The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary

17 Pages·1.33 MB·English

by  Widler A.

The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary
Author(s): Anthony Vidler
Source: Assemblage, No. 21, (Aug., 1993), pp. 44-59
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171214
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Il
Anthony Vidler
The Explosion of Space:
Architecture and the
Filmic Imaginary
AnthonyV idleris Chairmano f the I am kino-eyeI. am a builderI. havep lacedy ou,w homI 'vec reated
Departmenot f ArtH istorya t the today,i n an extraordinarroyo mw hichd id not existu ntilj ustn ow
Universitoyf CaliforniaL, osA ngeles. whenI alsoc reatedit . In thisr oomt herea ret welvew allss hotb y me
in variousp artso f the worldI. n bringingto gethers hotso f wallsa nd
details,I 'vem anagedto arrangteh emi n an ordert hati s pleasinga nd
to construcwt ithi ntervalcso, rrectlay f, ilm-phrawseh ichis ther oom.
DzigaV ertov1,9 23'
Since the late nineteenth century,f ilm has provideda labora-
tory for the definition of modernismi n theorya nd technique.
As the modernista rt par excellence, it has also serveda s a
point of departuref or the redefinitiono f the other arts,a para-
digm by which the differentp racticeso f theater,p hotography,
literature,a nd paintingm ight be distinguishedf rom each
other. Of all the arts,h owever,i t is architecturet hat has had
the most privilegeda nd difficult relationshipt o film. An obvi-
ous role model for spatiale xperimentation,f ilm has also been
criticizedf or its deleteriouse ffects on the architecturailm age.
At a moment when interest in film has reemergedi n much
avant-gardea rchitecturawl ork,f rom the literale vocationso f
BernardT schumi in his ManhattanT ranscriptsa nd projects
for La Villette to more theoreticalw orko n the relationso f
space to visualr epresentationt, he complex question of film's
architecturarl ole is again on the agenda.A nd the more so,
because in the searchf or ways to representm ovement and
temporals uccessioni n architecture," deconstructivist"d esign-
1. Babette Mangolte, What
Maisie Knew, 1975, film still ers have turned naturallyt o the images forgedb y the first,
constructivist,a vant-garde- images themselves deeply
Assemblag2e1 ? 1993b y the Massachusetts markedb y the impact of the new filmic techniques. In their
Instituteo f Technology new incarnation,s uch constructivista nd expressionisti mages
45
assemblage 21
seem to reframem any earlierq uestions about the proper with filmmakersj ust as they had previouslys ervedt heater
place for images of space and time in architecture:q uestions producers.A4 s the architectR obertM allet-Stevenso bserved
that resonatef or contemporaryc ritiqueso f the "image"a nd in 1925, "it is undeniablet hat the cinema has a markedi nflu-
the "spectacle"in architecturea nd society. ence on modern architecture;in turn, modern architecture
bringsi ts artistics ide to the cinema.... Moderna rchitecture
When, in 1933, Le Corbusierc alled for a film aesthetics that
not only servest he cinematographics et [decor],b ut imprints
embodied the "spirito f truth,"h e was only assertingw hat
its stamp on the staging [mise-en-scene]i,t breakso ut of its
many architectsi n the 1920s (like those more recentlyi n the
frame;a rchitecture' plays.'"A'5n d, of course, for filmmakers
1980s) saw to be the mutuallyi nformativeb ut properlys epa-
originallyt raineda s architects( like SergeiE isenstein),t he
rate realmso f architecturea nd film. While admittingt hat
filmic art offeredt he potential to develop a new architecture
"everythingis Architecture"in its architectonicd imensions
of time and space unfetteredb y the materialc onstraintso f
of proportiona nd order,L e Corbusiern everthelessi nsisted
gravitya nd dailyl ife.
