Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

DOC I \ll\l\in M \\s I I I I I K ill (Continued from page 107, col. 3) with a deep social message are not being made, it is sometimes a political failure : as often, the film is commissioned hut subject to official delay But, with a Labour Government, it is important to realize that new problems arise, and that the character of interpretive films must alter. It was heartening to read in a recent />\/ a plea foi more Labour films. The trade unions and co-ops are the natural allies of the documentary movement. and the good work done in their company needs extending. I he task of pre-war was to produce films with a realist, human slant: today it nas developed into that of fating documentary '.o the new and wide functions that recent social legislation demands. To this end. we must enlist .he aid of the Labour movement to supplement :he programme of the COL At the same time, it s neccssarv to get into contact with audiences Hid to widen them. In this two-way business, all ■chnicians need to be more closely in touch w ith :he co-op guilds, union branches, film societies md other organizations which make up the non.heairical audience. Lectures and publicity go land in hand with film-making. Note, hand in land. But these tasks will not be achieved without a :oncrete expression of the fundamental unity jfiared by technicians from separate units. A naga/ine is fine, but it's not enough : means must X found to canal i/e the energy of individuals to :he general advantage. And we must get straight n our minds the question of what films are worth Baking. You see, we face tasks vastly beyond our capacity ; it will be many years before we can satisfy the need for realist films of every kind. Until then, there isn't time for invidious comparisons: the job is to improve the quality, not •estrict the variety, of the product. CORRESPONDENCE sir : It would be more charitable to presume that Mr Anste> has never seen the earl) ( ferman films he compares Odd Man Out to, than that his critical capacity lacks the necessary understand simple human emotions. Odd Man Out sets out to be a study in pity. I'd sa> it very largely succeeds but even assuming it did not, it would still be a very far cry from the conscious and 'purposeful' Nihilism of the German 1920s. These post 1918 war films were inspired by Kafka's discovery of God's indifference and even enmity to the human race, and the last thing they were concerned with was the portrayal of emotion. They were logical statements of the purposelessness of life as it was then conceived by their German makers. Their heroes were more often than not quite decent human beings (like Kafka's hero in the Trial), who had never done any thing wrong but were 'arrested' all the same. The inevitability of an undeserved curse reminiscent of Oedipus Rex was the theme that the German artists were most fond of. Now Johnny was no Oedipus. He was a wrong 'un. His ideas were wrong, his politics vicious and unpractical, his ethics non-existent except as far (may be) as his organization was concerned. He deserved everything he got. He was an example of a very nasty type of human being whose evil nature found its fullest flower in Nazi Germany. And yet even he was worthy of pity, because he was a human being in adversity. Thus he became the test by which we are judged. We and also the bystanders who in the film came into accidental contact with him. I he argument was not : "Look at this world and see how rotten H is. so let's tear it down.' I he argument was: 'look at this man and pity him, because, like so many of us, he knew not what he did.' Unfortunately Mr Wright's praise is as grotesque as \ir Anstey's comparison, odd Man Oat was an average film. But among so much bad a good average looks far better than it really is. It was only after I had seen The Man Within that f could account for the unsatisfactory patches which mar Odd Meat Out. In The Man II ithin Sydney Box has at last found the secret ol dressing up the "highbrow' in "lowbrow' clothing. I think Carol Reed was aiming at something similar. The adult ideas were to be masked under the star appeal of James Mason and the old favourite cops and robbers theme. An admirable idea but unfortunately here and there Mr Reed could not quite make up his mind on how far the average audience could be trusted and was therefore guilty of playing down to the adolescent minds which would require the flamboyant but irrelevant artist to reassure themselves that it is only a film after all and that this kind of thing couldn't really happen in their own lives. Overpraise is very' dangerous. Look around in your own field, Mr Wright. British Documentaries are supposed to be the best in the world even when they are half an hour too long and talk the audience to sleep. Yours very truly, VV VI II K SI I k v (Continued from page 109, col. 3) films; some of the best scores by Ralph Vaughan Williams have been for such pictures. Lastly, we have to thank the documentarians for the splendid work they do in training composers for the feature film world. Composing for pictures is not easy; it is a specialized, highlytechnical procedure and cannot be acquired overnight. With so many young musicians of today feeling a desire to write for the screen, the outlook would be poor were it not for documentary. In the friendly atmosphere of the small unit, the young composer has a chance to study film procedure in detail. He has a picture of some two or three reels to contend with and is not overwhelmed with the necessity to write 50 minutes of music in about three weeks; the orchestration is not so complex, for the orchestra is smaller: the moods are more clearly defined in factual films than they are in features; all this gives the youthful writer his opportunity to acquire confidence as a picture expert. The feature film has always been the better in this country lor the support given it by a backbone of documentarians. In all branches of production, they have aided in the creation of a living and realistic standard of picture. In the case of music this is equally true. In bringing about a new contact between modern writers and the people, in presenting opportunities for musical experiment and in training newcomers to the industry, the documentary continues to render great service to the feature film makers. ±ubltc Relationship t Urns Ltd JXicli.iid IVLassiiioliam in charge of production 29 WHITEHALL, LONDON, S.W.I ' WHITEHAL1 |<>m>