Cinema Canada (Mar 1979)

televised sales pitches is far from outlandish. And it is certainly plausible that the inventor of a particular line of TVs could be bribed by those same corporations to include such a short-circuiting “device” in his design. It is on this credible foundation that L’Affair Bronswick builds its case, ““documenting” the histories of unfortunate consumers whose psyches were invaded by waves from their Bronswick television sets. Indeed, the credibility factor accounts for much of the film’s success and a good deal of its wit; what we are ultimately laughing at are the seductive powers of both the medium and the format. The topical nature of subliminal advertising has been beautifully exploited here, but so has the documentary genre. Interviews with victims of the conspiracy are shot and perfomed with absolute fidelity to the mimicked style, and the narrative track perfectly replicates the doomsday voice so essential to this type of “report.” But the broadest swipe has been taken at those inimitable ‘“‘reconstruction-of-event” _ sequences that are all too familiar; here, Monty Python-like animation has been substituted for live action, and with lovely results. Awad and Leduc, together with Jean-Michel Labrosse have created a moving collage of photographs that are as delightful as they are informative. Attention to detail is immaculate: arrows and instant replay help indicate precisely how several dozen bottles of salad oil tumbled from a victim’s hands onto the floor one story below, to graphically illustrate the story or both the victim herself and the janitor, who narrowly missed decapitation by Mazola. An added assortment of officiallooking charts and graphs give the animation a wonderfully silly legitimacy. A return to “straight” satire is made near the end of the film, through a series of “public service commercials” supposedly aired by the government to assure a fearful public that the Bronswick Affair has been brought under control. Just how television stylistics have been beautifully captured is nowhere better illustrated than here: the ads feature (among others) a hockey player skating up to the camera to announce that “L’affaire Bronswick; c’est reglé!,” and there’s no better proof that these filmmakers know their target. It is the accuracy of the send-up that accounts for its impact, because there is relatively little (outside of the animation) to separate it from “legitimate” documentary. It seems as though “looklike” parodies have come into new popularity now, what with television’s “Saturday Night Live” specializing in takeoffs on TV advertisements and such. But these spoofs are a golden opportunity for the viewer to reflect upon what one sees and what one believes. The swaying power of format is extraordinary and is certainly borne out by the National Film Board’s experience with L‘Affaire Bronswick. It appears that more than a few people were scandalized that such a story had not surfaced before ’78 and demanded to know why they had not previously heard of the “conspiracy.” L’ Affaire seal (i is first and foremost delightful ‘entertainment, but another quality may be attributed to it. Its affectionate “nose-thumbing” of familiar forms may make us more sensitive to our gullibility and warier of our tendency to believe what we see because it “looks right.” If lessons continue to come in such delicious packages, the learning process won’t be hard at all. Barbara Samuels DUNMOVIN d. James B. Kelly, C.S.C., sc. James B. Kelly, ph. Florence Van Voast, Shirley Van Voast, Alexander Kelly, James B. Kelly, ed. James B. Kelly, sd. ed. Len Abbott, sd. rec. James B. Kelly, p. James B. Kelly, p.c. Mountain, Giraffe Films in Motion, Ltd., Toronto, col. black & white 16mm, 1970, running time 58 min. dist. James B. Kelly, a” 1 Brule Terrace, Toronto, M6S M2. “For some years now the activity of the artist in our society has been AAORT FILM REVIEWS trending more toward the function of the ecologist: one who deals with environmental relationships. Ecology is defined as the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment. Thus, the act of creation for the new artist is not so much the invention of new objects as the revelation of previously unrecognized relationships between existing phenomena, both physical and metaphysical.” — Gene Youngblood, “Expanded Cinema” Of the many functions of cinema, it is perhaps the “ecological” function as described by Youngblood which comes closest to characterizing Dunmovin, the very personal film recently completed by Jim Kelly. The work is an exploration of both linear and cyclical time, memory, and the recurring patterns within the fabric of life. It is also an examination of personal engagement with history, a revelation of the ways in which the lives of ordinary people are intricately connected with the larger workings of historical change. In the filmmaker’s words, Dunmovin explores “the underside.of history.” Appropriately, the film sustains several emotional levels during its hour’s duration; at times it is splendidly quiet and low-key, then filled with exuberant energy. Its subjects are the filmmaker’s grand-parents: their daily rituals, sur -roundings, their memories which span the century. Kelly wanted the film to “orow out of their rhythms” and at the same time preserve some sense of his relationship to them. Yet he was also concerned to challenge his own theoretical constructs about filmmaking. In this sense, the project breaks new ground for Kelly, who has been involved with nearly 200 films throughout his career, which includes his work as cinematographer in such recent feature-films as Outrageous and Power Play. Here, he purposely works against the grain of cinematic spectacle, as well as challenging the conventions of the traditional documentary. Fascinated by film’s complex relationship to reality and time, Kelly explores these areas through a self-reflexive style appropriate to such a personal film. One of its most intriguing aspects is the use of inter-titles combined with simultaneous voice-over readings, a technique which paradoxical Cinema Canada/39