on the specificityo f film, which "fromn ow on is positioning
itself on its own terrain. .. becoming a form of art in and of Out of this intersectiono f the two artsa theoreticala pparatus
itself, a kind of genre, just as painting,s culpture,l iterature, was developedt hat at once held architecturea s the funda-
music, and theater are genres."2I n the presentc ontext, de- mental site of film practice,t he indispensabler eala nd ideal
bates about the natureo f "architecturein film,"" filmic matrixo f the filmic imaginarya, nd, at the same time, posited
architecture,"o r filmic theoryi n architecturatl heorya re film as the modernista rt of space pare xcellence - a vision of
interestingl ess as guiding the writingo f some new Laocoon the fusion of space and time. The potential of film to explore
that would rigidlyr edrawt he boundarieso f the technological this new realm (seen by SigfriedG iedion as the basis of mod-
artst han as establishingt he possibilitieso f interpretationf or ernist architecturaal esthetics) was recognizede arlyo n. Abel
projectst hat increasinglys eem caught in the hallucinatory Gance, writingi n 1912, was alreadyh oping for a new "sixth
realmo f a filmic or screenedi maginarys, omewhere,t hat is, art"t hat would provide" thata dmirables ynthesiso f the
in the problematicr ealmo f hyperspace. movement of space and time."6B ut it was the art historian
Elie Faure,i nfluencedb y FernandL eger,w ho first coined a
term for the cinematic aesthetic that broughtt ogether the
Cineplastics
two dimensions:c ineplastics." The cinema,"h e wrote in
The obvious role of architecturei n the constructiono f sets 1922, "is first of all plastic.I t represents,i n some way,a n
(and the eagerp articipationo f architectst hemselves in this architecturei n movement that should be in constant accord,
enterprise),a nd the equallyo bvious abilityo f film to "con- in dynamicallyp ursuede quilibrium,w ith the setting and the
struct"i ts own architecturei n light and shade, scale and landscapesw ithin which it risesa nd falls."7I n Faure'st erms,
movement, from the outset allowedf or a mutual intersection "plastic"a rt was that which "expressesf orm at rest and in
of these two "spatiala rts."C ertainly,m any modernistf ilm- movement,"a mode common to the arts of sculpture,b as-
makersh ad little doubt of the cinema'sa rchitectonicp roper- relief,d rawing,p ainting,f resco,a nd especiallyd ance, but that
ties. From GeorgesM elies'sc arefuld escriptiono f the proper perhapsa chievedi ts highest expressioni n the cinema.8F or
spatialo rganizationo f the studio in 1907 to Eric Rohmer's "the cinema incorporatest ime to space. Better,t ime, through
reassertiono f film as "the spatiala rt"s ome fortyy earsl ater, this, reallyb ecomes a dimension of space."9B y means of the
the architecturaml etaphor,i f not its materialr eality,w as cinema, Faurec laimed, time becomes a veritablei nstrument
deemed essentialt o the filmic imagination.3E qually,a rchi- of space, "unrollingu nder our eyes its successivev olumes
tects like Hans Poelzig (who, togetherw ith his wife, the ceaselesslyr eturnedt o us in dimensionst hat allow us to grasp
sculptorM arleneP oelzig,s ketcheda nd modeled the sets for their extent in surfacea nd depth."i?T he "hithertou nknown
Paul Wegener'sD er Golem:W ie er in die Welt kamo f 1920) plasticp leasures"t herebyd iscoveredw ould, finally,c reate a
and AndreiA ndrejev( who designed the sets for Robert new kind of architecturasl pace, akin to that imaginarys pace
Weine's Raskolnikoffof1 923) did not hesitate to collaborate "withint he wallso f the brain."
