The Essay Film PROM MONTAIGNE, AFTER MARKER Timothy CorigonIntroduction: OF Film and the Essayistic Wins 1 BEGAN to work on this book in the s9908, the phase ees film was 2 fanly cryptic expression that normally reuired more than litle explanation, ‘Since then, both the phrase and the Slime have become increasingly vse, and although fr many the notin of an eta Sk remains less than self-explanatory, this particular mode of filmmaking hat bacome more and more recognized as not only distinctive hind of making bt alo, would insist, as the most vibrant nd significant kind of Simmaking nthe world today ‘Some versions ofthe esta lm arguably extend back at est to. W. Gelih’s 909A Comer Wheat, sharp social commentary on the commodity wheat ade, or, more convincingly, to the 1920s and SergetBienstln's various cinematic Projets, such this never complete Sm adaptation of Man’ Capital Especially since the 2940s, however, more and more filmmakers from Chris Marker to eter Grenaway have described thei own fsa ess Gi, joining numerous film crits, theoretilans, and scholars who, since Hans Richter and Alexande ‘Astrucin the s940s, have aed the unique critical potentials and powersof this ‘atl form of moder fimmaking. Wheres Richter and Astruc canbe consi red two ofthe eres flmmaker/etics to entity and argue the specie terms ‘ofthe exsy fn, critical attention by rte and makes alike has continually ‘expanded and accelerated: from André Basin’ commentsin the 950s and Godard’s in the 1960s through the work of contemporary scholars such as Nora Alter,4 Ineoduction| Christa Blamlinger, Suzanne Liandrat Guigues, Catherine Lapton, Laura Ras carol, Michael Renov and others In the ast thirty years, essay fms have flowed this growth of attention snd ‘moved decisively rom the margin to the center of film culture, capturing head lines (chal Moore's 2067 Sicko) and Academy Aveards (Erol Moris 2003 Fog of War). Often wit the look fa documentary Steed through more oles per sonal perspective, these sometimes perplexing movies have always been dificult to dassify, sometimes dieu to understand, and often dificult to relate to each other. Many of the challenges they pose and mieunderstandings they provoke, ‘however, can be mitigated or overcome, argue, by locating these lis specially Within the long and varied tradition ofthe sty. Pat ofthe reason fr the lack of attention to these fme—compared to both narrative fiction fms and traditional documentary cinemas the more genera suspicion about the essay itself. Mor often than not, extays have been considered “eccentric "a degenerate, impossible genre, not ery serious and even dangerous” (quoted in Bensmata 96-7: for many fmgners, sty fins have the confusing these films-—compared to both ‘not easays have hee considered ery serious and even dangerous” 12, eaay Sms have te confusing dof combining the “persona” with SUmmaking el cerain respect ‘cor scientific practi, essays are lated with mundane or quotidian ‘pepe onmeentaries,Prestably, suse of their broad and often nd scaived asa merely ‘prosaic acti 1 ofthe essay to respond to and ‘them—commenting on or rt sxance, for inetance—essye have Tacking those traditional forces of teenth century, valorice works of precisely in its ability to question assumptions (frequently enlisted snt-aatheie eats. The diffi other words, the reasons that che :xlon and nonfiction, news report ‘and experimental So, they are, ‘ual perspective, public geogm- sferuth and judgment within the ‘nd enriching lack of formal sigor, kinds of pleasure associated with (Of Fim ond he Braye 5 traditional zesthetc forms like narrative or lyrical poetry; they instead lean toward intellectual reflections that often insist on more conceptual or pragmatic responses, wel outside the borders of conventional pleasure principles, Besides the centrality of esa Sein contemporary im culture, two overatch- ng motifs inform this study the importance of dfeentiating the easy Sn fora other film practices and the saportance of recognising an ovrloked literary her itage in this particule Sim practice. iret and most prominently, I contend that the enya mustbe distinguished from broad model of documentary or exper- mental cinema and must be located ina more refined historical place that does Justice to it