ne so many pines ef mdence for cur serous consdleration. Goderd’s point Sfwiew denned ony intermsct the areas ‘Fineost implied bythe seen “The paradox ofthe artist who has ounce art cel fo the cnte’s prod Tem, There ea sensei whith any fim a wworkof at and cannot not be, since some ‘xgariing panple must be in operation Sel there are f greet many. firms = rewseeh, for example-swhere what one ‘ustealthe aeahet response is scarcely ppreprte, or ot eppreprics eo prime consideration, as ental focus for discus Shy our experience, The aeshete response isto, fr me, something s2puabe rom tur whole response as human eines ine ‘ed sts natare is dtine by this whcle- ress. But it ao sepreents the rics way Catempting achieve alto impart iy, tosee and evaluate the work apart fio shared or disputed poriclarie of dg oreo "The opponiion between “work of at” and "revolutionary Oot: may scemat fest iano ilsory, bat Hind it evita. Re ‘olutonery tol and works a are sub- ject to completely diferent evaluative ss- ern, boc they invita iferentoort of response The forneiniteodiectacton {end mviations o det acton form as Inset part of winDpnon tm BAe ee ‘material the later dors ask us todo fnything, the response it aspires fo eit bala altgether more complex ‘Avwork ofa mavalet ores deen and permanent, But takes oer forms Gl dbcowrae reasoned argue, to: fans, diectexhortation—to send ue out {tothe sets, Arseon as we respond tna srorkoo an organic frat et engolzea) Tshole—espond to what fis rather than ‘whats saye-then formal questions of Srture, order, banc, assert hr pre= eminence and the posbity of effeetve tthortation acordingly recedes. Such 3 cistireen doesnot emasculate at rather, ivinsist upon its much greater, less ephemeral (tao less preczely dete) potency. “The prime purpose (expt in state ment plist informal procedures) of Godard’: poticuedcinema snot tres "completa" works of at forthe aesthetic (moral, emotional) satisfaction of the be- folder, tutto stimulate or provoke to re- ‘laonary sty Codard radkalsm ‘his esay the tem "Govan stands he "Gods ‘whenever te recent lms areunder discussion. The pvt te mate pe he Tomei Cedars dvelspment hie not longi he posse imporanc ‘coho he me pehas ed hi repeatedly to demand and an- ‘ounce a return ose." The revoltion it not aginst certain incidental injustices of capitasm, but against the whe dex Selogment of western cite ouwr at eat the ast ve thousand yeas What Goda atid now let heart etihepast notentely certo me eas Shaye somewhat equivocal The any jams worm wxh ost references, Ike foment Godard wobedto shove aganat Tie run, or embleme of allegiances by Imcans of wiveh he would ess an Gere Veit was never certain jus howe Sipe combo is maga septa Stalin represented: one Aight foubt Srhether H neat to Goseré fear, ha Bich evenly nant to Regan ‘hereerences were always exeral and ‘Epis The Bach fague plted cut on he fllno in witb stuataciaes poms 0 Searle ofthe etre fy ayn nu ro seubat ht vse nie geophone Retrapectvely, i ety 1 se that Sodan we ry at at negate teem peed for he sep no Mr Peale aided oe bio regaring the as aso th tener oe pled cay ater anos cteidy Sting mac a tessa io ones nner emcnal ate is and ne nc eer pst testy deol! siya fom ne femmer athe than tom fe tor Te fppuret mech amin odor ct ascribe eta te oon phet tea nus canann, ware 2 Sis rec ity toe Rembrandt ct tal ands adonnwand-chi Pd ‘Ran pormancny or deeply afte by ‘tah th no hs coe wa the setoenoe ofr in mon fo wcty a ie Reo nseune sean ome aricretneners give pe mesa 0 fottcefrmcos shar weanano ye Ey dsappar nom is worcor ee ‘WeoLenintt noni tan erie obit aie kaclopea posure th denuncaton, Wrst en. ihe sts ofthese Fis snd rw sors the nr hart at nt “iympiha ese had fe? One tnghedid acter questo wise Eeiagn mem incon fne2 - tein ania corpo Ite choses tt ange ot ae ieemater nthe provost te acon [ion how, ar Uncrn cesta te {Sins iiarwitbey ok ete, bret Shunde yeatstiomow? Ando sh ‘eta hem then Dec them at Simoded inserts hat have sed ‘Rirpanpos’ cove hom a hina Siculneh View them an perverse ost, or ne ona, pes fpomings