46
Vidler
The notiono f duratione nteringa s a constitutivee lementi nto the enteredt he experiencea s presence:" The frowno f a tower,t he
notiono f space,w e wille asilyi maginea n arto f cineplasticbs los- scowlo f a sinistera lley,t he pridea nd serenityo f a white peak,
somingt hat wouldb e no moret hana n ideala rchitecturea,n d the hypnoticd raughto f a straightr oadv anishingt o point
where the 'cinemimic' will . .. disappear,b ecause only a great artist these exert their influencesa nd expresst heir natures;t heir
couldb uilde dificest hat constitutet hemselvesc, ollapsea, ndr e- essences flow over the scene and blend with the action."'5A n
constitutet hemselvesa gainc easelesslyb y imperceptiblpea ssages
advanceo n the two-dimensionawl orldo f the picture,t he
of tonesa ndm odelingt hat willt hemselvesb e architecturaet every
instant,w ithouto urb einga blet o graspt he thousandthp arto f a "scenica rchitect"o f films such as Caligaric ould, he wrote,
secondi n whicht he transitionta kesp lace." dominate "furniturer, oom,h ouse, street,c ity, landscape,
universe!"T he "fourthd imension"o f time extended space in
Such an art, Faure predicted,w ould propelt he worldi nto a depth:" the plastici s amalgamatedw ith the painted,b ulk and
new stage of civilization,w hose principlef orm of expression formw ith the simulacrao f bulk and form,f alse perspective
would be an architectureb ased on the appearanceo f mobile and violent foreshadowinga re introduced,r eall ight and
industrialc onstructions,s hips, trains,c ars,a nd airplanes, shadowc ombat or reinforcep ainteds hadowa nd light.
together with their stable ports and harbors.C inema would Einstein'si nvasiono f the law of gravityi s made visiblei n the
operate,h e concluded, as a kind of privileged" spirituaol rna- treatmento f wallsa nd supports."'6
ment" to this machine civilization:" the most useful social
play for the development of confidence, harmony,a nd co- Scheffauerp rovideda veritablep henomenologyo f the spaces
hesion in the masses."12 of Caligari.A corridori n an office building,a street at night,
an attic room, a prisonc ell, a white and spectralb ridge,a
marketplace- all are constructedo ut of wallsa t once solid
Spaceso f Horror
and transparentf, issureda nd veiled, camouflageda nd end-
Criticso f the firstg enerationo f Germane xpressionistf ilms lessly disappearingp, resentedi n a forceda nd distortedp er-
had alreadye xperienceds uch a "cineplastic"r evolutioni n spective that pressess pace both backwarda nd forwardf, inally
practice.T he spate of immediate postwarp roductionsi n 1919 overwhelmingt he spectator'so wn space, incorporatingit into
and 1920 (includingP aulW egener'sD er Golem,K arlH einz the vortexo f the whole movie. In his descriptiono f the film's
Martin'sV on Morgensb is Mitternachta, nd, of course,R obert environments,S cheffauera nticipateda ll the later common-
Weine's Das Kabinettd es Dr. Caligari)d emonstratedt hat, in places of expressionistc riticismf rom SiegfriedK racauerto
the wordso f the Germana rt critic and New YorkT imesc orre- Rudolf Kurz.
spondent HermanG . Scheffauer,a new "stereoscopicu ni-
A corridoirn an officeb uildingW: allv eeringo utwardfr omt he
verse"w as in the making.I n a brillianta nalysisp ublisheda t
floor,t raversedb y sharplyd efinedp arallesl trips,e mphasizingth e
the end of 1920, Scheffauerh ailed the end of the "crudep han- perspective and broken violently by pyramidalo penings, streaming
tasmagoria"o f earlierf ilms and the birth of a new space.13 with light, markingt he doors;t he shadowsb etween them vibrat-
Space- hithertoc onsidereda ndt reateda s somethingd eada nd ing as darkc ones of contrast, the furthere nd of the corridor
static,a merei nerts creeno r frame,o ften of no mores ignificance murky,g iving vast distance. In the foregrounda section of wall
thant he paintedb alustrade-backgrouantd th e villagep hotog- violently tilted over the heads of the audience, as it were. The floor
rapher'-s hasb een smitteni nto life, into movementa ndc on- crypticallyp ainted with errantl ines of direction, the floor in front
sciouse xpressionA. fourthd imensionh asb egunt o evolveo ut of of the doors shows cross lines, indicating a going to and fro, in and
this photographicc osmos.14 out. The impression is one of formal coldness, of bureaucratic
regularity,o f semipublic traffic.
