Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form, ed. and trans. Jay Leyda (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 149) FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS EVEN THAT old veteran Herscius observed that 90 man. an bathe twice in the same river. Siny no exthetic can Flourish om one andthe sme set of principles a wo diferent stages in is development. Especially when the particulate thetic concemned happens t flats to the mast mobile of the fn and when the dvsion between the epocts isthe sees: Son of wo Five Year periods in the mightiest and most notable job of coneructon in the world-the job of bulding the ist Social ate and society in history, From which ie obvious thot our subject is here the eede of fm, and in pariclar the ete Of fil in the Soviet land, Dating the lat few years a great upheaval has taken place inthe Sove cinema This ophewa i fsand foremost eae lei ad ers. he pacientes ing of the silent cinema was etained under dl uve slogan of mas, she “mashetd” and metiods of cine- ‘agile poral deal dese heer rjeng iy, ih “ype” and epaodi protgonins ix place of in val Reroce and the consequent meviable principle of image a the uiing-poncle of Bm epeisvens: Bot ring the last few years—the fist years, chat i, of the Soviet sound-einema-the guiding principles have changed. ‘Brom the former all-ervading mass imagery of movement and experiences of the masses, there begin at this sage to sind ‘out individual hero-characters. Their appearance is accom- i cin those works where they ap- quality and is characteristic giant ‘Scale begin to contract into constructions closer to dramaturgy in the narrow sense of the word, to a dramaturgy, in fact, of FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS ny ‘nore taional amp and mach close othe foreign cinema than those films that once declared war to the death agaiat is very principles and methods The bese ns of the est recent period (Chapaye for example) have none the les ses ceded in partially preserving the epeal gua of he Be Petiod of Sovie nem, development, with ler and hap Birr rvs, Bot the majority of file have amos competiy Toc compre of inc nd fom, hh de. termined in ts day the specie and charcteue galty of fice of the Soviet cinema; a qulty not dared trom the seve dane & bor 0 fecton of te road 2d neverchertfore-siing lod ofthe Sores i sag, sing Meas and serggien © "* "To many i seme tht the proprsive development of the Soviet cincna has topped. They perk of reverent, Te i of cour wrong. And on important ctcomsancew under cai he eve prof hed slew Savi fia, who tow gee bewldredly es there appens Soviet fim sfter film which nso many respects i fortaliy slr to the foreign cinema I in many Cae there minded be eserved the duling of that Tonal brillance to which he foreign fens of our fms bad become acuomed, hs the come {hence of the fact that our cinematography, fn peese Sage, entirely aborted in another ape of iavesdgntion td deepening. A measure of srpensin Inthe further develop. tent ofthe form and means Of Bl, expresivenes fas op pared ar an invisble consequence ofthe diversion of ine Seton in tater des» vn rc td baring: ino the dizeton of despening and broalening the thematic and eclogiel Tarmulian of quesions and SO Tem within the content ofthe fm, Ie ino scien ht preciely at this period for He Bist te in our ciacmatoge Epi, there begin to appar the fst finshed images of pee tonalite, not jut of any. personales bur of the fast bers Sonali: the leading gues of leading Commons and Bol. Shevk, Jat as from the evlationary ovement of the meas merged the tle evolutionary pur, at of the Ble,14 ILM FORM ‘whch head the unconscious elements of revolution and Fads Ton voward orsclus revolutionary si so the fn inages SF angen of ur mes begin og dhe present pcod ees ot ofthe generlsevolicontry nas-qualty of She Car eyp of fn, Ad the cliy of the Communist slo Be ie oe Stately, replacing the general revelry Span "EE sovee cinema is now pasing through a new phae-a plate of yee more dustin olhevaidon, phe of yet more Prem Llclogieal and excnnl miten sarpes. A. pase PES logs nal nd ich in felang possible forthe cnee a os notable ofa. “Th new tndeney iso rupee Dota logical stage of growth, Towed in the very core ofthe preceding sage Thus Bre os pertaps the mes devoted paran of the mas onc aT ule ican, one whose ne fas lays bee eked he aacinem_ihe autor of thse Lins subject to fredly ths sxe proces in Ks penainate En-Old ond es where Marfa Lapa appear aeny an exceptions individual protagonist ofthe ation “The wash, however, to muke this new sage suficemy symthede To cite tae Ts mate towards new conquests SFE ieyie epts noe oly dct oot ase the pefecon Of the secre sendy stained, bt advances then eve ewan owed new end yr sncdzed qualities and means GF eaprenion To rs form once sore othe level of ealog- teal conene Bang engaged atthe moment on the practical solution of chee ble in the mew fn Resin Meat only js B= tun sald hie to stout here series of cursory obeere- Sons onthe question ofthe problem of form in general othe prblen af forms equally wih the problem of content act pre ae ering peel of te in Sect of pepe The Une which fallow mst serve 0 SRE he dnccon to which ths problem i moving and the Bete to which the new tend of thought inthis spre Fe ILA FORM! NEW PROBLEMS ns closely linked in evolution to the extreme discoveries on this pth made during the peak period of our silent cinema, fet us stare atthe ast points reached by the theoretical re- searches ofthe stage of Soviet cinema above referred to (1924- 1939). clear and.undoubted that the me plus nitra of those paths vas the theory of the “intellectual cinema’ “This theory de Before te the Tsk Of “restoring emotional fallnes to the intellectual process” This theory engrossed itself follows, in