Film as a Subversive Art
Be uncomfortable;
Be sand, not oil in
The machinery of the
World
(Günter Eich)
Be sand, not oil in
The machinery of the
World
(Günter Eich)
Amos Vogel published Film as a Subversive Art in 1974: his mini-essays on over 600 movies.
The jacket shows an image from a movie (W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism) by Dušan Makavejev: one of the most fit examples of creators of subversive art.
Should a film be subversive? As the Italian saying goes, se non è vero è ben trovato (which sometimes changes to se non è vero allora è ben inventato): if it's not true, it's a good story. Well, it's always true for indie movies; for experimental movies; for art movies. Because once you are not in the industry, you must say something: it means something new, making a difference, your difference. Such movies must shake taboos, attack comfortable beliefs: an independent creator must scandalize. Such movies must be sand, not oil.
And for the people the breed of Amos Vogel only such movies exist: politically subversive, sexually subversive, culturally subversive, or all of these together.
Paul Cronin made in 2003 a one hour documentary about Amos Vogel; the title, Film as a Subversive Art: Amos Vogel and Cinema 16.
Paul Cronin is also a movie passionate, author of books and documentary films exploring this universe.
This movie about Amos Vogel is perfect: the director leaves the room totally for the personage, not imposing any constraint, not framing in any way. The camera just follows the old guy, giving him total freedom. It is a one hour long filmed profile of the great promoter of the subversive movie: Amos Vogel talking very casually about his life, about the history of Cinema 16, about his aesthetic convictions. The result is a wonderful portrait of a fascinating personage.
Marcia Vogel and Jack Goelman are also there in the movie. Which is natural: the wife and the friend, they worked together with Amos all those years to create and maintain the miracle that has been Cinema 16.
I enormously enjoyed to find in the movie a couple of images from Meshes of the Afternoon of Maya Deren and Alexander Hamid. If I were to keep only ten movies on a deserted island, Meshes of the Afternoon would be one of them.
----
Follow several sequences from the movie. Just enjoy!
(Jack Goelman)
Labels: Jack Goelman
posted by Pierre Radulescu at
2:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home