distinctive perceptions and interactions. Documentaries, «pecially ‘experimental documentaries, such as Jean Vig’ propos de Nice (4930) or Le Bunues Land witout Bread (ag), are deal important precurors” Ye, despite the many attempts to fold aay films nto chose longer traditions, thet attempts tee fim istry as acontizlty with variations ar imited in thei abllity to fully acknowledge the critical intervention that the easy lm male in the history of ‘nema, Just as important, say Sim must be dings from the multitude ‘of more conventional or difcently innovative contemporary documentaries, reality television, and other meatues ofthe recent fascination with and resurgence of a documentary tration. ‘An abundance of recent abel attempt, for instance, toracover the extay film in categories such as “meta documentaries “eeflexvedocimentarenor personal or subjecive documentaries” None ofthese, however, strikes meas entirely ade ‘uate although Bill Nichols notion of performative documentary suggeetivly intersects with some ofthe central feature of my agumend? With ther under standable emphasis ona doaimentary tradition, there categories tend to exhide alargebosyof say Sins that are wel outside that radon ch as Helle Sande Redupee: The All Round Redaced Personality (978) ot Raoul Russ The Hypothe ss of «Stolen Painting (1979). Along wit the many self prodaimed documentary ‘ssyiats (rom Marker to Orson Wills), many other Slimakers fa fom the documentary tration have comfortably applied the term esa to their more ‘Scconaized fm, including Greenaway, who describes A Zed and Two Noughts (1985) a a kind of asa, “a theoretical observation onthe relation between ‘bumans and animals” and Bay ofan Architect (i) "as an essay on the respons bilty of contemporary architects to history and thelr relation with it” (Gras and (Gas 52-5) While thos other categories and terminologies propery align recent documentaries with the relive tendencies of 20 many diferent kinds of mod: ‘rist cinema, they tend, Ibelleve, to generalize and reduce the strategies and accomplishment ofthe essay Sn and to miss or underestimate its detinctive sidress and achievements6 Introduction ‘his study thus alms to explore more exactly the “essayist in and through Sx, where theessyistic indicate a kind of encounter between the self and the pic domain, an encounter chat measure the Limits and possibilities ofeach az a conceptual activity. Appearing within many diferent artistic and material fomne besides the essay fm, the esaieticacte out performative presentation of olf ‘asa kind of negation in which narativ o experimental strictures are sub- ‘sumed within the process of thinking through a public experience, In this lage seni, the esay film becomes most important i pinpointing apactice that ene- otter assumptions about documentary objectivity, narrative epistemology, and uthril expressivity within the determining context ofthe unstable heterogene fy oftimeand place, With my second motif inking the esay Sm witht literary herltage, argue thatthe esay film focuses ky ues in the hetorically varied and mulidimen sloral relationship between fm and literature. A prominent measure of cull shits in the aesthetic nd industry ofthe cinema for over s00 years, the inter change between the Iterature and film har usually been mapped across the Sneeaction of fil and narrative Scion, dramatic thester, and sometines oeay Investigating the literary heritage ofthe essay that informs ands ean formed by the essay fl not only broadens the field ofthat interchange bt also Jntroduces distinctive questions, prerogatives, opportunites, and strategies in ‘that relationship. Having virtually nothing to do with the usual fdelities snd Sndelitesoftexval adaptation, the literary heritage of the esay fm lm ‘nates, most mportantiy, a unique engagement between the verbal and the vis tal that has emerged from along history of elf articulation in a publi spew? Fron Marke’ self-conscious rapport with Henti Michaux to Derek armas ‘barue linguistics, the lterary tradition ofthe exeay fm thus becomes cradal Pols of departure and often visible gure inthe shape and address ofthe sy St, ‘Te richness, growth nd varity of eta Senin recent decades have made it italy imposible to atempt a comprehensive survey if one