tanamuting to sreen form the abstract concep, the course and hale of concepts and ideas—withoot intermediary. Without recourse to story, ot invented plo, in fact dircty-by means of the image-composed cements 3s filmed. ‘This theory was a broad, peshaps even 2 coo broad, roenlicion of 15 Of poate oF Cpresion paced” theory of lees cinema represen “Fi the redctio ad paradox of that hyperaophy of the Trontage concepe with which film esthetics were permeated hing the emergence of Soviet slene cinematography as & ‘whole and my own work in particular. ‘Realing the “exablishment of the abstracted concep” a 2 Jramework forthe possible product ofthe intellect cinema, tsthe base foundation of i fm canvases; and acknowledging that the movement forward of the Soviet cinema is now fol Towing other sims, namely, che demonstration of such concep- tual postulates by agency of concrete actions and living pet- fons as we have hoted above le us ace what can and mist be the further fate ofthe Hens expresed at that ime. is it then necesry eo jttion all ee colosal theoretical and creative materi inthe armel of which was bora the Conception ofthe intellects! cinema? Has ie proved only @ Carlow and exciting pardon 4 fata morgond of wncealzed Compositional posbitier Or has i parsdosicaliy” proved Te not in is esence, but in the sphere of its application, ‘expe ta TWA new nige AS HEW APPUSTON,16 rt FoR the poles then expres have played and may ill con i ee pay itive part im the tf i sine io ply s gM pOsOMe pa 6 she Genet ein and_undestnding sid maseting of te myseries of We 7 reader, doubtless has already guessed that this is pre cGsely how we incline to consider the sition, and all that follows will serve to demonstrate, perhaps only in broad out~ Tine, exacly. what we understand by i, and use now as a ‘working basis and which, as a working hypothesis in questions Of the culture of film form and composition, is fortified more tnd more into a complete logical conception of everyday practice. 1 should like to begin with the following consideration: Ie ib exceedingly curious that ceran theories and poins of view which ina given historical epoch represent an expression of scientific knowledge, in a succeeding epoch decline as Science, but continue £0 exist a5 possble and admissible not in the line of science but inthe line of art and imagery. If we take mythology, we find tha a a given stage mythol- ogy & nothing else than # complex of current knowledge bout phenomena, chiefly related in imagery and poetic lan- guage. All these mythological figures, which at the bese we ow regard as the materials of allegory, at some stage repre= Sented an image-compilation of Knowiedge of the cosmos. Later, science moved on from imagery narratives to concepts, and the store of former persoiied-mythologial nature symbols concinued to survive 2s a series of pictorial images, series of literary, lytical and other metaphors. Ac last they become exhausted even in this capacity and vanish into the archives. Consider even contemporary poetry, and compare ‘ith the poetry of the eighteenth century. "Another example: take such a postulate as the aprioicy of, the idea, spoken of by Hegel in relation to the creation of the world, Ata certain stage cis was the summic of philo- Sophical knowledge. Later, the summit was overthrown, Marx urns this postulate head over heels in the question of the Understanding of real aceuality. However, if we consider out ‘Works ofa we do in fact have a condition tht almost looks Tike the Hegelan- Form, because the iea-sttion author, Ks subjection to prejudice by the en ist determine EW PROBLEMS a7 ‘mst fllnes Ir of our understood thatthe arts’ idea itself is in no. way spontaneous or self-engendered, but is a socially reflected mirrorimage, a reflection of social realty. Bat from the moment of formation within him of the views point and ide, the idea appears as determining all the acroal nd material structure of his creation, the whole “works” of his creation. ‘Suppose we take another field, Lavater’s “Physiognomy.” “This in its day was regarded as an objective scientific system, Bue physiognomy is now no science. Lavacer was already laughed at by Hegel, though Goethe, for example, sil col- Iaborated with Lavater, if anonymously. (To Goethe most be asigoed the authorship of, for example, a physiognomical study devoted to the head of Brutus) We do not attribute to physiognomy any objective scientific value whatsoever, but the moment we Fequte, in course of the allsided represent tion of character denoting some type, the external characteri- zation of a countenance, we immediatly star using faces in texactly the same way a5 Lavater did, We do so because in such a cae ie is important to us to crete first and foremost an im presion, the subjective impression of an observer, not che ‘bjective co-ordination of sign and essence actully composing ‘character. In other words, the viewpoint that Lavater thought ‘sciemifie is being “exhausted” by us in the arts, where i i needed in the line of imagery. ‘What isthe purpose of examining allthis? Analogous sitar tions occur sometimes among the methods of the arts, and Sometimes ie occurs that the characteristics which represent Togie in the mater of construction of form are mistaken for18 FILM. FORM clement of content, Lagi ofthis kind i a8 2 method, 26 trans of contruction fllypermsble, but becomes & guar i ths same method, tis logie of constrain, i eguded sialtaneouy a an elusive conte Yo wl perce avy whither the mate tending, but It cele one mare ample, rom lest. The question fee ow to one of them poplar of al beray fea {he deretive sory ‘Wine the detec ony seen of which socal forma sin snd tendencies the expen, hs we al ow. On {hs sbject Genk reer spoke sfconly at che Congres of Waiter: Bo of ner the ogi of sie ofthe