Godard/Marker, Erasing the Distance

For the final paper for this class I chose to compare Godard’s work to that of Chris Marker’s. I focused on three films, Here and Elsewhere (1974) Sans Soleil (1983) and Far From Vietnam (1967) - an anthology film orchestrated by Marker featuring Godard, Ivens, Varda and other filmmakers from the Left Bank + New Wave. I was drawn to this topic because I am especially interested in how the documentary form intersects with fiction and vice versa. While, H & E and FFV were both dealing with an overtly political subject in a new way i.e. neither film follows the traditional documentary rules. I turned to Sans Soleil because it is the only film that offered me any deeper insights into Marker’s specific style- in the spirit of the collective- Marker was not forthcoming on his exact contribution to FFV.

In my paper, I began by tracing Marker and Godard’s initial fascination for cinema verite. While Marker caused controversy by offering a very partisan look at the lives of Parisians in Le Jolie Mai – clearly a verite film, Godard used verite techniques to lend a documentary feel to his fiction work. Both filmmakers however looked to create new forms of expression that better suited their interest in a more political cinema. I then discuss how both filmmakers create these new forms of cinema, as Astruc predicted; through the camera stylo approach- their content/ideas are embodied in the form itself- they are writing their thoughts onto film.

The paper then cross references all three films; FFV and H & E both are dealing with similar problems- how can one represent a reality that is so far away? FFV mixes performance and fictional accounts with actuality footage from Vietnam, it contains a long piece by Godard who thinks out loud- and discusses the problem of creating an ethical cinema, I see that, many years later, he solves some of these problems in H & E. H & E also attests to the failure of documentary to be a witness. It is indicative of a crisis of representation in cinema.

One of the key conceptual breakthrough’s Godard has in H & E relate to his concept of replacing the ‘or’ with an ‘and’ i.e. by breaking down a binary way of looking at the world, one can close the distance between here and elsewhere, us and them, France and Palestine (Deleuze) I propose that Marker is also doing something similar with his concept of the horizontal montage in Sans Soleil. He is “adding” words to images, and breaking down oppositions, forcing us to consider visuals and text simultaneously. He too is therefore closing the distance. I quote authors who discuss how Marker’s approach to editing is by turns inspired by Eisenstein, Kuleshov and Vertov. (Michael Walsh) Lastly, I discuss how Godard and Marker see images as tools of capitalism, and specific relationships they draw between history, memory, cinema and uniformity of thought. - Preeti

Last Thoughts/Chris Marker Excerpt

As the semester draws to a close, I am suddenly realizing just how much I have learned and experienced in this course. The late films I initially resisted are beginning to reveal themselves to my formerly stubborn tastes. If I can draw one lesson from Godard's cinema it would be: don't give in, believe in (without forgetting to occasionally query) the cinema and pursue your thoughts, ruminations, politics, theories, obsessions. Although Godard's films are packed to bursting point with theory and thought, what astounds me the most about them (in the best cases) is that despite th intellectual overload, they still produce an affect. I don't mean "affect" as in the classical Hollywood schema: losing one's self in the story and psychological motives of the protagonist. Rather I mean that these films have (for me at least) affected my notions of reality, truth, and beauty. Affect in the broad sense of the word. If Godard makes films that function as thoughts, they also function as feelings.

How else can I explain my emotions after seeing 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her? There is no shortage of  theoretical/intellectual discourse, yet I am seeing and experiencing in a way that owes little to the written/spoken word by itself. Something else is produced: a burning need to look at the world, to question its presuppositions, to look at the world with a kino-eye; produced that a camera was shooting this object, yet forever removed from the reality/referent to which it owes its existence.

Godard's cinema makes me want make my own cinema on my own terms. I have learned that cinema begins and ends with looking and perhaps as Ranciere suggests, thought and gaze are not so removed from one and other as some might like to think.

I'd like to share this excerpt of a piece by Chris Marker I found on the website chrismarker.org (an excellent resource on the filmmaker/multimedia artist/host of other auxiliary identities.)