isto respect the uchstone for many ofthe fst essay Is description of Marker a“akind of 2" Goud "The Left Bank” 2)£ ting accalerats and broadens consid entries when thepinstotakeamore aelfanda vile wood often urban Inglad isa prime example of where ofthe esay come int high rele a Notably, through the vehi of ew ‘ionsin coffe howe cue and po press in 3796, the notion finda der commercial terms of oda obser cof many wellinown examples, Ad wr and The Spectator a ety 381709, Industralized wan spaces through and Sir Roge Coventry. Thee essays «slfeflacng Tookeron” (Addon 3) ssa club of social types (a country ‘omments and observations entit- ‘avery and bustle of dle ic yphere Gand urban fe) the eight ‘fine the moral and poll vice of + from ST, Coleridge to Matthew ‘ads ite more damaticaly among Coleridge's abundance of exsyatic frompoliies and theology tolterary 27 the pronounced autobiographical ia Litera (819, Somewhat typical Me, the Bigraphi limatly sets sd incompletenese of an exsayisic sion ofthat famous work, reformulation ofthe essyiste— he tay ni preciely not the aly personalized expression of an ‘hgome version of the Romantic or i epee nS RT RO Monti Marker moder eg. While vrtaly every representational and artistic pactice might be tld to dramatize encounters between a self and the world, the dynamic and balance ofthat encounter seem to me to be signifianty differentiated in the ‘ssyistic as a hind of fagmentation that dramatically troubles subjectivity and representation Whereas representational practices such as thos of the novel cr yee poetry, general peaking, recuperate and organize public pce through the Gnishedfamevoria of coherent and determining subjectivity, erye tend wil singly and often aggresivey, to undermine o disperse shat very abject ast ‘becomes rubrumed inthe wold explore. Tit islet an oppositional distinction than a significant distinction in representational aio that in part reets his torial changes (mapped inthe increasing importance and prevalence ofthe essay ‘through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries) and impart rect authori choices and experiments with diferent representational relations (een com monly in a writers choice to move betwsen tradonallyautherised practices, such 8 poetry or novels, and the essayist)” Basa are thus mos indative ofthe form, I believe, when thy act out ofthe subjection ofthat elf within or before a natural space oa withthe essays of (Charles Lamb, Viegnia Woolf, and Roland Barthes, a public waa spac, dspes {ng or tranaforming that elf within that space and, often and more exactly is nb In Wool essay Street Haunting” (527), frinetance london becomes ‘apanoramic of sights, where the eee sportve and generous i cates: itadors se enhances” (ao), and instead ofthe coherency of sving ones as “one thing. ‘only? he self becomes &refection ofthe visual plenitde of a modern odand ro, phil of odor, plate of the photo-esay, a verb or liter shifting subjective perspective and phic images it counterpoint In the photo-estay, as the linkage of | | | | Monten Marker 2 separate photographs whose implied relatlonshp appears inthe implicit gaps or “unsutared interstices between tho images, becomes itself analogous tothe slufting and alestory voice or perspective ofthe terry essay as It attempts, provisionally, to ariclate or interpolate itself within the pubic spaces and experiences represented. In 937, Henry Luce, founder of Life magazine, eu {gests in his “he Camera as Essyi,” jar thi abit of the mage to mimic ‘usurp the verbal subjectivity ofthe trary essay when he describes the photo- ‘esay a prt of ahistorical evolution that links practices from the seventeenth ‘cantiry to Ris and the heyday of the photo-essay inthe 1930s, Here, the com struction of images can tel assimslatethe role and language ofthe esayistic commentator since the camera “i not merely a reporter. It can also be acom- rmentator. It an comment ati ports. It can interpet as it presents. It can plcture the world as a sevententh-century esayst ora twenteth-century co: lmnist would pictre i. A photographer hae his syle as an essayist as his" (quoted in Willumson 26) Whether with an explicit or impli vole or text, the sayistctenslon between a verbal register and a vial order that reits