cary terades of the gente the sours from which dees the Irma that hastgone towards creation ofthe idea veel of the detective star frm in ebdyng certain pecs of boo Fe ape ice the dene novel conn among is fore une iding ito reach fl loom a he begining of the Tinseeth cary, James Feinore Cooperate novelst of the North America Indians From the ieslogial point of Mew, is type of sovel exakig the Ueda the clones Tellus cate te Se cuminr = the sing on of ena pel om fens ofp as oper sealgy To tr ee ae, Tug, ogene ‘Ele lo produced good del inthis Iteray-composiuon trode froh which ler was elaborated the rule detective te TRecouncng in cei Hers and dares he inspiration snags which guided them in their ory constroctions of fight td che (LE Mabe, Vain, Le Ju evan) they all frre hue the prety thie aac them was the dark Tore aclgroond of James Feinore Ooope, and tha they fad wished wo uampln hs dark fret andthe ston within Fe trom the vgn backwoods of America to the bysinth of the aleye nd Eyways of Pai The aculaton of ues de fies fom the methods of the "Pathfinders" whom Cooper prayed in hs wor FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS ng “Ts the image “ark forex” and the tecnigue of the “paninger” tron Coopers works serve he ret novels ste Bana and ogo sort of ital meapor for het Tnergoe of Sees tnd odenure coms within the turd of Pus They conse so to Toran ta gene thew eloical cadens wich ay atthe bas of the de- teewee ove Thos red a whole independent peo Sory contruction But prael wih ths se of the "here Cooper we se yet ue sore he eye of lice os plevacen’ Then ie have indeed posers and nighcmre Pai Fea! fas recht ore which ein So thi Seu in ar and a cee occurs Wher thes Inds sap 4 etn ina eb! T te ths trample inorder o rerun once more othe int recs cnea. The specie quity ofthe ela ‘ee produined to OF romero the Bim ‘The Send of ough and the poverent of though were epee os the heustive bas of verihag ht ean in the fl tay trbtinne for the sot. Along the neextntne te Pbcemen of content doer nat ply Ha And in sequel Fertps tothe redlnon of ty te elec ic fas Pedy grown s new conepion af «there Kins the ed ie ny a wie “er mandogve? Tie theory ofthe inner monologue warmed to some extent the ascetic abstraction ofthe flow of concep, by tanpos- jog the problem into the more sory-ah line of ponnying the here's emocons. During the dicusions on the sobject of the inner monologue there was made none the les « ay reseevation 0 the effect dt this nner monologue could be teed eo constr thing and no only for picrring an inner monologue" Just « ny hook hanging there in parentheses, tht on t hung the crux ofthe whole affie. These parentheses aust be opened immediatly. And herein is the principal ‘mater with which T wish to dsl "See “A. Coane in Trecmene.” pags 106130 FILM FORM Veh ine ct er ph pt tf ec ga ep ee ee BEET ne ngs coms whch cee inl gh Sn ea rc fom he thane sted spelen i Wars owe dency mn msg Pec heca nce rad tare prt i Sh el one ae ee Cae A is ed ed SPE ohio oe mo sere ale a te oa Sri Mhsed ca eee in fa it st es anne eps ng fon a sage mages ry Jig ed ies cot wit aah Sek ae a ete ‘Spang ope oe oe chat ie cunts ee Chore ech he pT clon he rl pb PR Loe soles ce at pat itloaitie soy wwe rae Sno frm ytd if Hh av mp nt ok fing th apo Sale ii Be pc ponsin of im er to ping el i ape SS ale ered bth cay tipo fa riya eh Te wR a ee Soe tl i Enmal chao forest acc do'oo parce oo ‘Ulo pce SS es pe me mere en EESee eS aS coi covae LM FoaN: NEW PROBLEMS Br point is that the forms of sensual, pre-logical thinking, which ‘are preserved in the shape of inner speech among the peoples ‘who have reached an adequate level of rocial and cultural development, atthe same time also represent in mankind at the awn of cultural development norms of conduct in general, ive, the lnws according to which flow the process of sensal thought are equivalent for them to a “habit logic of the fa- ture. In accordance with these laws they construct norms of behavior, ceremonial, customs, speech, expressions, etc, and, if we tum to the immeasurable treasury of folklore, of out. lived and sell living norms and forms of behavior preserved by societies sil atthe dawn of thet developmen! we. Bad that, what for them has been or stl ia norm of behavior and custom-wisdom, tums out to beat the same time precisely ‘what we employ as “arstic methods" and “technique of embodiment” in our art-works. I have no space to discuss in etal the question of the eatly forms of thoughe proces. I have no opportunity here to picture for you is bate specific characteristic, which ate a reflection ofthe exact form of the ‘atl socal organization of the communal structures. This i no time to pursue the manner in which, from these general pos- tulate, are worked out the separate characteristic marks and forms ofthe construction of representations. Iwill lime myself to quoting two or three instances exemplifying this principle, that one Or other given moment in the practice of form-crea tion i at the same time a moment of custom-practice from the stage of development at which representations aze sill con- structed in accordance with the laws of sensual thinking. T emphasize here, however, that such construction is noe of ‘course in any sense exclusive. On the contrary, from the very caliest period there obmains simultaneously 4 fow of practical and logical experiences, deriving from practical labor proc- ‘ses; a How that gradually increases on the basis of them, dis- carding these earlier forms of thinking and embracing gradu ally all the spheres not only of labor, but abo of other intel— lectual activites, abandoning che earlier forms to the sphere of sensual manifestations.138 ILM FORM ‘Consider, for example, that most popular of artistic methods, the socaled pare pro toto, The power of its