Moving forward, looking back: the European avant-garde and the invention of film culture, 1919-1939 PDF
Preview Moving forward, looking back: the European avant-garde and the invention of film culture, 1919-1939
* hc Moving Forward 22-05-2007 17:27 Pagina 1 FFIILLMM FFIILLMM The European film avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s continues to fascinate and influence artists, critics, and the public at large to the present day. Moving Forward, M Looking Back. The European Avant-garde and the Inven- O tion of Film Culture, 1919-1939 is the first concise and CCUULLTTUURREE V CCUULLTTUURREE I critical overview of this crucial period in film history. N Arguing that the avant-garde should be understood as G IN TRANSITION IN TRANSITION a transnational network of European scope, this book F O ushers in a new approach to the study of artistic move- R ments. Such ephemeral activities as alternative screening W practice, teaching, publishing, A R film collecting, exhibitions and D film festivals in fact stand at the , L beginning of what came to be O known as film culture ever since. O The book thus argues for the K I lasting and continuing impact N G that the avant-garde has had on the cinema in general, and not B A just on film form and film style. C K MMoovviinngg Malte Hagener is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at M Friedrich-Schiller-Universität A L Jena. He most recently co-edit- T ed Cinephilia. Movies, Love and E FFoorrwwaarrdd,, Memory (Amsterdam University H A Press 2005). G E N E R LLooookkiinngg BBaacckk TTHHEE EEUURROOPPEEAANN AAVVAANNTT--GGAARRDDEE AANNDD TTHHEE IINNVVEENNTTIIOONN OOFF FFIILLMM CCUULLTTUURREE 11991199--11993399 MMAALLTTEE HHAAGGEENNEERR 9 789053 569610 AAmmsstteerrddaamm UUnniivveerrssiittyy PPrreessss AAmmsstteerrddaamm UUnniivveerrssiittyy PPrreessss WWW.AUP.NL MovingForward,LookingBack Moving Forward, Looking Back The European Avant-garde and the Invention of Film Culture, 1919-1939 Malte Hagener Frontcoverillustration:phototakenduringtheshootingofBerlin,dieSinfo- niederGrossstadt,GER,WalterRuttmann.CourtesyoftheDeutsche Kinemathek–MuseumfürFilmundFernsehen Coverdesign:KokKorpershoek,Amsterdam Lay-out:japes,Amsterdam isbn (paperback) isbn (hardcover) nur ©MalteHagener/AmsterdamUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Withoutlimitingtherightsundercopyrightreservedabove, nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrieval system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans(electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise)withoutthewrittenpermissionofboth thecopyrightownerandtheauthorofthebook. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Avant-gardeCultureand Technological Transformations 1 Reframing the Historical Avant-garde – Media, HistoriographyandMethod . TheTemporalFrame:HistoriographyandtheComingof SoundFilm . TheGeographicalFrame:EuropeandtheCitiesof Modernism . TheConceptualFrame:Crisis,ArchaeologyandSystems . TheCorpus:DefiningtheAvant-garde . TheAvant-gardeasAngelofHistory:ThesesontheInterwar FilmAvant-garde 2 The Dialectics ofSelf-Conception –FilmAvant-garde and IndustryAround 1930 . AporiasoftheAvant-garde . MachineAestheticsorSelf-Expression:Constructivismor Expressionism . Self-propagandaorRevolutionaryAgitation:Organising VisualFacts . Conclusion 3 Strategic ConvergenceandFunctional Differentiation – TheFilm Societiesand Ciné-Clubs ofthe 1920s and 30s . Emergence . ScreeningPractice . PeakYears- . InstitutionalisationandFunctionalDifferentiation inthes . Conclusion 4 MappingaTotalityofNetworks, Nodesand Flows– DiscoursesasPractice . PublishingasDiscourseFormation:MagazinesandBooks . Teaching . EventCulture:Exhibitions,Conferences,Festival . TheMythofTotalCinema 6 MovingForward,LookingBack . Conclusion 5 VanishingPointSovietUnion – Soviet Cinema andtheWest between Innovation and Repression . TheAvant-gardeintheSovietContext . TheBirthofMontageCinemafromtheSpiritofRe-editing . ExplodingCategories,TopplingHierarchies . TimeandHistory:TheTemporalFrameworkofthe Avant-garde . BerlinastheGatewaytotheWest . PublicationandTravelling:TranslationsandtheGrandTour . AllegoriesoftheHeavyIndustry:TheBattlewithSound . VanishingPoint:FromImaginaryProjectionstoLiteral Purges . Conclusion 6 Melodies Across the Oceans– The Intersection of DocumentaryandAvant-garde . MelodiederWeltandDrifters:ModelsforWhat? . OntheThreshold:AnInventionofaTradition . TheIndex,theNarrative,theFragmentandthePersuasionof theMasses . AuthenticityandModernity:ThePoliticsofDependency . ExoticAdventuresandSocialEngineering . LocatingtheAvant-gardeinits(National)Context . Conclusion Conclusion – Bridging the Gaps,Connecting the Dots Notes Bibliography Filmography Index of Names Index ofFilmTitles IndexofSubjects Acknowledgements Abookisalwaysalongandwindingendeavourtowhichmanypeoplecontri- bute, a lot of them in ways not intended and often even unconsciously. So this list invariably contains names of people who never meant to participate in the creationofthisbookandwhomightevenbesurprisedtofindtheirnameshere. Ofcourse,mistakes,omissionsandfaultsarecompletelymyown.Meanwhile,I am more than happy topointout the support ofa number of friends,acquain- tancesandcolleagues. Thebasicframework,organisationally,intellectuallyandfinanciallyhasbeen provided by the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the project »Cinema/Media Europe«,whichgavemetheopportunitytoresearchandwritethisbook,somy firstbowhastogotothosewhomadeitpossibletoparticipateinthisproject.I have shared many hours and thoughts with my colleagues Marijke de Valck, FlorisPaalmanandWardRenneninclassesandlibraries,butalsoinouroffices, firstintheVendelstraatandlaterintheTurfdraagsterpad.However,thisproject wasallthemoreextraordinarybecausemanyothermembersfromallcornersof Europemadeourmeetingsandactivitiessorewardingandstimulating.Thanks alsotoMelisBehlil,YesimBurul,TarjaLaine,GerwinvanderPol,andElefther- iaThanouliwhocontributedtoourcommoneffortofrethinkingEuropeancin- ema. However, the largest debt I owe is to Drehli Robnik. He showed up one day at the Ph.D. seminar and has become, along with Gabu Heindl, a good friendeversince. AnumberofcolleaguesandfriendsinAmsterdamhavebeenhelpfulinvar- ious ways,eitherlistening tomyhalf-bakedideasover dinner,sharingfilmex- periences, taking the time to read earlier drafts of chapters, or just helping out when it was most necessary: Ivo Blom, Karel Dibbets, Charles Forceville, Julia Nordergraaf,MartinaRoepke,WimStaat,WandaStrauven,ArnthvanTuinen, andReimervanTuinen.AspartoftheAmsterdamSchoolofCulturalAnalysis, IwasluckytobesupportedbyEloeKingmaandHentdeVries.Thefirstscho- larstoseriouslyinvolvethemselvesintheideasraisedinthisbookwereonmy Ph.D.committeeandsothankstoJeroenBoomgaard,IanChristie,VinzenzHe- diger,JanSimons,andFrankvanVree. A number of invitations allowed me to develop and test out ideas that have helpedtoshapethisbook.ThefirstcrucialpresentationwasgivenatNewYork University in February where Elena Gorfinkel and Charles Leary orga- nised what turned out to be the first in a series of get-togethers focused on the 8 MovingForward,LookingBack ideaofCinephilia.AttheconferenceImetFedericoWindhausen,afellowspirit oftheavant-garde,whileBillSimonguidedmetosomereferencesthatIwould not have been aware of otherwise. In New York, Steven Aldridge and Suzy Beemer provided not only food and shelter, but also stimulating talks and friendship. The series of conferences continued in in Amsterdam and in in London where Jenna Pei-Suin Ng and David Forgacs rose to the occa- sion.Atallthreeconferences,agroupofyoungscholarscombinedtwovirtues: a congenial and friendly atmosphere and excellent scholarship. Thanks to the organisersandeverybodypresentontheseoccasions. Since , I have been a regular at the Gradisca Spring School in the Friaul regionofItaly,aninitiativethatisfocussedonthecomingofsoundtoEuropean cinema. Leonardo Quaresima and his team have established an extraordinary event in a small town between Venice, Istria and the Alps, which unites aca- demic rigour, an impeccable organisation with Italian style, good food and a stimulatingatmosphere.Inthisextraordinaryatmosphere,Ihavemetmanyex- ceptionalscholarswhohelpedmeinvariousways,amongthemmentionhasto go to Nataša Ďurovičová, Charles O’Brien, Francesco Pitassio, Davide Pozzi and Laura Vichi as well as the amazing staff of the Magis Spring School. In Gradisca, I also first met Petr Szczepanik who became a friend when he joined meinThuringiawheretheshortdistancebetweenJenaandWeimarallowedus toseeeachothermoreoftenthanwewouldhaveotherwisebeenabletoonour trajectoriesbetweenAmsterdam,Berlin,Brno,Pragueandotherplaces. Other occasions and invitations also helped me to shape my thoughts and words: Jan Distelmeyer and Erika Wottrich organised a conference on Tobis in in Hamburg, which was overseen by Hans-Michael Bock who, years be- fore, had been instrumental in my first serious contact with film history. In Coimbra,PauloGranja–withwhomIsharemanyinterests–hostedacongress on the European film club movement where Christel Henry contributed valu- able information, while Patricia Pascoal and Pedro Teixeira offered lodging along the way. In Jena, where I am currently based, I was lucky to be able to present part of my research and received reactions from Michael Barchet and KarlSierek,whichhavefoundtheirwayintothiswork. Tim Bergfelder not only gave valuable advice at a crucial point, he was also oneofthefirstwhoencouragedmetoseriouslyventureintofilmstudieswhenI wasasanundergraduateinNorwich.AndrewHigson,anotherNorwichregu- lar,helpedmetotrackdownJamieSextonwhoseworkontheBritishfilmsocie- tiesisamodelofthoroughandmeticulousscholarship.MichaelWedelandJo- hann N. Schmidt were much more than partners on an editing project that offered stimulating ideas and texts along the way. Milena Gregor helped with access to Esfir Shub’s films, while Martin Barnier, Francesco Bono and Sofia Rossholmsharedtheirideasonthecomingofsound. Acknowledgements 9 Anumberoffriendswerenotinvolveddirectlywiththecreationofthiswork, yet their support nevertheless was instrumental in my efforts. Christiane Kühl and Chris Kondek saved the day by providing English versions of Benjamin textsduringaperiodwhentimewasespeciallyshort,whileUlrikeKassunund Peter Crisp often providedwelcomedigressions away frommy work.Vinzenz HedigerandAlexandraSchneiderareesteemedcolleaguesandgoodfriendsof equalmeasure.InHamburg,RonaldHoffmann,DavidKleingers,andKurtRe- hkopf;inBonn,TasjaFrenzelandCarstenSchinko;andinDresden,JürgenMül- ler deserve honourable mention. Robin Curtis, Jeanpaul Goergen, Irmbert Schenk,ThomasTode,andWilliamUricchioalsogavesupportalongtheway. Finally, I have to thank two people to whom I am indebted in many more ways than I can ever express here. Thomas Elsaesser not only gave me the op- portunity to work in the Cinema/Media Europe project and supervised the work on which this book is based, he is also a model of scholarship and en- gaged teaching. Without his intellectual rigour and sharp intelligence, without his film-historical knowledge and keen interest, this project in its present form wouldhavebeenunthinkable.MarjanParvandsavedmemorethanoncewhen Iwas stuck; her criticismis as sharp as her support is undivided,her energy is asconstantasherloveisinspiring.ItistoherthatIdedicatethisbook. MalteHagener Jena,March
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