and ‘roubles the verbal thus crests, in W, JT. Mitchells words, "alcic of exchange nd resistance between photography and language” making “posible (and sometimes imposible) to ‘ead the pctures, orto ‘se' the text illustrated in them” (285). Complimenting German writer Christa Wot cnims that “prose should strive to be unflmable" (3), Aleander Kluge would later extend this logic when he remakes the tradition ofthe photo-ssay as the contemporary ‘asay min whic, ike his Blind Director (985), "Language nfm may beblind” (Word and Fl” 238) ‘Agsnat this historical background, the essayetic has Become increasingly the objet of theoreti and plosophical reflections and selfreflectons, searing ‘specially inthe early twentieth century. Well before this point, many east ‘hemaelves reflected onthe practice asa patleuar hind of writing Yet, ding ‘the twentieth century attention to the essay as a unique representational strategy fourishes ara drtinctve aesthetic and philosophical question, perhape 4m antlclpation of Jean-Francois Lyotars provocative claim thatthe essay is the quintessential form of postmodern thought inthe latter haf ofthe twentieth century (6, “Anticipating key dimensions and strategies ofthe essay film, several celebrated position are especialy important for theorising its bertage, te statue as form ‘of knowledge, and its subversion of aethetic unity. Published in 1910, Georg, -Lukacs “On the Nature and Form of the Bssay" one ofthe earest and most celebrated acounts ofthe eaay in terms ofa dilogc idealism that envisions ‘esayintic experience a8 “an event ofthe sul (7). For Lakacs, successful essays= ‘Toward he Beay Fn conceptual reordering of life" (), “inelletual poem” (8) that either adress “fe problems”) or re-create that vitality ata cil engagement that ‘becomes itself a workof art. Even within thi amework, Llc identifies, how- ‘ve, the essyistic experience as an active “questioning” chat sterts the primacy. oa subjective “standpoint (ss) and works to dacove through that questioning. the “idea” of ifesense”(s). In this mobile activity, the essayist becomes “con scious of his own self, must nd himeelf and build something eat of inset”) and so becomes extended through the conceptual revelations of this dialogue ‘with real or aesthetic experince. Pinpolnting what wil be a central dialogc structure in ean lms, Laks ses Plato athe greatest xy who everlved™ (3), and “Socrates isthe typical efor the ery” since Socrates “aways lived i ‘he ultimate questions. to comprehend the natu of longing and to capture t in concepts” (3-24), Al essay are “houghts occasioned by”) and lead to his famously pronounced motto ofa self suspended in the expenence of thinking through the core of life: “he exeay ea judgment, but the esendal, he valie- determining thing about i not the verdict (ithe case wih system) but the Process of judging” (8). Contrasting Lukac' focus on the stay’ Platonic heritage, idcentry discus sons ofthe esay in Germany and Austia evolve aound questions ofthe essays ‘unique epistemological resource. Sigicantly, the ees now begins to dist ‘is itself nota an aesthetic or Meals experience but aa intellectual acti ity and form of knowledge tat resets the lure ofan idealism often perceived aan asstheticexperience, In Robert Musi monumental 93 essaystic novel The Man ‘thou Quaites, the esay regures thought at an experiential engagement with ‘the word: I “explores a thing from many sides without whlly encompassing |t—fora thing wholly encompassed suddenly lots its scope and melts down to concept... an esay i... the unique and unalterable form assumed bys man’s Inner life in a decisive thought. Nothing more foreign toi tha the respons be and hal baked qualty of thought known as sbectvism” (270,279) Ina947, Max Bens refines the argumentin postwar terms that would be especially impor ‘ant tothe multilayered form of lm by noting: "The esyist combiner, te nee produce of configurations around «speia vec. Configuration isa epistemological arrangement which cannot be achieved through axiomatic dedve ‘on, but only through literary ar combinatii,i which imagination replaces strict knowledge (22). Like the configuration of fragments na kleoscope of ‘nematic montage the esa ofere, for Bense cestive rearrangement snd play “of len