Thus film began to extend what Scheffauerc alled "the sixth
sense of man, his feeling for space or room- his Raumgefiihl," Ast asrtrleesest, aa bt nstirgahctt: s Ypaawcen, ianggab inlasctk itn ae sssq iuna trhee, lboapcskidgerdo luanndt-e rne hmupntgy ,
in such a way as to transformr ealityi tself. No longera n inert between lurching walls. Doors and windows constructed or
backgrounda, rchitecturen ow participatedin the verye mo- paintedi n wrenchedp erspectiveD. arks egmentso n the pavement
tions of the film;t he surroundingns o longers urroundedb ut accentuate the diminishing effect. The slinking of a brutal figure
47
assemblage 21
presseda gainstt he wallsa nde vil spotsa nds hadingso n the pave-
mentg ivea sinistere xpressionto the street.A droitd iagonallse ad
andr ivett he eye.
An attic:I t speakso f sordidnessw, anta ndc rime.T he whole
compositiona vividi ntersectiono f coneso f lighta ndd arko, f
roof-liness,h aftso f lighta nd slantingw alls.A projectiono f white
andb lackp atternso n the floor,t he wholeg eometricallfye lt,
cubisticallcyo nceivedT. his attic is out of time, but in space.
The roofc himneyso f anotherw orlda risea nd scowlt hrought he
splinteredw indow-pane.
A room;o r rathera roomt hat has precipitatedit selfi n cavern-like
lines,i n invertedh ollowso f frozenw aves.H eres paceb ecomes
cloistraal nde ncompassetsh e human- a manr eadsa t a desk.A
triangulawr indowg laresa ndp ermitst he livingd aya voicei n this
composition.
A prison-celAl: criminali,r onedt o a hugec haina ttachedt o an
immenset rapezoida'lb all.'T he postureo f the prisonersi ttingo n
2. RobertW eine, Das Kabinett his foldedl egs is almostB uddha-likeH. eres pacet urnsu poni tself,
des Dr. Caligari,1 920, film still enclosesa ndf ocusesa humand estinyA. smallw indowh, ighu p
andc razilyb arredi,s likea n eye.T he walls,s lopingl ikea tent'st o
an invisiblep oint,a reb lazonedw ithb lacka ndw hitew edge-
shapedr aysT. heseb lendw hent hey reacht he floora ndu nitei n a
kindo f hugec ross,i n the centero f whicht he prisonersi ts, scowl-
ing,u nshavenT. he tragedyo f the repressionof the humani n
space- in a trinityo f space,f ate,a ndm an.
A whitea nds pectrabl ridgey awninga ndr ushingo ut of the fore-
groundI: t is an erratici,r regulacra useways,u cha s blindg houls
mighth aveb uilt.I t climbsa nd struggleus pwarda lmosto ut of the
picture.I n the middled istancei t risesi nto a humpa ndr eveals
archess taggerinogv ern othingnessT. he perspectivpe iercesi nto
vacuityT. hisb ridgei s the sceneo f a wildp ursuit....