os new directo ht only fc Skate ceicatln? Oreo th stern ister contemporeety atthe works ot ‘sik pape ead A precedent might usefully be cited terelan stat hoes sn ough nt Ionic wth Cort won et ese ier whae wok eres ned compe Guilnge to tndtloal asthe and to Schoen Godard oo spent ste iinuantnerites ingortsr ano as eer Montand fr eve Wate Fitsnater soy deemed tags th cht aint yy sp he eee cee conn wk More aAiaimenof aches pee inna Bond Goois novel Corts este mekrane natn Fumento Good st Ns Tome Stee diastase ore tens sbanconed jen en, ncatayneds Stree peat ste Frets New hive routing Car's Ere din) wih cal hp cine ost koreans tne ae rosin terepunsren ty a har brecht was into forty eats 468 Some he planet owe mance We Drchtis vow Rita ene cxyed ted apa pete Seto sar proce bouts RihatcRtpanae waka nyse of tncngray ter enamine rede ts triode aed Svieuphe rea pe ae, Sanur opp ee Cre cnn ye fo xy, Don Coot Sie tn Ca Ci ae cy Shtostny witness cgeren “shennan esukepie war cus exons The tno tus obs SOR sell ue pret Sak vate of Dacarework haan rie power eve soca to Et ana dnt ndepersenty fa lke sare oy mig and ate Egrentanal ects ps bonded Rae nner arrest ho ‘ee erste atogy Seon tee Besnar wey eee oe by se0e tal onion eke [ofthe oat mc ofenue lta darted aspen ea teneouty or seesne fsa mercy Eigen tse of he pce Scan he sco Seth evo bison ae on accepiaae aoa no mporat co mee apne nay nove Anengmecped fret end patent font Ri oe tr Deugece worsens be none Siegen nt pee Etude atvrted oie ypnclcutce eins fies et tee es Fervent force ar fe as ae a papa alana rieoeae ape fat of ysl press Spemiing ia multtadinovs ways'n mal facincts coments rena ewer tnyenepah forsee anal oto Sit (lo hs charged ty sea tee, rch Rs changed waton Eh mat ntacaty erp aes ofthe theater have been unateced by Kim. tisnors not only posable but coy 10 imagine a Brecon production of Bom Glover! (any Mozart opera would re- spond to such teatmont adovnabyy— Sich spay wy we can pass mn 0 The Casccan Chale Cite without toss of equanimity ‘Something ofthe same process may come to pass with Goda in some re- Specs thas akcaty begun. 1nd di Hci imagine that FRAVDA, BATTER Seu, and wnvormoM Te Eas Cede Sond! at east wan mae fr auiences od ance) i ever Slodalbleinte th mancinnmned ten as The Catan Cath Click and Te Thre Romy Ope, but our wa smyth ‘Sa fiimone can lear to enjoy. On the ‘ther hand jut ae Brockton pacice hae Reaper tet on tage prediction £0 Gocnidan pracce has onthe nema. ‘Though Altman reed never Rave seen 3 Godard movi certain enpetsot Tm Lone oonmvr (the way the theme musi I ‘sed, ramp) whichare net tale Eodird, woul probably be impossible ‘nthout the fact of Godard somewhere in oditan background “ihe interest Of WIND HROM THE EAST {outset intlctal ets) emo e5y 0 denne. 1 aesthede, obMoust fs msepara Ue from ts revelutionary policy, yet a6 ston acres i nese anda es here one, becomes [Sissel ihe fim suthoat neces 3 cepring its wer peliieal positon be ‘Senin act an finn oor eves The snore ace an the more poner 3 the more dearly dows thie sevokonary tol reveal seas awork ofa. ‘Obsously fone espunde post to ‘miND mom ra past (and R Snot without Je ard stches) one wil be afocted ar Inlenoed by es atttudes, But tht could [sido any werk fart What te champ ‘nsist’on, however, i is a nel nar ts demand fo fot Kalewnion ofnew sesh hata fecvly destroy the od. On a superfca Inveltieiebulour enough’ ceray one ‘ints back ard enoy thenanatve, One {feoper level, wav ros mar basr coer to prove that iis Enpussiie fora work of nite avoid satisfying the fundamental frteradenouncedas bourgeois shortof Aegoneringintos nonsense 00m ast bocomes possible 10 re spond ecathetcally to wi mom He ‘sro take pase ins ongaorahan ‘of completa iy internal eleonahips, Scoble the Rew Sutmatcly takes its place beside the wotks ofthe pat ane ne no moe ford Yo seep reject seeping ‘oct he value and worldview of ane ‘Aster, complex of aus, hat Bt0 Sy Becomes one of tany by whch one Gan choose tobe recy aleced—can fegard as an “authentic” experience to Dive beside cne'sonn FILM COMMENT 51