and image” (423-224), comparable to Benjamin's “constlations” of ‘Knowledge in The Origin of German Tragic Drama, in hich “idea ar to objet aa ‘onsteltions arto stars” 9 Espedlly ase describe th ‘L.W.Adorno's "The Easayae sy anit loke forward 0 guising strength ofthe essay of truth, and “the argonof a cal () strategies ehrough we Fragmentary and “noncatit ‘concept inthe process of nt becomes thinker” who mab (02). Configured a “foree ld entity’ and the emandpatio ‘ously exploring a subjective at of something that is not inte concerned ith what i bind § ‘concepts to pry open the aspe aspect that reveal, dough ¢ sled, that the netoftheleobje polarize the opaque element and appropriately, Adoreas Leterfom Siberia ad Ban's Few fle malate the olay experince mare eloquently « (2004) Almastaperodyofe strc tebaco elds hat dr ‘he romantic aur ofa coe ed homeland defined by enya highly personal» a, entre public ara, alinately requires abardont taba North Carolina Flowing these siting mone tate ts rae bt what seems tke a random, in cousin, Joe McBee, who « who shows Meztwee 1750 1 ary Cooper, Lauren Baal, pattem sa fetionaized ‘land indueril collage whay Fon, Intellectual poems” (8) that either vitality asa cxtical engagercent that framework, Lukacs identi, how uestioning" that asserts the primacy to discover through that quatining. ‘cacy, the ersyist becomes “con bold something out ofhinset" (is) sceptual revelations of this logue ting what will bea central dislogic “the greatest exayet who everlived™ sera since Socrates “shenylived in venature oflongng and to capture it "soceasloned by” (5) and lsd to his inded in the experience of thinking ment, but the escent, the value (ass the case with system) but the ton heritage, midentury discus role around questions ofthe esays sy, the essay now begine to dein ‘perience but as an ntelectl atie- + ofan idealism often perceived an ‘mental gp etaystic novel Te Man san experiential engagement with sides without wholly encompasing "lose ie seope and melts dwn toa nalterable form assumed bys man’s or foreign tit than the epons as subjectivism (270, 279)-In3967, ems that would be especial impor. 1 The eseayist is a combine tire “fic objct. ... Configuration is an 2 achieved through alomatic ded teria in which imagination wplaces sn of fragments ina kalesdoope oF «,aereative rearrangement and play 1 to Benjamin’ "constellations" of ‘main which "ideas ate to oects as f ' Montiqne 2 Marker a specially st desribes the conceptual and formal activities ofthe essayist ‘TW. Adorno's “The Essay as Form offers one ofthe most resonant models ofthe ‘esa a i ook forward to the esay fm. Here, Adorno argues that the distin- ‘ising strength of te essay its abit wo subvert systemic thought, otalities ‘of truth, and “the argon of authentic” () through methodically unmethod cal (a) strategies through which esa’ innermost formal law is heresy" (2). Fragmentary and “noncreative” the esay represents “redprocl Interaction of concept inthe process of intellectual experience” (3), and the essayatic subject, ‘becomes thinker” who “makes himself into an arena for ntllacual experience” (3). Confgured as "force elds (9), essays celebrate “the consciousness of non entity” and the emancipation from the compulsion of identity (2) simultane- ‘ously exploring a subjective activity that relies “nothing canbe interpreted out of something that isnot interpreted into it atthe same time” (4), "The essay is ‘concerned with what Is lind in its objects" according to Adorno. I¢wants "to se ‘concept to pry ope the aspect that cannot be accommodated by concepts, the anpec that reveals, through the contradictions in which concepts become entan ed thatthe net of thei objectivity e merely subjective arangement. It wants polarize the opaque element and release the latent forces init” (2). Coincdentally land appropriately, Adorno’ easy appests the same eat, 198 as Cre Markers Leta frm Siberia aad Bazin's landmark description of tht fm as an essay fl, ew fie modulate dhe play between vie and vitae a a personal and public experience mare eloguantly and plaflly than Roce Metlwer's Bight Leaves (G04). Almas parady of Romanticesay, heim begins witha dream of pre store” eabacz field hat daw McElwee backs childhood homestead where the