Close Up (Jul-Dec 1928)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jul-Dec 1928
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
000244
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:
July 25, 2024
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CLOSE UP signed with a serious purpose, each has its constructive, scientific and psychological foundation in some point of real eugenic value. Unlike any other country, the cinema is not an industry apart, confined to professional workers in studios, but is taken right into the centre of civic life, and is part of the national trend in ideas and cultural development. That is to say, the Russian populace does not assume merely the role of spectator, but is frequently active in participation, and always carries the right to vote its approval of a film subject before the film is made. There are numerous organizations devoted to collaboration between producing units and the people, in order that the real tastes of the Republic may be ministered to. The direct and interesting result of this is that the taste of the public reveals itself in a choice of films that are on a level of intellect, spiritual value and truth which has never been approached in any medium. Nowadays it is fairly generally known that Russia has formed State schools to train workers in every branch of cinema work, and that its greatest directors were students in these schools. I have given these reasons first in explanation, as it seems to me that the first important thing, if you are to have a film of real value, is an idea of value. Take any of the ideas used by the Russians. They are burning and vibrant and of the greatest importance, not abstractly, but in their direct application to humanity. I say to humanity, because they are far too great in conception and in execution to be con S