Close Up (Jan-Jun 1930)

Page scan 000212 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 #:
000212
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 the latter will make a success of most films (in relation to merit). Of Soviet Productions, undoubtedly the success was Potemkin, following Ten Days. Next, the film of the Krassin had an extraordinary run. The Yellow Identity Card, directed by Ozep was also quite successful. Two Days by Stabavoi was a failure as were also the Sovkino Bulat Batyr by Taritsch. Storm over Asia, known out here as the Yellow Storm, after a doubtful start is, at the time of writing, still running, and to judge by newspaper critics and advance bookings will continue to do so for some time. Impartiality : whereas in Europe the newspapers were concerned chiefly in pointing out the political significance, antiimperialistic propaganda, identity of the militarists, in the Argentine the controversial political side was never even mentioned in the newspapers. Critics confined themselves entirely to the artistic and technical construction of the film. Of German productions. Variety w^as the forerunner in establishing an Ufa reputation. Metropolis had a moderate run, and The Spy, considering its comparative European success also fell. It did not convince the essentially Latin spirit. Of the culture sex films an outstanding success was Conjugal Life, a Lander-Film Berlin, by E. Frowein. Large audiences of both sexes flocked to see this production, which, as is rare in sex films, combined taste with intelligence and instruction. Marcel Herbier's L' Argent was a general uplift to French production. Probably because the Argentine is essentially a money-making centre, that the depiction of a modern money-maniac caused a deep impression. When it came to 144