romantic aura of baci North Carolina country quickly becomes aru ld homeland defined By the ebaco industry. As with many versions of the says, «highly personal and potentially narcsltic ubjet, Mclwad's per- soa, enters the public arena of rate ae ate a jury of i sce that tiately require abandoning and remaking of hat elf within the Mtory of tabaci North Carta. allowing these hing identities, McBhwce and hs fl then mak third move to oat ti strain Between the persona and public na Holywood fim. In what seme ike a random, inden cover, MeElwe encounters acnepile cousin, Jo McBee, who calle fms and related move paraphernalia wo shows McBhoe a 950 Michael Curtis move called Bight Leaf, feeturng Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacal, and Patrica Noa Both McBlvee and coun sus pect the fim a fictionalized documentary about thir rather and is finan ‘sland induct llepe wher hi Bull Durham tobacco formal eas supposedlya Toward the Bey il tol bythe powerful Duk family and cher induct. Searching fo let grand. {ather, te fbr appears as a almae trains esl meltation on sl, fathers an srs, and fares, which he becomes entangled in an odd efecton onthe power and danger of toaca. Through eis of defend seemingly enom ‘maneaversheldtgetherby McBhue'collgul oc, the fim ultmately becomes «ery theoretical commentary on ow lm self nds and binds the diferent motifand her representational stoi. ‘The fim explores identity acs diferent North Carling places and paces, ‘homes and homelands where MeBlwe' personal story has prided, sappeared Spetcaly, he ids himelpoioned between to patriarchs hs grandfather and the grandfather real, John Buchanan Duke, and McElwee stragaes to cacover his place berweon the heritage of tac av gure Homes, and other achtctarl sites are the cura and inetitutional frameworks fr ‘ha herlag, within which MeElvee, awkwardly and comical, attempts to lace himself. He vss the massive Duke mansion, the parking lat where his reer granfather once had ¢ mansion, an then his own mode family home ‘around the coer, which bis rend Charleen describes as "BuckDue'southouse* A istic preservationist shows him former Mc factories that had been _sespiciousy ot are at diferet mes inthe past and hich now trol fur ‘ure Aone point ests lone in he ny, my eedy MeBhove Park wonder ing abut the diferent history —and enly—that woul have been hii family had trumped. [fg 1] Trough the places and histories of i pat sachs, MeBlwee comes asl spatially undone by arial’ empire anda history eine by personal oss, ‘As the xurius closeup ofthat opening dream make cla, the senlity and abundonee oftabaco eaves are the emblem of comple natura and cere worl that suffuss McBbue' fe and history Mast prominent, helm weaves i personal ques for he root ofan ident into a publ commentary onthe Pts and commerce ofthe tabacco industry, part and present. Hee and there ‘hroughout the fim, McElwee sobervaton abou tobacco lactate betwee so logy. poycholgy, scene and pols, withatone that moves from he sail to the craic. Following the wal of tbaco appears at times tobe a documentary expost ofthe dominating family of James Buchanan Duke, whos tobcco empire destroyed hs reat granatacer roa busines bt iroicalyceted ener tural, patolgil traf for generations of McElwee dactrs ha flowed [McElwee vss the Duke University hospital interviews chain emoking tudes ‘ata bectcon schol (va bln that formerly fctoned asa tobacc war ous) and elicits opinions on tbazo fom a small-town parade with an endless ray fnceaigly ele besty quent, gens 3 Undone Meee Pa Less obiou toc ale ‘ionshipa rughout chen mueaneously imple sets ofthe fm for instance, Me, _oking before their mariag: tal manifestation fhe Physcaly destroy them 2B te nature, fly, and comm: lays shadowed by death Ierwven McElwee and his toworkarithhintointerview 1s “on sua pace fora fe Becomes em especially dcurt publeraie can faring the eval tv place of thee the privtized relation. tothe other word oftobczoe (Oly Bie Barth rela terwith eben becomes she. reltonship ith lmmating and frames, he notes, “Someay Pon industry, Searching foraot grand “onal ecrayistic meditation on self comes entangled in aro reflection serie of def and seemingly raion aoe, fim ulmaely Becomes ifbinds end rbinds those dient seNorth Carolina