Severaal spectso f the marketplacoef a smallt own:. .. the town
crieso ut its willt hroughi ts mouth,t his marketplace.17
Caligari,t hen, has produceda n entirelyn ew space, one that
is both all-embracinga nd all-absorbingin depth and move-
ment.'8B ut the filmic medium allowedt he explorationo f
other kinds of space than the totalizingp lasticitym odeled by
Walter R6hrig,W alter Reimann,a nd HermannW arm for
Weine's film. Scheffauera lso identified the "flats pace"o f
Martin'sV on Morgensb is Mittemacht.R athert han artificially
constructedi n the roundl ike Caligari,t he space was sug-
gested by its designer,R obertN eppach, in tones of blacka nd
3. PaulW egener, Der Golem:
Wie er in die Welt kam, 1920, white as "ab ackgroundv, ague, inchoate, nebulous."1A9 bove
film still and aroundt his inactive space that makes the universei nto a
48
Vidler
flat plane there is only "primevadl arkness"a; ll perspectivei s vision itself. He cited expressionism'sr esistancet o perspec-
renderedi n contrastso f white planes againstb lackness.I n tive as the last remnanto f the will to capture" real,t hree-
Reimann's1 920 film fantasyo f Paul Scheerbart'sA lgol, dimensionals pace,"i n particularE, l Lissitzky'sd esire to
Scheffauerf ound a "geometricals pace." In this meditation overcomet he bounds of finite space:
on the space of the stars," the forms are brokenu p expres-
Olderp erspectivies supposedt o have' limiteds pace,m adei t fi-
sionistically,b ut space acts and speaksg eometrically,i n great
nite, closedi t off,'c onceivedo f space' accordintgo Euclidiang e-
vistas, in grandiosea rchitecturacl ulminations.S pace or room
ometrya s rigidt hree-dimensionalitayn,' di t is thesev eryb onds
is divided into formald iapers,p atterns,s quares,s pots, and whicht he most recenta rth as attemptedt o breakE. itheri t has in
circles,o f cube imposed upon cube, of apartmento pening a sensee xplodedt he entires paceb y 'dispersintgh e centero f vi-
into apartment."2F0i nally,S cheffauern oted what he termed sion'( 'Futurism')o,r it has soughtn o longert o represendt epth
"sculptural"o r "solid"s pace, as modeled by the Poelzigs for interval'se xtensivelyb'y meanso f foreshorteningbsu, t ratheri,n
Wegener's Der Golem. accordw itht he most moderni nsightso f psychologyo,n lyt o cre-
ate an illusion' intensivelyb'y playingc olors urfaceso ff against
ProfessoPr oelzigc onceiveso f spacei n plastict erms,i n solid eacho ther,e achd ifferentlyp laced,d ifferentlysh adeda, ndo nlyi n
concretioncs ongealingu ndert he artist'sh andt o expressivae nd this wayf urnishedw ithd ifferents patialv alues( Mondriana ndi n
organicf orms.H e workst, hereforei,n the solidm asseso f the particulaMr alevich''sS uprematism'T).h e author[ ElL issitzky]
sculptora ndn ot witht he planeso f the painterU. nderh is caress- believesh e can suggesta thirds olution:t he conquesto f 'imagi-
ing handsa weirdb ut spontaneouisn ternaal rchitectures,h ell-like, narys pace'b y meanso f mechanicallmy otivatedb odies,w hichb y
cavernouss,o mberh, asb een evolvedi n simple,f lowingl ines, this verym ovementb, y theirr otationo r oscillationp, roducep re-
instinct with the bizarres pirit of the tale .... The gray soul of cise figures( fore xamplea, rotatings tickp roducesa n apparent
medievalP ragueh asb een moldedi nto these eccentrica nde rrant circle,o r in anotherp osition,a n apparenct ylindera, nds o forth).
crypts.... Poelzigs eekst o givea n eeriea ndg rotesques uggestive- In this way,i n the opiniono f El Lissitzkya, rti s elevatedt o the
nesst o the flightso f housesa nds treetst hat aret o furnisht he standpoinot f a non-Euclidiapna n-geometr(yw hereaisn factt he
externals ettingo f this film-playT. he willo f this mastera rchitect spaceo f those 'imaginaryr'o tatingb odiesi s no less 'Euclidian'
animatingfa cadesi nto faces,i nsistst hat theseh ousesa ret o speak thana nyo there mpiricaslp ace.)22
in jargon- andg esticulate!21
Despite Panofsky'ss kepticism,i t was, of course, such a
Pan-Geometries "pan-geometric"sp ace that architectureh oped to construct
througha bstractiona nd technologicallyi nduced movement.
