Film Culture (November 1957)

FILM CULTURE THE MOTION PICTURE AND TV MONTHLY VOLUME III, NO. 4 (14) NOVEMBER 1957 Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Editors George N. Fenin Edouard Laurot Adolfas Mekas Gilbert Seldes Jonas Mekas Television Editor Associate Editors Eugene Archer Louis Brigante Ronald Cowan Arlene Croce Andrew Sarris Layout George Maciunas Foreign Correspondents Guido Aristarco, Italy Francis Bolen, Belgium J. Broz, Czechoslovakia Jose Clemente, Spain Lotte H. Eisner, France Eugenio Hintz, Uruguay E. Patalas, W. Germany Tony Richardson, England Subscription rates (domestic. and foreign): One year $5, two years $9. Single current ‘copy 50c, back issues 75c each. All letters, subscriptions and manuscripts. should: be: addressed to FILM CULTURE, 215 ‘West 98th Street, New York 25, N. Y. Copyright, 1957 by FILM CULTURE. Printed in the U. S. A. Publisher’s Printing Representative: Harry Gantt, 360 Cabrini Blvd., New York 40, N. Y. CO 5-7451. The opinions expressed by the contributors do not necessarily represent those of the editors. Distributor. for retail sale: Bernhard de Boer, 102..Beverly Road, Bloomfield, N. J. West Coast advertising representative: Robert Pike, 1700 N.. Lima St., Burbank, Cal. Application for Second Class mail privileges is pending in New York. OUR COVER: A still from The Very Eye of Night, the new film by Maya Deren. Although Maya Deren has been responsible more than any other single film-maker for the post-war burst of experimentalfilms in America, she stands alone in that movement as a representative of clasicism, reason and intellect — as opposed to the “‘emotionalists’? who comprise the main body of American experimental film-makers. The Very Eye of Night is a metaphysical poem, a discourse on the Universe and Man as manifested by the relationships and movements of the dancers:‘and by those of the camera. These relationships and movements are choreographed into one celestial ballet of night, as the opposite or apposite of day. The entire film is in the negative. With an original score by Teiji Ito (Dstributed by Maya Deren, 35 Morton Street, New York 14, Nw Y.) 4 CONTENTS Television , p. 4: Television: Art or Craft? Motion Pictures p. 5.: Yugoslav Film Gilbert Seldes Branko. Vucicevic p. 6 : A Man. Escaped Andrew Sarris p. 9 : A-Letter from the East Coast Lewis. Jacobs p. 9: °A Letter from the West Coast Robert Pike p. 10: ‘The Mechanics of Love Ben Moore p. Il: Creative Film Awards p. 12: On the Nature and Function of The Experimental (Poetic) Film. A symposium: Gideon Bachmann, Amos ~ Vogel, Parker Tyler, Lewis Jacobs, lan Hugo. p. 17: The Last Bridge Barry Sussman p. 17: The Sun:Also Rises Peter Walsh p. 18: Love inthe Afternoon G.N. Fenin p. 19: ‘Coffee, Brandy and Cigars H. G. Weinberg p. 20: A,Film Society in the Country Elodie Osborn p. 21: Books Gordon Hendricks A large part of this issue concerns the so-called “experimental film.” This unfortunate term denotes such independently made films which could be properly called either “poetic” or “cineplastic.” They all deal, primarily, with the subjective statement of the artist, poetic symbols and visual patterns, and only secondarily with the narrative story. These films take a place in cinema analogous to that of poetry in literature. One reason for this survey is to remind once more our art theaters and our magazine and newspaper film writers that the dramatic-story film is far from being the whole cinema. Audiences should be permitted to see all genres of film. As it is now, by being perpetually exposed to only one kind of film, the public has lost (or had it ever acquired) a true sense of cinema. No wonder, then, that the more cinematic or more poetic films, when tried at our art theaters, fail to wake the viewers’ sensibilities. Another reason for focusing this issue on poetic and cineplastic films is our desire to help revitalize the dormant “experimental film movement” in this country. The need for such a revival is indicated in a recent manifesto issued by the Experimental Cinema Group of the University of Colorado: “Ten years ago a flame appeared in New York filmmaking which has died: into a bilious accumulation of smoke. The last decade’s experimentalists perpetuate their frantic senilities. The present generation is mousey in film and in literature (several outstanding exceptions). The early burst of activity here caused Europe to believe in the ‘American experimental film movement.’ They still think it is a going thing.” However, there are signs that it may again become a going thing. There is a new ground swell of activity starting on both coasts. We only wish there were more enthusiasm, more collaboration, more serious discussion. The Independent Filmmakers Association and the Crea tive Film Society could be of some positive assistance here. On our part, we invite the experimental filmmakers to discuss, openly and passionately, their problems and their cause in the pages of FILM CULTURE. The third point of our survey is to call attention to the formal emphasis of experimental film-makers. Considered superficially, this emphasis may seem a betrayal or neglect of content; looking deeper, we find it to be just the opposite. More than two hundred features were released this year by American commercial producers, many of these films tackling important subjects — but all of them were artistic failures. It was through neglect of the formal aspects of cinema that the often wellintended content of these films was betrayed. _ For this reason, we greet the new film-poets’ regard for cinematic form. Whereas the experiments of our commercial producers (such as new screen sizes and pay television) are guided by an immoral impulse to extract more money, it is good that at least some independent film-makers, however few they are, are trying to explore the true possibilities of the cinema, so that their individual statements can be effective not only as truth, but also as art. Jonas Mekas