Although only an excerpt, the piece reminds me of Godard in Marker's rich reappropriation of a classic text (in this case Plato's "Allegory of The Cave.) to a new context. Though criminally short, this excerpt hints at something unbelievable interesting and originally was television series(!). If only Marker and Godard were given free reign to produce television.. but I suppose this explains Marker's attraction to the internet, with its potentially hyper-democratic access and endless memory ("I wonder how people remember things who don't film, don't photograph, don't tape". . .). A full description of the piece can be read here. Somehow even this brief excerpt seems a fitting send-off for us.

Anyway, it was an absolute pleasure sharing my Monday nights with all of you and I want to wish everyone a safe and relaxing break with their loved ones. Also for those of us who are currently furiously finishing up visual projects for the class, it would be great if we all posted these projects on here so we could watch each other's final work. I was thrilled at the breadth, scope and variety of subjects and style-the diversity and heterogeneity of which seem absolutely appropriate in the context of Godard.


Vivez votre vie!

Chris Marker's Camera-Stylo / "Notes On Filmmaking"

To return to Astruc,  tonight's film Sans Soleil is an example of "La Camera-Stylo" par excellence. An entire book could be dedicated to Marker's editing in the film, so I will not focus on it in particular at the moment; suffice to say the montage would not have been as effective if the footage itself was not shot with such patient and active framing and movement, by a true camera-writer. I am also choosing not to mention the text, which is of course essential to the film – my focus is solely on the creative independence offered by the small camera, which Astruc so presciently predicted.  

The majority of the footage was shot by Marker himself, using a silent 16mm Beaulieu film camera to capture his own compendium of "things that quicken the heart." Although notes on the production are scare if existent at all due to Marker's public reclusiveness, we can assume a number of basic qualities that tie back to Astruc's ideas. Marker's footage seems to have been shot as the events and subjects were discovered and unfolding, and the lightweight Beaulieu provided the discreet ability to write with motion anywhere at any time during Marker's travels. Here we can note the uncanny clarity and purpose with which Marker investigates and focuses on his subjects. Early in the film at the cat cemetery in Tokyo, we have reason to suspect the man behind the camera is not an amateur but truly an auteur cameraman, as Marker moves to reframe the woman praying to the cat shrine. 

Some of my other favorite stills from the film – needless to say a pretty difficult task to choose. Note the care in framing and composition:

Serving as the film's editor as well as the fictional narrator and fictional cameraman Sandor Krashna (Krashna's friend Hayao Yamaneko is also Marker, the name translating to "Mountain Cat" or "Wild Cat," cats being of course a favorite animal [of the filmmaker]) Marker creates a work that the term "essay film" only begins to describe. Indeed, this type of filmmaking seems a direct extension of Astruc's idea of the roles of screenwriter and director losing their distinction as new technology permits the evasion of the industrial mode of filmmaking that had so far codified into the classical Hollywood system and its worldwide exponents. 

Marker's process is not unlike writing a novel or essay, wherein the author is alone with his stylus, writing an excess of ideas and musings which will ultimately be edited into its final form. Except with Marker, the writer is out engaging with the events of the world. Watching the film I feel as I am discovering cinema's potential for the first time – Sans Soleil gives lie to the notion that a fledgling filmmaker must be follow some arbitrary industrial production procedure in order to produce a work that is personal, affective, complex and sincere. As Abbas Kiarostami notes on his masterclass 10 on Ten, in regards to the small DV camera he used on Ten, small cameras "allow the artist to work alone again." Here the distinction between documentary and fiction loses its relevance in the same way it did for Godard in 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her. As Sam mentioned following the screening, it's simply because Marker and Godard choose to simply make a film and do not worry about the categories and genres which are ascribed after the fact. 

Below is an excerpt from Marker's text I transcribed from the Criterion box set for Sans Soleil/La Jetee. I cannot help but take Marker's point that technology today could allow for anyone to create something extremely personal and exploratory, free from the restraints of capital. Although his reference to Vertov is certainly appropriate, Astruc could have been evoked just as easily. The real question is: with the advent of incredibly cheap HD video cameras (this generation's Beaulieu), why aren't there more films produced in kindred spirit with Sans Soleil? Why are there virtually no other camera-writers and most importantly:

"Will there be a last letter?"

