Cinema Canada (Mar 1979)

AAORT FILM REVIEWS Robert Jekyll assembling his panel “‘Homage to Soleri” one chooses the sheets of textured glass and colors, to the conception of the design, and to the final technical craft of completing the work of art. The film itself is structured in a style fitting the process of the art it describes. It begins bound withm an almost classic documentary tradition of the narrative voiceover explaining that ‘the workroom is where the art begins, and yet it gradually develops on a freer, more personal level. One feels the freedom of the colors and of the inspired designs through the images of the stained glass bursting in a quick even rhythm. Linear camera movements follow the lines in the design. The skeletal architectural designs and plans are animated and clothed through a series of superimposed images of the various stages of the final work of art. As the finished stained glass design quickly takes form through the rhythmic fashioning of an expert familiar with his craft, so the images in the film are tightly edited towards the end; one is left with the same satisfaction of a well crafted work of art. Of all textures and layers explored and developed in the film, the most important is that of light and shadow and its effect on colored glass. The artist begins by holding up the glass against a blank grey/white sky, and slowly throughout the film the glass constantly changes as the light varies through different times of the day and different seasons. The world moving behind the glass becomes an _ integral part of the textures and colors of the work of art, humanized, as Jekyll explains, through the glass, much the same as it is through the lens of a camera. Life is shown meshing with art, breaking one’s image of art as works to behold; the film instead invites participation as it emphasizes the accessibility of the artform by revealing the process. Painting with Light reflects the excitement and imperfections of an editor cutting a tight fourteen or so minute film that is never boring yet may sometimes too quickly cut away from a beautiful image. This Canadian filmmaker has the sense to make the film available it both French and English; the film is being distributed by the Canadian Film Makers Distribution Centre. Florence Jacobowitz OUR CULTURAL FABRIC d. Kit Hood, sc. Soo Millar, ph. Bob New, Carl Harvey, ed. David Leach, Stephen Withrow, sd. Andy McBrearty, p. Linda Schuyler, p.c. Playing With Time Inc., (year) 1978, col. 16mm, running time 27 minutes, dist. Playing With Time Inc. Over the past decade a wealth of material has emerged which has as its central focus cultural signs and symbols and their ideological role in society. However named, whether called semiology or cultural studies, works such as Roland Barthes’ “Mythologies” or John Berger’s book and film series “Ways of Seeing,” have provided excellent examples of the kind of analysis possible for considering everyday social phenomena and their relationships with cultural perceptions. It is within the frame of such semiological endeavours that the film Our Cultural Fabric should be assessed, since it has set for itself the goal of “exploring the relationship of clothing with cultural and racial stereotyping” (to quote from its publicity folder). Yet, there is a striking naiveté about the film, as though its makers were unaware either of the historical precendents within their own line of attitudinal and cultural interrogation or of the inner workings of their own cinematic project. “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe,” says John Berger. Since this is clearly the territory within which Our Cultural Fabric is operating, the film should withstand scrutiny on the same grounds. Produced for the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, and partially _ funded by governmental sources, Our Cultural Fabric was obviously intended to be a film which demystifies “foreign” styles of dress in order to enhance our understanding of cultural mores and differences. Clearly, this kind of film can contribute to easing tensions within a country embodying such a multi-racial and multi-cultural mix as does Canada. However, this project’s brilliant potential is fulfilled only in tiny moments throughout the film. We see an East Indian explaining the cultural and religious significance behind the wearing of a turban and we watch the process by which he puts it on. Two interviews with Black Canadians reveal the social and, in the case of the Rastafarian, the religious significance of wearing their hair unstraightened and natural. East European immigrants discuss the clothing of their original homelands and the ridicule they have receiv Cinema Canada/41