effectiveness i= Ienown to everyone. The pince-ner of the surgeon in Potemin are firmly embedded in the memory of aayone who saw the film. ‘The method consisted in substituting the whole (the surgeon) by a pare (the pince-nez), which played his riley tnd, it so happened, played ie much’ more sensual-intensvely than i could have been played even by the reappearance of the surgeon, eso happens thee thi method isthe most typical trample of a thinking form from the arsenal of early thought process, At that sage we were stl without the unity of the whole and the part ar we now understand it, At tha stage fof non-differentated thinking the partis at one end the same ‘ine abo the whole, There is no unity of part and whole, but instead obtains an objective idemtty in representation of whole and part. ei immaterial whether it be part or whole—it plays invanably the réle of aggregate and whole. This takes place rot only in the simplest practical felds and actions, but im- ‘mediately appears a8 soon as you emerge from the limits of the simplest “objective” practice. Thus, for example, if you receive an omament made of « eats tooth it signfis thatthe ‘whole bear has been given to you, or, what in these conditions signifies the same thing,® the strength of the bear as « whole. In the conditions of modem practice such a proceeding would be absurd, No one, having received a button off a suit, would imagine himself to be dresed in the complete suit. Bat as soon leven as we move over into the sphere in which sensual and image constructions play the decisive role, into the sphere of artistic constructions, the same pars pro toto begins immedi ately to play a tremendous part for us as wel. The pince-nez, taking the place of a whole surgeon, not only completely Gils his role and place, bur does so with a huge sensual-emotional increase in the intensity of the impression, to an extent con- fiderably greater than could have been obtained by the re- Appearance of the surgeon-character himself. A diferente concep of “arengt oui the cones specific seat SS cag oily doe te oa sre ag FILM FoRM: EW PROBLEMS 3 ‘As you perceive, forthe purposes of sensual artic im preion, we hare sed ar «compostional method one of hore Tews of eatly thinking whic, at appropriate tages, appear at then ad pace of try ‘evn, We me of a construction of a sensal thinking type, and aa Teh instead of 2 "logiconformaive” effet, we rece fom the constrcon actly an eins seal effect. We do not register the face tha the sungeon has drowned, we emotionally Ta the fae hgh ee compos proenaton Tes imporeane to note here that what we have analyzed in respect tothe we of the close-up n our example ofthe sre fei pince-ey is noes method charscterie solely of the Sinema alone and speci to. Te equally has a methodological Dlce and i employed in for ample, reine. “Per pro {oto” inthe field of terry forms is what is known vous under the tem syneedoce, Lets inded recall the definition ofthe ewo kinds of synee- locke. ‘The fist ind: this Kind consis in that one reeves it presention of the part instead of tbe whole, This in sum haba series of sore: 1. Singular nstead of plu. ("The Son of Albion reaching for freedom” instead of “The sons of, ete.”) 2 Collective instead of composition of the clan. (*Merico cosaved by Spain” inead of The Mericas erslaed”) Pare instead of whole. (“Under che master's eye") 4; Deine ined of indie (Add nes weve said. ") 5 Species instead of gens “The second series of synecdaches consis in the tbo i stead of the port. Buta you peeve, both sis an all thle sever subvsions ae subject to one andthe exe basi con- dison, Which condition is the ienity of the pare and the whole and hence the “equivalence,” the egal signicance in replacing ne by the other [No les striking examples of the same occur in psitngsos ua FoR snd drovings, where two color spot and owing curve give MComplee senna! replacement of the whole objee. Shar of imeret here i north se fly bu dhe face, atari contred by the it. Nara hat wea dang here Sor wih specie method pelt hit or hat ares, Te int sad foremote with a spetie coune and condition OF embodied hnking-with sens hinking or which agen Stroce i 1 ln In thi speci synewochi we of the “oe up i be colorapr and curva, we have bt patil sce of the operation of tis of ars pro ta, charnc- erate of sensu thinking, dependent upon swhatver a= trediom in which ic happes to be funcoing for is purpose of erbodinent of the base create sche. Aroha empl, We are well ware cheery embodinent inn be sit are sccord withthe ary station being nbodied We know that ths cones cole, sting > Companying muse, Hg, calor. We know that this accord onder na only the detente ade by naartic conviction, ioe ao, and peraps to agrester dep, the demands of ss ‘ing the enon expres, If sara’ scene “eoonds™ Sardine then all denen of ts embodiment rust sound ibe me ey. There isan ursupased clase example of ths im King Lear, whose loner tempest echoes che tempest Gh the moot, raging round him onthe stage. We en ab find lamps o's sees construction for papas of contra: «Sy tara maximum aging of pasion sto be resolved by 2n ‘Mendon sai and ible oalty. Here, to alleles he emboadmene would be sized wih jx 0 sce a sue hal tnd second wih the theme, ough in this exe Wi Sppete indiatons, a8 wel ch s"demand: as spreads over into the shot and he tmnag hse mens mat wie omposonaly ho ad ‘aponvothe tase compositional hey forthe weatment thence work and of ech seme in ie* The coniersble sill achieved in tie eld by oor sent, cinema {el peospkly Hom the omen of sien 0 sound flm-for ev ten ee moe f oa oa ls ILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS Bs Ie appears tht this cement, sfinly recognized and nivel in arcane found on’ ceain level of development in snl Inve and oblipony ter of behavior ne Fire i an example