- Ian

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Notes On Filmmaking

by Chris Marker

Working on a shoestring, which in my case is more often a matter of circumstance than of choice, never appeared to me as a cornerstone for aesthetics, and Dogme-type stuff just bores me. So it's rather in order to bring some comfort to young filmmakers in need that I mention these few technical details: The material for La Jetee was created with a Pentax 24x36, and the only "cinema" part (the blinking of the eyes) with an Arriflex 35mm film camera, borrowed for one hour. Sans Soleil was entirely shot with a 16mm Beaulieu silent film camera (not one sync take within the whole film), with 100-foot reels – 2'44" autonomy! –and a small cassette recorder (not even a Walkman; they didn't exist yet). The only "sophisticated" device – given the time – was the spectre image synthesizer, also borrowed for a few days. This is to say that the basic tools for these two films were literally available to anyone. No silly boasting here, just the conviction that today, with the advent of computer and small DV cameras (unintentional homage to Dziga Vertov), would-be directors need no longer submit their fate to the unpredictability of producers or the arthritis of televisions, and that by following their whims or passions, they perhaps see on day their tinkering elevated to DVD status by honorable men.

JLG by PC

This past Friday, I went to Anthology Film Archives to view Portuguese Filmmaker Pedro Costa speak about his new project Ne Change Rien.  In addition to the premiere, Costa has assembled a program of selects that will play throughout the next two weeks.  Within the program, the film Soigne Ta Droite (Keep Your Right Up), a mid-eighties film by Jean-Luc Godard, caught my attention. The film, complete with a Godard as Godard appearance – including a Chaplinesque leap into a Ferrari, expands the filmmaker’s layering of sounds, images and narration.  Although profound, for the purposes of this entry, I would like to concentrate on the accompanying short film, Puissance de la Parole.

As if the free speaking engagement and film selects were not sufficient, Costa is also inserting a number of surprise screenings within the series.  Anthology has billed these proverbial easter eggs as “a selection of miscellaneous music-related clips, videos, and other surprises throughout the programs, demonstrating his genius as filmmaker, curator, and YouTube-deejay!”  Included within the Keep Your Right Up program is the short Puissance de la Parole.

Puuissance de la Parole is an unreleased video commercial prepared for France Telecom.  Two main themes are reinforced via the film.  First, the film highlights Godard’s ability to remain outside of the mainstream, even when funded by a corporate entity.  Much like France / Tour / Detour / Deux / Enfants, the originality of the work is underexposed due to its obscurity.  Nonetheless, Godard does not change his style to appease commercial entities.  In fact, seemingly, his interaction with the commercial world makes his approach even more stringent.  Second, the film suggests an expansion of the aesthetic qualities of Godard’s work.  Puissance de la Parole, translated as the Power of the Word, is one of Godard’s first films created on video.  As Godard warms up to this new technology, it seems obvious that the medium will serve as an enhancement, rather than a detriment, to his visual style.

In the clip provided, observe the intercutting between water, sun, clouds, film and satellite images.  The scene could be interpreted on many levels.  Ironically, as technological determinism, the video suggests a collision between images from natural and modern societies.  In addition, the quick intercutting stresses the tension that has developed between both areas.  Even more delightful, the combination of images creates a new visual aesthetic in Godard’s work.  Although this is not the first time that he has used fast-motion cutting, the rhythm of the cut has accelerated and extended.  Whereas previous films would include short sequences of quick cutting, Puissance de Parole makes use of lengthy sequences of crosscutting.  I’ve always felt that the work of Godard has lacked the aesthetic precision of filmmakers like Marker, Antonioni or Ozu.  With Puissance de la Parole, there is hope that Godard’s video oeuvre will begin to develop a sense of visual pleasure and move beyond a textual/narration emphasis.  As suggested by Godard himself, for brief moments in Puissance de la Parole, he may be a cinematic Picasso, presenting work of a confounding and abnormal visual aesthetic, yet, at the same time, re-defining the parameters of image perception and sight.

Having only seen two late era Godard films, I am eager to view work from the post La Chinoise period.  As Sam mentioned in class, Film Forum will also be showing Every Man For Himself from November 12-25.  These films, along with our in-class screenings, will provide context for an era that is extremely rare: Godard’s work of the last 40 years.

http://www.filmforum.org/films/everyman.html

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/36485


echeverria