Close Up (Jul-Nov 1927)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jul-Nov 1927
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
000231
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Switzerland, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
August 29, 2022
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CLOSE UP thing that it jarred in the bizarre settings. It entirely spoilt the effect. The whole time it was dragging us to earth, reminding us of ordinary life as we live it. In "Doctor Caligari" an attempt w^as made to disguise the flesh. Who will forget the three grotesque waves in the hair of "Doctor Caligari" ? The same principle applies to natural scenery. In that otherwise excellent fihn "The Student of Prague" the mistake was made of playing the hunting scenes in natural settings. The real horses, lively hounds, real grass forced us to remember that the posturings of Werner Krauss could not possibly have any connection with the direction of the fox over which he was supposed to be exerting a magical attraction. In other words the sequence failed to grip. I don't know what country is going to give us the epic. Germany, with the failure of 'Ufa', seems to be resting on her laurels. Italy is as bad as ever. France is gravelled with the problem of plot. Sweden is quiet. I think it will be Russia ; although, as a film editor pointed out to me, no two shots in Russian films m.atch. The head is on the right in a long shot, and on the left in a close-up. A flash and then a sub-title, and generally fourteen reels of it. Experiment in Russian iilm_s is probably due to the fact that the film companies owTi the theatres. Howbeit, there is so much that is fresh and arresting in Russian films that I look to Russia. May I not have to look long ! There is one thing I am certain of, it will not be Britain ! A young assistant producer, who was a friend of mine, went 65