places and pee, onal story hs persisted, fade, stoned Berwcen ba patriarch hie sh Buchanan Duke, and McBee sritage of those two fet. Hanes A and instcational frameworks for early and comically, attempt suai, the parking le whee his then hie own modest fal home Aesrbes a Buck Du outhose.” er McElwee factories that had hee past and which now storeld fr py, weedy McElwee Park wore ‘ythae would have Beene his 2 places and histories of 0 ptr ane by arvale empire and aivary 1g dream mak lea, he sensusy emofacompler naturel end cularal Most prominently, he film wees 1 no pub commentary onthe 9) past and presen. Here and are Bout obec factuats beeen ac tone that moves fromthe satire te sears at tines tbe a documenary shanan Duke, whose tobacco enpre sss but boneally created an apr 1 of McElwee doctors that flowed. teri chal-emoking stunts mer ancioned aso tba nae mallow parade with an endless Menage to Marker * oun 2 Uno Bins ah gh ere) Les obvious, tbaco als bacomes pect bond for commutes and rela nse throughout the fm in away tha suger a comple necdfor others that, silearouely pies a metaphoric and rel os of lf. Through second half of he fm, for instance, Meee recurs regularly oa coupe srugalingt stop _moking before ter marriage and after ht marrage, smoking ein cor imu maifertatin of he relationship bt one hat wl eventually, hey kn, Physical deta ther. In Bright Leaves, adcton rocgeretsi an adiction to natu, family, and comma, drawing the Individual along a path that lay shadowed by death and sper. Bente central lationship in the fim, ‘etoen McEluoe and hie on, intersects wih hs rely when h takes “ison toork wth hin tintervew aworsan being rete for cancer, wich, he amit, is “on aucual place for 2 facer/son outing” fig. 2] Inded the last scene facomes en execilly during and dremati visualization of ow private and publics con jarringly eee coe the eset asthe fil fame revels ‘he usual invisible place of the on operating a sound Bom, «ove visible place where the rvtied releionshipof father and som i Berths sons, ted” tothe cher world of tobacco and death ™ ‘Oily ie Bathe’ relationship with the rk heater, McShees ncour ter with obo becomes about the eduron and destruction tata cout his ‘lationship wich making Tovardtheendfthe fm as heplas wth is ene and frames, enter, "Sometins Ife uch a please fim espcaly downs6 Toward the Bsa il 10088 1.2 Aruna efor father eng rhea) south doe’ mace what Im filming... Benj shocing round « motel canbe an arostnarctic experience... Forme ming i not wide smoking gore" Teconsequenty makes aKnd of exeyiatic ens that McBee pas, sonateadiion early inthe film sto he Holywood move Bright Lea. Jut as ‘is cousin who introduces hr to the fm pureues his neha as the colors pasion 0 frd mute people and documents tat lik fist publ history, Mate pursues links that would make fare fl evidence fi own fr. ty st glory 2 that he Holywood move would become a ‘cinematic he on™ and ‘areal Hme evi" which private if wld reveal public ep Speaking over sequence from the flm in which Cooper falls down the sata of bis burning manson, McEhue describes the fi, with rypcaly muted wt a'r sionof my gre-grandfather’ ise and subsequent fl He cones ina tht ‘he performace of the corn Bright Lea reel “uta ance of th eel lve’ nhs pur ede nonsren gest, Nels hand reaching ‘to Cooper arg ai, that, for McBee, speak of thi affsreen fer ne sureptitouly captured on the sreenas"aceret home move nested insides. weed praduaion” ‘Yet while Bright Leaves seems to ofertheposbilty of toplan sation of ha subjectivity trough he pubic mages of right Lea, ultimately hm esorbes the peas and os ofthe personal inthe publicimages ofa ls Mose intedy the nore profoundly philosophical apinainsof the fim eraafrm into 1 comic say as McElwee (c tuted rough the contge visual rations, euringhie ‘As Charleen explains here For intancs, she suddenly re: ra flesh pans around to fd Charen eur to her mare row aay From his focuson Tike cane versions of Barth ind of melee fe momen wth exponwres, depths offele ceatel without the ute of ep ‘hae about to slip by the bas Paria Neal about Bright Le garbage on «of of a bur rjc and ques fale: Her home movie content residing it he noelit oho wrote thests ‘theory ling hin that thet 1, Maio andi fm Begin aan anexpeced dog races