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THE ACTUAL
(c) The Cine-surrealist Film
This type of film is as yet represented by a few isolated examples only, though there are traces of surrealism in some Soviet films that have been seen, such as the opening sequences of Barnet's comedy The House in Trubnaya Square and portions of Dovjenko's Zvenigora. The appeal of the surrealist film is necessarily limited and production is due entirely to private resources. I believe, however, that there is something to be learnt from its manner of treatment, which can be applied on a wider scale in fiction films. Although the essential character of Louis Bunuel's Le Chien Andalou prevented it from being shown except to a restricted audience, there was much astonishing matter to be gleaned from it. Realising the primary aim of the surrealist movement to be the expression of dreams and thought tangents of an imaginative person provoked by material surroundings and placed on paper or canvas, it is natural that the film lends itself to an expression which demands 'imaginative velocity and moral nonchalance, unlimited risibility, and a sensitivity to the fantasy of the commonplace.' Bunuel's film, whilst containing some unpleasant material, was one of the most dynamic I have seen. It had an intensity of expression unknown in most examples of cinema, an intensity gained from the material and not from technical assembling. There was a fluid continuity that was amazing in its swift transference of thought, and mention should be made of the extraordinary gestures of Pierre BatchefT.
Germaine Dulac's brilliant La Coquille et le Clergyman was also surrealistic in tendency, being a series of expressions of states of mind strung together with a beautifully defined thread of continuity. At moments it rose to great heights of dramatic intensity, due to the cleverly chosen angles, whilst the photography throughout was of the best quality. It was to be taken as an extreme instance of the domination of ideas over the irrelevance of situations. Neither of these films has been generally shown in England; but that of Dulac was presented to the Film Society on 16th March 1930.
(d) The Fantasy Film
The possibilities of the film in the realm of fantasy are unlimited and are to be found hidden away in practically every side of general production. The especially fantastic nature of the cinema at once
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