Belgian Avantgarde 1927-1937

[lubitsch]

Aside from a post by Kristin Thompson in the Bordwell blog http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=4650 based on an older article by her http://www.davidbordwell.org/essays/dekeukeleire.php this release http://www.cinematek.be/?node=30&dvd_id=24 seems to go unnoticed which is a shame since it is a very lovely release despite some imperfections.
You get a 2-DVD set with over three hours running time collecting multiple films by Henri Storck and Charles Dekeukeleire and two other filmmakers. One misses a bit Witte vlam referenced to in different books, but this aside it collects the most famous films of the directors minus Storck's collaboration with Ivens in Borinage. The packaging is certainly original because the DVD set is in fact a small hardcover book, not a box, and the DVDs are attached to the inside parts of the cover, guaranteed never to find their way back on the holding once removed. The spreading of the films on the discs is also rather surprising since the first disc holds 64 minutes film while the second takes 138 min. The picture looks fine to me, but the framing on all edges is rather tight chopping off a head here or there even if you can never be sure with this experimental stuff, it may be intentional after all.
And the films? They are always interesting, not always successful. Storck is the more conventional filmmaker. Images d'Ostende reminds one of dozens of other "observing the waves crash on land" experimental/documentary films of the era of which Portrait of a young man in Three Movements by Rodakiewicz is the magnum opus, but it's a fine example nevertheless. Pour vos beaux yeux is a slight, not too interesting Chien andalou pastiche, while the following two newsreel compilations Histoire du soldat inconnu and Sur les bords de la camera employ a quite interesting structure, I liked the second less known one even better than the politically engaged first one.
Dekeukeleire will surely appeal even more to the lovers of experimental cinema being arguably its most radical exponent pre-1945 or even pre-1960. Kristin Thompson unfairly dismisses his first film Combat de boxe which uses the whole bag of cinematic tricks to render a box fight into an semi-abstract impression. Together with the following Visions de Lourdes docu it's the highlight of the set for me. Then come the two major films of the set which are likely to send up most viewers up the wall and that seems to be quite frankly their intention. The aptly titled Impatience shows us a woman, a motorcycle, a few handheld shots of a mountain and some abstract forms, alternating them in different rhythms. And that's it for 36 minutes. Thompson thought of a very fitting comparison describing it as Ravel's "Bolero done in twelve-tone, twice as long, and with no build in volume, and you have some sense of the maddening fascination of Impatience". While this film has a certain hypnotic quality, the following Histoire de detective is arguably even more irritating. It tells (but doesn't really show) the observation of a husband by a detective in numerous intertitles. The images between them hardly illustrate the story. Yes, you see the figures and they can be interpreted as representing the storyline we read about, but they are so roughly and sparely shot, they could show something else as well. This may sound quite intriguing, but I assure you, it's unlikely somebody will find this film attractive.
I haven't watched the last two films by d'Ursel and Moerman yet though both seem to be influenced by Feuillade and surrealism and promise to be a more accessible and entertaining finish to this remarkable set. So I say this set is pretty much indispensable for those who like their Kirsanoff, Ruttmann, Leger and allies even if the center pieces by Dekeukeleire are bound to strectch your patience (very deliberately so). It's very refreshing to see that the last gaps in experimental and documentary cinema are closed step by step, be it the Ivens box, the GPO sets, Ruttmann by Edition Filmmuseum, the McLaren set, the Unseen cinema set or the Avantgarde releases by Kino.