from Pelysin pratce-spracce chat ie preserved in eto today with Mle change When ay Felynctan wonnn in confinement, there ks peremptory rule chat all gts inthe element man be openey al doors thrown ope, tat everyone Gacding ment at wel) ito remnve shy ses, spots esdbands tha all Gos ae tobe uid, and 3 forty ea i all creunans, ll on. comiaae dal mm be araoged in character excl cor sponding to the base theme of what occuring: Cery- thing mist be oped, untied, so give maximum exe fo he tppentnce in the woid ofthe ew chi Tee te now turn to another mala. Let us tke 2 ce where eho maria of the formeventon sre oat tobe the rest himself This ako confine the truth of oor thes Even morn shine the trcrre of the ned compo: Son ony err were pe of th ee tore of the lave along which ow sens thought processes In ths intane the ckcumezanee il, here eed with he thjecesbject of cresion, m+ wile duplicates « pictre cf the pychi state and represetadon corponing 0 the tary forms of thought Lett ok once more at ew exanpes ‘Al lavescgotors and travelers re inva somewhat a ‘Shed atone characters of eal for of though gue omprebene tos human being acistomed ro thik in the taregri of current log, Tis the charstericnvoving the Conception thats min being, wile being hin and con- Sow of Rial 8 such, yersimulaneotly considers himself fo be so spe eer peso or thing an farther, to be 0, jot dently and tb concrete, material. Tn che spe ‘zed lterarre on hs subject tet the partially pope la example of oe ofthe Laan tribes of Norther Brat “The lntans of this trbe~the Booro~esinala at, while human beings, they ar none the les atthe sare tie absoo ee 13 nef ed penne Br Ne by spe hd oo pe com a baton ee caer Cen yn Sy ee eee eee se : ee ears cece go ere ie certs poe wf ec icrood ee ee ca oo sage mh a nn eo a ee era at i a ne iain Oe ene cee ins tmtec a Car ee eg Ce ee ce ter a se nlite pes Sen ee cme te i een pe i te pinches tare nt re el ae et mee hy Se ee Se at er, ee ee cere ere aaa ca eee eps ae A ton He bers of te med Boyan 1 read of a profesor who celebrated neither his childrens birh- days nor thete name-days. He made an anniversary of the day FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 37 fon which 2 child ceased to speak of himself in the third person: “Lyalys want go walk” and saids "want go walk" The sme kind of anniversy forthe actor is thar day’ and even minute of that day on which he cases to spec of the image as "he" and says "2" Where indeed this new “I” isnot the personal I” of the fetor or actress but the "I" of his or er images «= * Neo le real ae dion In te memos of 4 wile eis of ecb of the behavior uv te momar of oy sn mtenp or he core, By Sample sage” operation of Chapt setae Ta sready nee pe ta aeady Tesla’ "eum begin tobe hand ian way of athe mo es eal sniancus acrnty ithe plying othe es bound to be pet the crv proses of ere ley the mot ee mp pore af comple “tasesubmarion” ‘Thee rin Eb fe ess Enown inthe Hor af he eae of hac Teng om the orth mente] wa" Tee cence that's sdalyfcraiog da appre hemion of mage scion bath ry af thee fal 4 aly of ropteceon ete ae wth the rout. Here tum Doreceprebewion united daly, ofthe one hd perveing te pecatortrom kilog the ln a that be Rem the ler w noes rey, hi on th er gig Tmt ocean for ugher or tary in athe forges the feb winentng «repeenaton, «piy-stng Lec u note Side example Ta Be Poleyeblole Wi hel Wand guts coat exly Speech comtueos, (We tre oat contfed bere wih Wonses own ews bt ely ‘rts prope dened documenaryspcinen ced Hin) ‘The mening: eee “The Bran ws a ft recived Ln by the white man In cet he Oo brag thd ey ten hi pan alec te Beinn te ne an sy where pon Ge whe nan cat sie Bats, ened ie aout.eee eee 38 Lat FORM “This simple concept. (describing 2 station imple end east Tie mcr apron exposed ne ngage tthe Bashan in this 2 Snahuantherego, hee-runsosvtite man, white man-give‘o- aan ein Seaole, gochaco pouch, white magne a Reman gece nant-pgrhome; go FP fin, gocaoen matsp wan, ie mange Bay da ain, Bushan-g-ru-rvay-White a eo sher Boban, Botton, 8 tecedsthesp, Dshmanalhgone”"* ‘We are azonished by thi long series of descriptive single TSS mom an ayoactc series But spose we tke it ire Heads co pray inaction on the stage or sereen those Bee ne othe stun impli in the inal concept, we Site to our surprise that we have begun to construct some- sa iy clove co tha which hasbeen given a an example cf Bahan conmrcton. And Gs someting jo 2 57 cer bar mpplied only with... » a sequence of wumbers Bent out to be something familie co every one of wa shoot verge an inerment to transpose a fact, abstracted in ¢ ing sip, pose 2 fa creep bask mo a cin of cote gl ons, WH Seo Feppens to be the proces of ansating stage directions Se ere Ran away. irom himn]"in Bushman language ‘Ro qppeas as an ohodor eng description fortwo shot “Dokbencgoranaway-vhite man” and “white nanan: afterBusharan™she enbryo for che montage of en American “edie sequence.” “The ara “received Kindly” is enpresed by most valuable concrete tens, by meas of which the representation of @ ny reception takes shape: lighting of pipes a ied to- TE pouch, cooked mest, etc. Again we have an example £0 thow How, the mamene we have co ps rom informatie to teal exprasivenes, we inevitably pass over to tractor {Sus corresponding to semua thinking, which plays che domi- fant sole iy representations characteristic of early devlop- FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 139 In tis coonecion thre another ining example 1 otra he eape f cereopmen ie ot 1 a eta ad weeoaed “pa cnc Ly ee ae aN inuge como concep of BE scopy nba ttt of te fo och ek sa tng Rad waking, Wasting, Coed eer pape he seeps ane a et i nomcer genio or team Ts a gear onl we ae cll upon ee ee eat rac of apprecing sep one SP a aa adal comet cep ae one iulng” leon wee Aa he SS ee aep