Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

DOCLMEM AKN 1 II M NEWS 111 Rossellini and Us: Paisa by PETER BRINSON 'NO man.' wrote Caudwell in Illusion and Reality, 'can look directly at himself, but art makes of the Universe a mirror in which we catch glimpses of ourselves, not as we are, but a? we are in active potentiality of becoming in relation to reality through society. . . . The more we grip external reality, the more our art develops and grows increasingly subtle. . . . Art tells us what science cannot tell us. and what religion only feigns to tell us — what we are and why we are. why we hope and suffer and love and die. It does not tell us this in the language of science, as theology and dogma attempt to do, but in the only language that can express these truths, tha language of inner reality itself, the language of affect and emotion.' It is our criticism of Rossellini that in Paisa, whilst taking hold of 'external reality' he yet does not tell clearly enough in the 'language of inner reality itself the story which he has to unfold; he does not truthfully enough express the underlying significance of the events with which he deals and the relationship of his characters to those events. Paisa is the work of a master; it is not. what some of the critics would have us believe, the work of a genius. We acknowledge the grandeur of its composition and the sympathy which touches every character, a sympathy in step with the time. These were the days of Liberation and the defeat of fascism, when America still meant for the peoples of the world the progressive policies of Roosevelt. There moved then 'A spirit abroad in Europe which is finer and braver than anything that tired continent has known for centuries, and which cannot be withstood.' The future of Italy, and of Europe too, rested then and remains with the little thief* with Carmela below the cliff, with Cigolani whom the Nazis hanged and with his friends whom they murdered. Paisa is a noble monument to them. Yet the inscription thereon lacks the note of hope, of faith in the future, which is here the inner reality of the story. The dominant theme is of horror and destruction. The great truth of the triumph of the poor, the masses themselves, over Nazism and all that it means, this is concealed We suspect that in treating his subject thus. Rossellini has allowed himself to overlook a famous dictum of Engels which no artist should forget: 'the more the author's views are concealed the better for the work of art'. We suspect this now all the more when the note of gloom has deepened, reaching its apotheosis in Germany Year 7.ero. But in assessing the works of Rossellini available in this country, and in comparing these works with productions over here, it is important to bear in mind both the dates when the films were made and the character of the events with which they deal. To bear in mind these dates is to draw the conclusion that a comparison between Rossellini's work and British documentary production only becomes significant if British war productions are included. Nothing produced in this country since the war can compare either with our own war productions or with Open City and Paisa, and to what extent Rossellini is succeeding with more contemporary themes where British producers are failing can alone be judged when his latest picture is completed. However, the appearance of Paisa at this juncture does underline both the advantages which Italian documentary producers enjoy over producers in this country, in spite of the incomparably greater pressure of the dollar against Italian economic independence, and the stagnation of British documentary itself. It may be, as one reviewer believes, that force of circumstances in part accounts for the 'new realism' of the Italian cinema. "They have had to improvise and use their ingenuity as never before.' wrote Miss Cullen. 'in order to overcome the lack of studio space, new photographic equipment and a shortage of electricity for their arc lamps. They have taken their cameras out into the streets of the cities, and into the fields of the countryside; they have used non-professional actors and actresses, and stiuations for their scripts that they have experienced themselves.' But we need to remember also that Italian legislation gives documentary film production an encouragement and a protection still lacking over here. Not only does the law of April 8, 1948, recognize that the protection and development of Italian cinematography is the task of the Government. it lays down important regulations with regard to Italian production, which can be summarized as follows '(<;> The producer of an Italian film of over 2,000 metres length, the first performance of which takes place before December 31, 1949. shall receive a grant of 10 per cent of the gross receipts for a period of four years from the date of its first performance. (/)) A further grant of 6 per cent on the above-mentioned takings and for the same period will be made, by way of premium, to films which the Technical ( omnussion of the Film Division recognizes as being of cultural and artistic value. ic i In the case of Italian documentary films a grant of 3 per cent of the gross receipts i^ made within the same time limits, but only to films which have been recognized as meritorious by the Technical Commission (</> Producers of Italian newsreels of over 150 metres length shall receive a grant equivalent to 2 per cent of the gross receipts from performances at which those films are shown for a period of six months from the first public performance. (e) A fund, equivalent to 1 per cent of the gross receipts of Italian films has been established for the purpose of financing the artistic and cultural development of the Italian film and the exchange of films with foreign countries. (/) The quota for the obligatory showing of national films is 80 days per year. (g) The programme of each performance must include the showing of at least one short film (documentary or newsreel) of national production. (/i) The State Treasury's contribution to the National Labour Bank's autonomous Section for Film Credits is authorized to give credits up to 60 per cent of production costs The differences between Italian and British legislation do not. of course, alone account for the present state of British documentary Paisa v appearance in this country, together with the praises lavished upon it by nearly every critic serve to throw into relief the absence here in recent works of any comparable inspiration and technical virtuosity The warmth of this welcome is well merited h> Rossellini's mastery of his medium, but its almost totally unqualified nature, in spite of the fact that the film falls short in some degree from what would have been the most sincere and. in the artistic sense, the most truthful interpretation of the subject, i^ the measure not only of the absence of comparable recent wmks of our own but of the urgent need to considei the whole orientation of British dc mentar) today, the direction >>f its movement, its role and obligations, of the need, in vhort loi documentary as ah art to reconsider its approach to external reality and to ■-peak in clearei terms the language oi inner rcalitv u self, the language of allect and e notion Rrporl "t thr < OmmlMSlon OH Ir.hm.ii \ , r., ■• ■ ami Film p 237 UNESCO •