In assimilatingf ilmic space to the theoreticalt ypes of Raum Architectsf rom El Lissitzkyt o BrunoT aut were to experi-
adumbratedi n Germanp hilosophya nd psychologys ince ment with this new pan-geometrya s if it would enable them
Theodor Vischer,a nd in proposingt he relativityo f spatial finally,i n ErnstB loch'sw ords," to depict empiricallya n
forms in the face of continuous optical movement in a imaginarys pace."F or Bloch, the underlyingE uclidiann ature
way reminiscento f the historicalr elativityo f optical forms of all space offeredt he potential for architecturet o approach
demonstratedb y Alois Riegl, Scheffauers eems also to have pan-geometryi n reality.B asingh is argumento n Panofsky's
anticipatedt he more scholarlya ccount of perspectivalh is- essay,h e commended expressionistsf or havingg enerated
tory developedb etween 1923 and 1925 by ErwinP anofsky. rotatinga nd turningb odies that produced" stereometric
Panofsky'se ssay "Perspectivea s SymbolicF orm"s et out to figures. .. which at least have nothing in common with the
show that the variousp erspectives ystems from Roman times perspectivev isuals pace (Sehraum)"o; ut of this procedure
to the presentw ere not simply" incorrect"in stanceso f repre- emerged "ana rchitectureo f the abstract,w hich wants to be
senting reality,b ut rather,w ere endowed with distinct and quasi-meta-cubic."2F3o r Bloch, this potential allowedm od-
symbolicm eaning of their own, as powerfula nd as open to ern architecturet o achieve its own "symbolica llusions,"e ven
readinga s iconographicatl ypes and genres.P anofskye ven if these were founded on the "so-calledu n-Euclidianp an-
took note of the modernistw ill to breakw ith the conventions geometry"c riticizedb y Panofsky.2I4n this illusion,t he archi-
of perspective,s eeing it as yet another stage of perspective tects were encouragedb y the cinematographersth emselves,
49
assemblage 21
who, at least in the 1920s led by Fritz Langa nd F. W. vision so as to intensifye xpression:t hese are two properties
Murnau,a ccepted the practicalr ulingso f the Universum that help make cinematic decor the adequate setting of mod-
Film A.G., or UFA, whose proscriptiona gainste xteriorf ilm- ern beauty."29
ing supportedt he extraordinareyx perimentationi n set
For this, however,f ilm had no need of an artificiallyc on-
design of the Weimar period.
structedd ecor that simulatedt he foreshorteningo f perspec-
tive or the phobic characteristicos f space;t he framingsa nd
Psycho-Spaces movements of the camerai tself would servet o construct
realityf arm ore freely.I n his later 1934 essay "Stylea nd
But the attempt to constructt hese imaginaryn ew worlds
Medium in the Motion Pictures,"P anofskyh imself argued
was, as Panofskyh ad noted, not simply formalistica nd deco-
againsta ny attempt to subject the worldt o "artisticp re-
rative;i ts premisew as from the outset psychologicalb, ased
stylization,a s in the expressionists ettings of The Cabinet
on what Rudolf Kurzd efined as the "simplel aw of psycho-
logicala esthetics that when we feel our way into certain of Dr. Caligari,"a s "no more than an exciting experiment."
"To prestylizer ealityp riort o tacklingi t amounts to dodging
formse xact psychicc orrespondencesa re set up."25H ugo
the problem,"h e concluded:" The problemi s to manipulate
Miinsterbergi,n his 1916 workF ilm:A PsychologicaSl tudy,
and shoot unstylizedr ealityi n such a way that the resulth as
had alreadys et out the terms of the equation, film equals
psychologicalf orm.26F or Miinsterbergf, ilm differedf rom style.-30
dramab y its appealt o the "innerm ovements of the mind."
