Close Up (Jan-Jun 1930)

Page scan 00052 from Close Up

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jan-Jun 1930
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
00052
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:
June 20, 2024
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CLOSE UP looking soulfully at the governor? Of the people making crosses in unison, and the prisoners, who have mental liberty, anyhow? Protest. Pure animal, the governor hides behind a candle, that which is giving light so that other things may be seen. Guards advance on the prisoners, the man comes from behind the candle-stick to become he-man, with the eyes of the ladies on his uniform. Cross cut with statues of the saints. Sequence formidable. Smoke from the censer. A party given by the governor, handled well the atmosphere. (Can one handle atmosphere?) The old flirt who will dance with the host, while feathers fall from her fan. A toast to the host. Fade out ; fade in. Close up of a key in the lock ; long shot the warder in the passage. (These interesting images permeate the film.) Plans to escape : knocking on the roof and passing revolvers from hand to hand. All the actions which filll the air with suspicion, till charged like a battery, the very air whispers secrets. Somebody says that somebody must sacrifice himself for the good of the others. Nobody speaks. Lots are drawn, and the young boy, who is chosen in this manner, passes on his task. Pouring wine into an open mouth; conjuring trick to amuse the ladies w^ho eat at great speed. Faded flowers in bowls. A message. The governor opens it to read to the rest of the company. A message of congratulation to the political prisoners from the Revolution. Stupor. . . ^ ^ ^ Attasheva has treated The Stump of an Empire graphicallv in Close Up; however, there are a few personal impressions 30