cr HouRn 3 Acton to igsoy Bis (BrigheLaress ven jst shooting arund arate ‘me filing tne unlike smoking “say ene that McBhwe'oa- slywood movie Bright eat. Ju a= rues his epi asthe collec’ 1 hat lnk fms a publ hor fecal evldence of iow ja soul become "cinematic heim” would revel apublicep Speaing sper falls down the ssiraze of hie ith picaly muted wt a “evr ene al" He cones his at reveal eat aspects of thirreal cenesture Neal eft hand eating speaks oftheir off-reen afar now crethomemovieneste inside al ‘he posit of uoplan savaton + of Bright Lea, uimately the fl inthe pubic images ofa fin Most aspirations of he film ransforminy Morcatgne Marer comic esy as Mclae' (and hie introstre) ofte-urgnt ve ari ‘ribd through he antngences of he everyday that continually ine a aul drapeons, caring is dace fcinations into quotidian directions. ‘As Chareen explains hr cldhood memories wil gaaing a the Dake marion, fer insanc, she cule eries ut, "There's aback a in the grass," and theca a flash pans around find the cat and thon uly pane early bik a ‘Charleen recurs toe mor serious memories. Laer, McElwee himself becomes ran way fom his rus on a shat el fming by contingencies ha appear ie come versions of Bartha punctum: "When lok through iti. and imelesoes ts nomentarly achive... st olin around here plying with exposure, dept Fld... dovering] how mary apecil efcecn be Created without the wseof speci effect... mean don eve notice the age rat ‘has aout to lp by he background thre” fg. 23] Able to finaly interview Paria Neal abou Bight Lest he and Neal are darctedly drew to ge of garbage ona rofofeuling neighboring he hotel tthe pln, McBee project and quest falter He reaies hat Neal “an at cept my theory bout ame movie conten reing in Hollywoed production” and when the wid of the novelist who wrote the story, Fester Fez Simmons, completly debris ie theory tinh thatthe story has, most defitivly, nothing to doch ifr McBee ar hse eno brine ell apart "How can hie” eye ‘axon unexpced dog racer ere ht, “aude find mel ari gpd Tigo 5 Mont Sng od he contingent eer righ ae}4 ‘Toward the Esa il by doabes of fi’ cinemati gic... The aa hound ha came out of nowhere harrned he shot.” composing MElwe' tw ovrlapyng efforts find lest heme and recover tha strug the cinema), Bright Leaves might bcnsdeed a efle ‘on onthe cra ind soto film, incu documentary fim, nals theo- retical musing on esayism itself. Hoping lm beoreian Vlad Ptr wil call Bright Leaf “minor asl” McBee i paced ina wheel by Petri, who tell him cha “nly fram nnecezsary thing in are can you expec something special 4] Petre whelshim around ina medium oe up tat mimics mate corerstion wih he fmaker he qucly dftes McBee rendiose expectations by pointing out hat “Ci simply doesn havea cnet vin” or the ably shoo aficion lm becoming adcumentary, kindof home move ‘i ax historical ep. Here Perc poses version of an eset question hind the esa lm hen beaks, "How wil ou nya afar ton fim naa dacumentary™ Laer sting nhs iy Fly park, MeSlwee stretches the que Sin tani the heretical hallnge ofan cman eneunter wth hough If camentary fms capable of "transcending the mere photographic coding of reality. hen what d youd with” In theend, McElwee and hi film mst relinush ie Bnary sense of ident ties and hi coherent rarative of history astro. nthe en, he institutions ofthevordd— from family flm-—mut lve waytothevicistudesof bjt, ‘story, and cinematic representation self. Hi family fades acre od home Hoon 14 Vid Pecan ear ofthe enc right ame movies that farm the backdrop of my maher, but in anaten fathers becoming les and les car... the realy fh ip ie into ha publi oie cx Final cepts, the move Big ‘hesingle ftionl image that ‘probably molded ham nt « sie, @MDute.” ‘Against old home moviee shee MeSlwce his once reserve even his rltonsip separate identi “a if the im rom growing up fast. oes sow anehingdowr."s «small sh from the Beach orld hae mirore MiBbwee's story fig 1. Far essayist sail places where he ial word of the historical press served here... what being icons 29 Been set oxsy Bl ‘Thi smal hound that come ou of lng enorts (find ale home and «tLeaves might be considered afc ing documentary fm, an almost theo Xm eosin Vlad Ptr wil cll placed ina wheelchair by Petri, who "i art can you expect something.