French Impressionist Cinema: Film Culture, Film Theory, and Film Style (December 1974)

until 1929, but there is some evidence of Sstylisticodiffu-Sion in the years 1926-1929. While the pictérial te t.‘and montage trends were still operative throughout the period, many of the major directors began exploring in various Stylistic directions as well. In Napoleon (released 1907), Gance displayed a new concern for the handheld camera and a use of three screens or "triptych" for epic and symbolic effects; neither technique had much influence on other film-makers. L'Herbier began to experiment with lengthy tracking and crane shots, culminating in the bravado fluidity of L'Argent (1929), wherein the camera prowls through corridors and floats along ceilings. Some filmmakers began moving toward the title-less film: in a half hour of Epstein's Six et Demi-Onze (1927) there are only seven titles, and Kirsanov's Menilmontant .(1926) lacks titles entirely. Epstein began making extensive use ot slow motion to express Subjectivity (e.g., the fainting heroine boy in Finis Terrae) and in La Glace A Trois Facés; (1928) he carried the principle of subjectivity into the form of the film by structuring the narrative around three women's distinct attitudes toward a young man, as revealed in an elliptical series of flashbacks. Again, none of these di rections was pursued by others. Clair turned to a satiric