acento a nl acolo eae catnip ret ce ose ox apne eb for Be ee ope eo meee Se and een ng sca neat can been by compcg ce ee 3 cer mma Bese et Sn ee seecion the pou nye nny wet an yaks frm of where Cae tf ey br ir eaepnton sane ty ty te sane Ha of ve. rd see tou a al tac nvolved in sch transposon peers meee einer ge evire 3 te ME iceman ed et then Pe ernest rom The wa worn a ee pcedog the nsec of te 08 "spec nt ot eg Se are int pica sedi eos eae talve reoontrecton ofan erly of Tate Without SESDaT ype oct ulin poebae140 FILM FORM ‘woman there appears a verbal form of an indefinite kind. And Jee thereby, the phrase at once assumes no longer the conver- “Stonal character of everyday life, bur one connected in some ‘way with poetie-compesitional representation. “This Kind of effece has been pointed out by Herbert Spencers He recognizes such a transposition as more artic. However, he gives no explanation of it. At best he refers only to the “economy of the mental energies and sensibilities” of the second type of construction, Which in itself most certainly requires a better explanation. ‘Meanvrile the seer les hidden precisely in that fact which awe persist in pointing to. The cause of it resides, once again, in the fact that tis transposition corresponds to thought ‘process of earlier times, A characterization ofthis proces: may be found in Engels: ‘When we consider and reflect upon nasite at lange, oF the his tory of mankind, or our own inlletual asvity, a fist we see the pierre of an endless entanglement of relations and reactions, ‘erhotdons and combiatons, in which nothing remsins what, Piero and asf wa, but eveything moves, changes, comes ino eing and pases away, We see therefore, at fist the piture 38 a ‘Tho, with lediidaal pats ll more or les kept in the backs iground, we observe the meverients, transitions, connections rather ‘fam the tings that move, combine, and are connected Te follows that 4 word-order in which the term describing movement of action (the verb) precedes the person or thing moving of acting (the nova) corresponds more nearly to that Foun of conseruetion that more primal. This is true moreover ‘ouside the limits of our ovn language—Russian—s of course ft should be inasmach as ici linked, primarily, with the spe- cif seructure of thinking. In German Die Ginse flogen (the geese flew) sounds dry and informative, whereas even merely Eich a eur of speech as Es flogen dic Ginre already conesins fn element of verse or balladry. “The indications of Engels and the characteristics of the phenomena just described, as phenomena of approach and re- ILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 4 crn forms character fo ear levels can be wel ls {ened wih cues in which we Ourves ae feed by graphic thd ace pictures of poychierepresion. Fr expe soch evomena of regresion can be observed fn cen brain Epeatons Tn the Moscow Neuro Soriel Cline specializing Fpmin srgeryeT have bad the opporrniy of winesing the most iteresing exe of thi sore’ One ofthe pain imme Stely afer the operation, in proporon tos prychi regres Sin showed his era! dlnison of sn objec gg gradually Id early through the phases ovine sboves in ts nance Sheets prcviouly ome! were then ienifed by the specie seas tktcning av act performed stb te aid ofthe object Tn te coun of my expstionT have repeatedly had occ i tna ie of he pe “ety fo of Booger SS" and wo tsate my reflections hy repression inages Coreen with peoples sl athe dsr of clare Te has already Become a ricenal practice with ux t0 be on our goad i I intnoes involving these fel of investigation. And not Svithoue ron These fds ae chorooghly eoneinsted by Tregy Kind of represeatatve of Prce theory" oF even Ie onceaed apeloges forthe colonial policy of imperialism. would oot be bn, therefor, to emphasize sharply thatthe Consieratons here expresed follow a sharply diferent line. ‘Unaly the consrcton of so-called exly thought process ss weed a form of hiking Bred in ioelf once end for 1, chrcteric ofthe s-ale "pimive™ peoples, rcially Inspec fom the and no suscepe vo a toiexon ‘witooevets In this gis ie serves at siete apologia for the thos of enlement o whch sich peopl ae be jeeed by white colonizers imsmoch a by inference, Sch Peoples ae “afterall hopeless for clare and clr rece Proiy. Th many ways eren the odebrated Léry-Brol isnot exempt ftom ths conepon although be doer not pare such 0 fim conto Along thine we ite july stack him, Since we low that for of thinking ae reflection in cone Seloumes ofthe social formations through which, tthe given142 FILM FORM bcos momen ho at commun clei fp Ing. But in many ways to, the opponents of Lévy FE inc the opposite exreme, ying carefully to avoid the ipecicy of os independent inaidalty of aly thought ‘Bm: Among dase, for intanc, ie Over Leroy, who, 00 the bass of aelyzing-out sigh depre of logic in the pro- tlctive and cecal inventiveness ofthe so-called" priitie™ le, completely denies any diference between their 57 Fem thovghe proces and the postures of our geoerall cepted logic, This jms ar core, and cones bee eth ian eqal mesiure of denial ofthe dependence of @ given sytem of thought from the specifies ofthe prodoction Feladons and social premies from which it drives. “The baste error, fn adn to thi rooted in both camps in that they appreciate ineficiendly the quality of gradation Subsing between the apparently incompate systems. of thooght proces, and completly disregard the qualitative na- ture ofthe tration from one f0 the other. Isuicient regard for this very creumstance frequently sare even us whencrer CTocusion centers round the oesion of easly thoughtproe- {ies Thi the more azange in tha Inthe Engels work cted there are actully thre whole pages comprising an exhaustive tamination of al the three sages of construction of thinking Cfecugh which mankind