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Close Up (Mar-Dec 1932)

Page scan 00070 from Close Up

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Mar-Dec 1932
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
00070
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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64 CLOSE UP This connection lies in the preoccupation with the fundamental problem of the nature of cinema which the very existence of the absolute film (limited sense) expresses. After scrutinising the use of such expressions as " visual music " and " reality " in relation to the so-called absolute film, the author finds that they, just as the word " absolute " itself, do not suffice to distinguish the category of film with which one associates the names of Eggeling, Richter, etc. The question is whether " absolute film " can have any significance as a descriptive term to cover this category of films, which involves asking what is it which distinguishes the category to which it is intended to apply. The answer is found along the lines of the " quality of associations " of the film to be classified. Where this is simple, i.e., no subject, idea, thesis, but purely a rythmic theme, there the description " absolute film " can be of some use. This way of using the term will cover films with " objects," such as Deslaw's Marches des Machines or Ivens' Bridge, as well as purely abstract work. Inflation (a film which illustrates how close is the connexion between the film of ideas and the absolute film) and Etoile de Mer would be borderline cases. But the author disclaims any intention of binding himself to observe any strict classification when, leaving theory, he turns to films and directors. The more important of the directors whose work is discussed in the second half of the book are Ruttmann (Opus 2, 3, 4, Berlin, World Melody), Richter (Filmstudie, Rennsymphonie, Zweigroschenzauber, Vormittagspuk, Inflation), Man Ray, Deslaw (satisfactorily relegated) and Ivens (but cursorily noticed — see Vol. No. 3 when it appears). Mention is also made of Mol, Von Barsy and Fischinger. The author does not consider the future prospects of the absolute film (limited sense) are favourable. The tendency will be in the direction of films where the associational content is more complex. However, we may be less pessimistic than this and prophesy that the absolute film will for a long time yet attract new directors, both on account of its disciplinary value and its comparatively low cost. Add to that its charm. (Exciting illustrations. Contrast also Fritz Lang and monocle on p. 3 with the beauty of Ruttmann's hands photographed by Krull on p. 6). H. A. M. Sound Films in Schools. The report of an Experiment undertaken jointly by certain Local Education Authorities and by the National Union of Teachers in the Schools of Middlesex. Published by " The Schoolmaster " Publishing Co., 3, Racquet Court, Fleet Street, E.C.4. This book describes in detail an experiment made to determine the value of sound films in education. As in all other experiments made recently in