The Lureo f the Street
To be sure,t he eventsi n the photoplayh appeni n the reals pace
withi ts depth.B utt he spectatorfe elst hat theya ren ot presented In such terms, from the mid-1920s on, criticsi ncreasingly
in the threed imensionso f the outerw orldt, hat theya ref latp ic- denounced what they saw as the purelyd ecorativea nd staged
turesw hicho nlyt he mindm oldsi nto plastict hings.A gaint he
characteristicso f the expressionistf ilm in favoro f a more
eventsa res een in continuousm ovementa; ndy et the pictures
direct confrontationw ith the "real."I f, as Panofskya sserted,
breaku p the movementi nto a rapids uccessiono f instantaneous
impressions....T he photoplayte llsu s the humans toryb y over- "these unique and specific possibilities"o f film could be
comingt he formso f the outerw orldn, amelys, pace,t ime,a nd "defineda s dynamizationo f spacea nd, accordinglys, patiali-
causalitya, ndb y adjustingth e eventst o the formso f the inner zation of time,"t hen it was the lens of the camera,a nd not
worldn, amelya, ttention,m emoryi,m aginationa,n de motion.27 any distorteds et, that inculcateda sense of motion in the
static spectator,a nd thence a mobilizationo f space itself:
Only two yearsl ater, in one of his firstc riticale ssays,L ouis
"Not only bodies move in space,b ut space itself does, ap-
Aragonw as to note this propertyo f the film to focus atten-
proaching,r eceding,t urning,d issolvinga nd recrystallizinga s
tion and reformulatet he reali nto the imaginaryt, he ability
it appearst hrought he controlledl ocomotion and focusingo f
to fuse the physicala nd the mental, later to become a surreal-
the cameraa nd throught he cutting and editing of the vari-
ist obsession. Seeminglya nticipatingt he mental states of
ous shots."3A' nd this led to the inevitablec onclusiont hat
AndreB reton'sN adja or of his own Paysand e Paris,b ut re- the properm edium of the movies was not the idealizationo f
vealed in film, Aragonm editated on the "the door of a bar
reality,a s in the other arts,b ut "physicalr ealitya s such."32
that swingsa nd on the window the capitall etters of unread-
MarcelC arne'sf rustratedq uestion, "When Will the Cinema
able and marvelousw ords,o r the vertiginous,t housand-eyed
Go Down into the Street?"c allingf or an end to artificea nd
facadeo f the thirty-storyh ouse."28T he possibilityo f disclos-
the studio set and a confrontationo f the "real,"a s opposed to
ing the inner "menacingo r enigmatic meanings"o f everyday
the "constructed"P aris,w as only one of a numbero f increas-
objects by simple close-up techniques and cameraa ngles,
inglyc riticaal ttackso n the architecturasel t in the early1 930s.33
light, shade, and space established,f orA ragon,t he poetic
potential of the art:" To endow with a poetic value that Among the most rigorouso f the new realists,S iegfried
which does not yet possessi t, to willfullyr estrictt he field of Kracauerh, imself a formera rchitect,w as consistent in his
50
Vidler
argumentsa gainstt he "decorative"a nd artificiala nd in favor
of the criticalv ision of the real that film allowed.F rom his ................................ . .. .
.^^^^^ M ...llM^
first experienceo f film as a pre-World War I child to his last
theoreticalw orko n film publishedi n 1960, Kracauerf ound
the street to be both site and vehicle for his social criticism.
Recallingt he first film he saw as a boy - entitled, signifi- r^r^r--p
cantly enough, Film as the Discoverero f the Marvelso f Every- rum
day Life - Kracauerr ememberedb eing thrilledb y the sight jAuiAi
of "ano rdinarys uburbans treet, filled with lights and shad- JWp - -
ows which transfiguredit . Severalt rees stood about, and
there was in the foregrounda puddle reflectingi nvisible FW
house facadesa nd a piece of sky.T hen a breeze moved the
shadows,a nd the fatades with the skyb elow began to waver.