[lubitsch]

Hm, not much love for Belgium here, hm?
Just to finish my review and add a few points. I naturally forgot to describe the book which is trilingual, but is dominated by a French-Dutch part followed by a smaller English one.
The final two films proved to very pleasent surprises, in fact I prefer them to the (slightly) more known films before. D'Ursel sets up a story and follows it without digressions, but shifts the narrative and the actions again and again subtly into a surreal realm via illogical actions, mysteriously appearing persons and implausible cuts. I thought it a very successful experiment whose obscurity and beltedness regarding surrealism in cinema shouldn't be held against it. And - to give the film a real push - it certainly has the two sexiest lead actresses in experimental film.
Moerman's follow up is obviously even more heavily influenced by Feuillade with the fantomas character appearing and the film developing a surreal plotline after a bit of frolicking around. The film is genuinely funny with allusions to other films and a steady stream of ideas. I think it's very entertaining. So this set has something to please everyone, from the film historian to the extreme lover of experimental cinema to those searching a bit of change from commercial cinema of its age. I recommend it for its artistic value, not for any historical reason (after all the films have hardly any historical reputation) and think it very important that the canon of classical avantgarde is expanded for the general public and not only the experts.

[Gregory]

I'm certainly interested and am planning to get my hooks on it in the next couple of months. I saw a notice on this in Rosenbaum "global discoveries" column, and it's good to have something a little more in depth.
I'm most interested in Storck, both in terms of his influence on later filmmakers and in the amazing circle of filmmakers in the early 1930s that included him, Vigo, Dulac, Painlevé, Ivens, etc. Those who have seen the Ivens set will already have a key sampling of Storck via his collaboration on the crucial film Misère au Borinage.
I wonder why they ended the set in the late 1930s just when things were starting to get really interesting. Perhaps we can hope to see another collection going up through the early postwar era.

[Documaniaque]

Thanks for posting this, Lubitsch. I've since bought it and read the excellent booklet, but haven't watched the films yet.

I'm also most interested in Storck as a documentarian: Histoire du soldat inconnu is certainly one of the earliest politically radical newsreal compilations (coming a few years after Esther Shub). His only collaboration with Painlevé (Ostende, reine des plages, for which JP made the soundtrack/commentary) is unfortunately lost (according to the Fond Henri Storck website). Aside from the excellent Misère au Borinage the only Storck I've been able to see is l'Ile de Pacques, a very good (though not mindblowing) documentary about Easter Island, put together by Storck from images filmed by John Fernhout (Joris Ivens' cinematographer) and with music by the great Maurice Jaubert.

[Adam]

And - to give the film a real push - it certainly has the two sexiest lead actresses in experimental film.
.

Sexier than Kiki naked with shadows by the window in Man Ray's film?


Still looking forward to getting this set, but since I haven't yet, I don't feel ready to comment on it.

[Wombatz]

I'm now as far into this as Lubitsch in her/his first post. I liked the foam at the beach in Images d'Ostende, that makes it something special. I'd also rate Pour vos beaux yeux slightly higher, because of its very contemporary art school atmosphere. Much more down to earth than Chien andalou, I wouldn't see it as a pastiche, but as surrealism arrived within the everyday. I don't feel Storck expected to startle anyone, maybe I'm wrong. I prefer Histoire du soldat inconnu to Sur les bords de la camera, probably because he had a message which makes every cut more loaded. I find Thompson's criticism of cuts from politicians to yelping dogs unfair, since they seem to be done with a sufficient amount of meta-fun.
Dekeukeleire's Combat de boxe and Visions de Lourdes I didn't like. I guess for me they're just formalism, the latter maybe lazy journalism. But Impatience and Histoire de detective are damn genius, and I find them very attractive. You don't just get abstract images, both films stay completely on topic. Great.
I also hugely enjoyed the way the music was curated for this edition. Some I liked better, some less, but it's all done with intelligence and dedication.

[Wombatz]

Ok, the last two.

I think d'Ursel's La Perle ultimately fails, which is completely unfair of me because it is partly so good that I expect it to transcend the way it's been made, and that is what it does not do. Should it? I could have done without the pearls (yes, they're what drives this story, so what would be left? Maybe pure genius). Still, much to chew on here, very engaging.

The Moerman was too self-consciously surrealist to do anything for me.

And the winner is: Histoire de détective, I love that one.