pases in declopment. From the ey Aitse-complex, pare of the femarks about which we quoted Shove, trough he formal ogi age hat negates ie Andy st ins, tothe decal sbsorbing “in photographic degree” the two preceding, Soc a dynamic pereeprionof phenomena does ot ofcourse cx for the postii approach of Léry-Bruh ‘Bat of principal incre in all thi mater he fact that not only does the proces of developmen fel noe proceed ina sraight ine (as lke any developmene proces), but tat marches by coninal shift backwards and forward nde- pendently of whether ic be progrenively (the movement of Ecko peoples towards the higher achievement of cute Under a scar regime), oF retogresively (the regres of ‘Spite spersractures under the hee of nationale), FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 143 ‘This continual sliding from level to level, forwards and back wards, now to the higher forms of an intellectual order, now +o the earlier forms of sensual thinking, occurs also at each pine once reached and temporarily stable as a phase in devel= opment. Not only the content of thinking, but even is con struction itself are deeply qualitatively differen for the human being of any given, socially determined type of thinking, cording to whatever state he may be in. The margin between the types is mobile and ie soffices 2 not even extrordinanly sharp affective impulse to cause an extremely, it may be, Jogi- cally deliberate person suddenly to react in obedience to the never dormant inner armory of sensual thinking snd the norme of behavior deriving thence. ‘When a girl to whom you have been unfaithful, tears your photo into fragments “in anger,” thus destroying the “wicked Betrayer,” for a moment she re-entes the magical operation ‘of destroying a man by the destruction of his image (based ‘om the early identification of image and object).* By her mo- ‘mentary regresion the giel recurns herself, in a temporary aberration, to that stage of development i which such an action appeared fully pormal and productive of real conse- quences. Relatively not so very long ago, on the verge of an epoch thac already knew minds such’ as Leonardo. and Galileo, so brilliant a politician as Catherine de! Medici, sided by her court magician, wished ill to her foes by sticking pins into their miniaeure wax images, Tn addition to this we know also not just momentary, but (temporarily!) irrevocable manifestations of precisely’ this same paychological rerogresion, when a whole social system is in regres. Then the phenomenon is termed reaction, and the mos brilliant light on the question i thrown by the flames “ven to the preset day Menicans in se of the emoser regions of the cowney, Benes of dra ‘ut from their temples he fase of the parcaar Chae foe that as ken te love of the Ferme god responsible for rats ata, on the edge of the Ride, hip i hac thereby they case pao BehPo rea rou of the oa ace edo ks and pois fw Stamens te gre o et Sexier ante sly of is ht inking com ation occ win acl potoniy cect The ey af sng oe sp of hg anther, ram eet eur and moles mcr erence setunibg proper a dene ps and ogee Re Mel oon ft eerie we egy Sah craney tod rv tir 8 sy tet oe a exer mpenton th ive non of te scope take te elite of te rline retain ta thereon be shed y Se sara i ih coe pe eee ine of Sakae fecal dro oro ope Sage “Theater in or ce ha diet eton othe tons sn one of wel king wich spp sponta fat of Senter of lr Codi a te iyge SSS pret i he eens f for and compan fe or dc nes of ssa ng, awe hve ted Senonst sn ste seve er enig te eat of in phones 1 ary fund mel! cnet qpson whch In eh the ee, oT ha at ng ee at teat rogaine of pyc tov the fos of eter thowphpocsey by + pieonenan Bente wih ty eve foe of rg, abo shaman ‘igi ce! he snwerto the spe std arent Be "Tela of works of at atk won a mot esos “duly” ie actrees of oo bt pon the cr tts espns ns al proves a pe tus presi sn he es ofthe ge expe nope ef ction and Sonos penn by mens of thet fe fon int te bye of prea eal FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 145 thinking. ‘The polar separation of these two lines of flow creates that remarkable tension of unity of form and content characteristic of tue art-works. Apare from this there are no true artworks. Tn this remarkable fact and aterbute concerning a work of art lis its infinite distinction in principle from all adjacent, similar, analogous, and “reminiscent” areas, where phenomena attached to “early forms of thoughe” also have 4 place. In an inseparable unizy of these clements-of sensual thinking with an explicly conscious striving and soaingart i unigae and inimitable in those fields where 2 comparative deciphering i= ‘depended upon for correlative analysis. That is why, with this busc thesis in mind, we need not be afraid of an analytical deciphering of the most basic laws of sensual thinking, by firmly keeping in mind the necesity for unity and harmony in both elements, which produce a fully worthy work oaly in this unity. By allowing one or the other element to predominate the artwork remains unfolfled. A drive towards the thematic. logical side renders the work dry, logical, didactic. Bue over- stress on the side of the sensual forms of thinking with in- sufficient accoune taken of thematiclogical tendency-this ‘quay fatal for the work: the work becomes condemned £0 sensual chaos, elementaness, raving. Only in the “dually ‘nited” interpenetration of these tendencies resides the true tenson-laden Unity of form and conten. Herein resides the root principle difference berween the highest artistic ereative active fry of man and, in contradstinction therefrom, all other fields ‘wherein also occur sensal thinking or is earlier forms (in- fantilism, schizophrenia, religious ecstasy, hypooss, et.). ‘And if we are now on the verge of considerable successes in the feld