The tremblingu pperw orldi n the dirtyp uddle - this image
has neverl eft me."34F or Kracauerf,i lm was first and foremost
a materialr athert han purelyf ormala esthetics that was es-
sentiallys uited to the recordingo f the fleeting, the tempo-
rallyt ransient,t he momentaryi mpression- that is, the
modern- and a qualityt hat made the "street"i n all its
manifestationsa n especiallyf avoreds ubject matter. If the
snapshot stressedt he randoma nd the fortuitous,t hen its
naturald evelopment in the motion-picturec ameraw as "par-
tial to the least permanentc omponents of our environment,"
rendering" the street in the broadests ense of the word"t he
place for chance encountersa nd social observation.3B5 ut for
this to worka s a trulyc riticalm ethod of observationa nd
recording,t he street would firsth ave to be offeredu p as an
"unstagedr eality"w; hat Kracauerc onsideredf ilm's "declared
preferencef or nature in the raw"w as easilyd efeated by artifi-
cialitya nd "staginess,"w hethert he staged "drawingb rought
to life" of Caligario r the more filmic stagingo f montage,
panning,a nd cameram ovement. Lang'sM etropoliso f 1926
was an example of this latter kind of staging,w here "a film of
unsurpassables taginess"w as partiallyr edeemedb y the way in
which crowdsw ere treated "andr enderedt hrougha combi-
nation of long shots and close shots which providee xactlyt he
kind of randomi mpressionsw e would receivew ere we to
witness this spectacle in reality."3Y6 et, for Kracauert,h e
impact of the crowdi mages was obviatedb y the architectural
settings that remainede ntirelys tylizeda nd imaginaryA. 4a-b. Walter Ruttmann,B erlin:
Die Sinfonie einer Groszstadt,
similarc ase was representedb y Walter Ruttmann'sB erlin:
1927, film stills
Die Symphoniee inerG roszstadto f 1927, where in a Vertov-
like manipulationo f shot and montage the directort ried to
51
assemblage 21
capture" simultaneousp henomenaw hich, owing to certain
analogiesa nd contrastsb etween them, form comprehensible
patterns.... He cuts from human legs walkingt he street to
the legs of a cow and juxtaposest he luscious dishes in a de-
luxe restaurantw ith the appallingf ood of the veryp oor."37
Such formalism,h owever,t ended to concentratea ttention
not on things themselvesa nd their meaning,b ut on their
formalc haracteristicsA. s Kracauern oted with respectt o the
capturingo f the city's movement in rhythmics hots, "tempo _ i "
is also a formalc onception if it is not defined with reference :
to the qualitieso f the objects throughw hich it materializes."" 38 -
For Kracauert,h e street, properlyr ecorded,o ffereda virtually
inexhaustibles ubject for the comprehensiono f modernity;i ts -'H
specialc haracteristicsfo steredn ot only the chance and the
random,b ut more importantly,t he necessaryd istance,i f not :
alienation,o f the observerf or whom the camerae ye was a
precises urrogate.I f in the photographso f CharlesM arvilleo r
Eugene Atget we might detect a certainm elancholy,t his was
because the photographicm edium intersectingw ith the
street as subject fostereda kind of self-estrangementa, llow-
ing for a closeri dentificationw ith the objects being observed.
"The dejected individuali s likelyt o lose himself in the inci-
dental configurationso f his environment,a bsorbingt hem
with a disinterestedi ntensityn o longerd eterminedb y his
previousp references.H is is a kind of receptivityw hich re-
sembles that of Proust'sp hotographerc ast in the role of a
stranger."3H9e nce, for Kracauera nd his friendW alter Ben-
jamin,t he close identificationo f the photographerw ith the
flaneur,a nd the potential of flaneriea nd its techniques to
furnishm odels for the modernistf ilmmaker:
The melancholyc haracteirs seen strollinga bouta imlesslya: s he
proceedsh, is changings urroundingtsa kes hapei n the formo f
numerousju xtaposedsh otso f housef acadesn, eonl ights,s tray 5. Eugne Atget, entrancet o
passers-bya,n dt he like.I t is inevitableth at the audiences hould the passaged e la Reunion,
tracet heirs eeminglyu nmotivatedem ergenceto his dejectiona nd Paris1, 908
the alienationin its wake.40
In this respect,w hat Kracauers aw as Eisenstein's" identifi-
cation of life with the street"t ook on new meaning as the
flaneur-photographemr oved to capturet he flow of fleeting
impressionst hat Kracauer'tse acherG eorg Simmel had char-
acterizeda s "snapshotso f reality."" When historyi s made
in the streets,t he streetst end to move onto the screen,"
concluded Kracauer.
52