The cinema : 1952 (1952)

202 THE CINEMA what is happening, and the novelist's comments are ke down to brief, purely utilitarian descriptions. As a resul the novel gains in immediacy of appeal but establishes sense of sympathy. The account remains external and the characterizations, for all their precision, unassessed. An insensitive, bullying private is given the same objective treatment as a nervous, piteously hysterical sergeant on the verge of a breakdown. The characterizations have a kind of clinical neatness, but fail, in most instances, to suggest fullblooded people. Milestone, coming to the material at one further remove, sets the action in a wider context : by the controlled use of his visuals, he supplies a sense of depth to the characterizations which, with the absence of novelist's comment, never emerges in the book. To the 'literary' dialogue Milestone brings a corresponding visual Style characterized by a powerful and complex sense of composition which stresses his identification with his characters. This is particularly noticeable in Milestone's ability to convey in his compositions the men's physical proximity to each other, suggesting that in times of stress they instinctively seek safety in their solidarity as a unit. The style of a director emerges through a number of functions some, like camerawork and editing, analysable, others, like the direction of actors, more elusive. Yet provided they show a consistent controlling hand, the performances a director elicits from his players form a part of his style as much as the more tangible technical devices. It is here that Milestone's deeper grasp of the material is revealed. Two school-aged soldiers who discuss their collections of gramophone records or the merits of favourite pin-up girls in intervals between battles, appear in the novel as simple reminiscing children. Milestone's direction gives their dialogue an added sense of strain, revealing the two boys' instinctive withdrawal from their surroundings and