of comprehension of the universe in the first line (to which the latest film productions bear witness), then, from the viewpoine of the technigue of our craftsmanship, it stands necestry for us in every way to delve more deeply now also into the questions of the second component. These, however fleeting, notes that Ihave been able to vet forth here serve this146 ima FORM. 2 pe ys iy a ay Bg sa er iy a Bec a ee oe py oy fa seri ea Ee a en ee de eo ee af cone femora ey se ee ice ee ae Bic ee er ae ol ty sag ag i op seer lo Ee ree a er et pee Fe ea ge a ge fd ong pie In eo neo sole Teer iee ey Ne a ie de Te eran ewe Oe ee ee Tong en ao eae ey ye ee ree eoeer see et ee eee St Petene ea ia eee ee cea sk of on fe om Th gu, ees om mee nel a a ea eel By mene ys mei: of eo Sa ae erage aca veal at sche pic ok BS oye a FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 147 {have sought hereto show the devon in which Tam now werkang on these problems snd think ei she rg oud invention If we now lok bck the ilectacnema, We sale that the ilcetchema did one service Tpke of fe served abnindin when id clin Shnostve vlan exter comte "Tis thay flint the ere ing ws ave no onicy of form and content, but a cinldensl dey of them, Dectse in unity completed to fallow ently how an atectve enbodinet fo lea bul vt when thse tgs Become "elseoped" ino "one thor oat dicoured the sr of mer ining thet io of common of Form and composion. Now we cao we the he this cov. {Geb ey tr slong tele of rece conten.” In slong the ln of completly manifold cosrvron, bth from sry and image vewpeney ance we aexdy Know Some “secret” and fondametal lw of cosrvton of form td afecive srvrae general. om what ave clase long the Une ofthe ps nd along ts ines on whic Tam nv wotking, one more qulia- tre iference appar: Te tin tn when in oor vou “school we procained tie pranountimporance of montage, or ofthe ital Cina oof docuentn of some sich other ighing pro= gram bore prinaly the character of a tendeney. What I stp now tying brie to expound about what am now werk Ing on ar onetrely free cbr Ie bear charter, te spelicalytendesous (eft, expresionm or any ‘ther sprog) but dees ito the quetion ofthe mature things and hers quetons ae aeady not concemed with the ine of some given syn ot with he Se of serch for a gene method and mode for the problem of form, quae nd i for any gee of conrocson witha ur enbracing syle of toc redin. Quesion of te enous inesess begin spend overt a Jepened inert fn the whole els tel of he meio in whch we work isthe endendou lin bere kes atm var the esearch148 FILM. FoR academic line, Ihave experienced ths not merely eredively, ioe abo biographical: tte moment at which gan tn ‘cat yee Inte tase prolee ofthe ely of fora tnd the clr of enema, Ioond myc fife oo io fm rodvon, but engaged in cteaon ofan academy of cine aograpiy, the rond to which fas been lid down by my re yeut” work nthe All-Union State Cinema Ista Moscow, and which only now developing. Moreovet,c i of icerere ha the phenomenon need tore isnot a all iolted thi quality isnot a all exchaively chanctersie of Our cinematography. We ean pertive a whole ses of the oretiandendenous roves eng to ex ogi “ea and beginning by way of tenenutaton and gradual Change to be nde in Gunton of methodology and ence Tei posible to pinto sich an example inthe teaching of Mate, and the fact that hi teachings which wes formesy 2 "phe tendency inthe science of languages as now been reve from the vewpoin of Marsn and entered pracece to Tonger aa tendency but a a generalized method in the Body of langage and thinking. K's not by chance that on Bon al ron sound there are now Being bora aeade te snot by cance that dss in hele of arhite™ ture ae no longer a mater of il tendencies (Le Corser ‘ot Zndhowl), son proceds no longer aout this qs Son, bur conrovery i outa tyme "he thee ar the deepening of research, he nate el ofthe penorenen of archecrte Tike tat in ovr cinematography something very sar is no ocurring. Forte preset cage, we rfsen have to eiferences of principle at dnputcs about. a whole sere af program pst sich swe ht inthe ps Thee are of ‘ove india ads of opin within the compreheadve conception of the single ste Soils Renan “And this in no way gu of oribundiy, es migh peat les they fight theyre fete the contery. Prete here, and precy inhi find he gets and mse interning sig of the tines FILM FORM: NEW PROBLEMS 149 chink that now, with che approach of the snrenth year of ‘our cinematography, we are entering a special period. These Signs, to be traced today alo inthe paral ars as well s beng found in the cinema, a harbingers of the news that Soviee cinematography, after many periods of divergence of opinion and argument, i entering into is clas period, becase the charaterities of its interes, the partiular approach to is series of problems, this tint for synthe the postlation of and demand for complete harmony of all he eetents fom ‘the subject mater to composition within the frame, this de- mand for fullness of quality and al the features on which our cinematography has se its hearehese are the sgn of highest flowering of an are TTeonsider that we are now on the threshold of the most remarkable period of clasicsm in our cinematography, the bes petid inthe highes sense of che word. Nott partciate creatively in such peti is no longer possible. And if for the lst thre years I have been completely engrossed in sci entlic-investgatory and pedagogical work (side of which fs very briefly related above), then now I undertake simol- taneously once agua to embark upon production in order to serve fora cesism that will contain some part ofthe h endowment lef ws a Goss) “In the sping of 193s Esennein did return to ative prodction, ih ch fie Sy Neder Resa" iim war lett antsed In" i9s7 te Te Pl See, specs 1 (page 10) and page 270