Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
by Roger Barlow, Harry Hay, LeRoy Robbins, Man Ray
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: André de la Rivière, Harry Hay, Kiki of Montparnasse, Robert Desnos, Roger BarlowDirector: Harry Hay, LeRoy Robbins, Man Ray, Roger Barlow
Brand: Kino International
Writer: Robert Desnos
Cinematographer: Hy Hirsh
Cinematographer: Man Ray
Producer: Man Ray
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language); German (Original Language); Swedish (Original Language)
Format: DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 4022
Studio: Kino Video
Product features:
- AVANT-GARDE-EXPRMNTL CINEMA 20'S & 30'S (DVD MOVIE)
Movie Reviews of Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
Movie Review: Cinema without experiment is not worth watching
Summary: 5 Stars
First, I recommend the majority of these films wholeheartedly. While the present-day soundtracks may in some cases be inappropriate, I find this is often the case with releases of silent films, & we are of course free to mute it & enjoy the visual elements on their own. The picture quality is good, & in purchasing a collection of silent films that's really the best one would hope for.
With regards to the review of Jmark2001, I think it's worth pointing out how important these films - & the avant-garde in general - really are in these times. Overlooking the inherent limitations of technology during that era, & the superficial stylistic idiosyncrasies that mark the films as a product of their time, the films of the Dadaists, Surrealists, & Constructivists have a great deal to offer anyone less than satisfied with the status quo. Far from the high art pretentiousness Jmark2001 accuses them of, these filmmakers were essentially concerned with rebellion, with creating a valid alternative to the decadent, insular consciousness of the middle class. This manifested itself in experiments with the physical material of film (thus the "erratic cuts" & "non-linear" style), as well as in the subject matter (including the - Dear God! - "anti-clerical" approach). While certain techniques have been overused since then by uninspired academic followers, here they are largely employed intelligently & - particularly in the films of Eisenstein, Man Ray, & Duchamp - with the utmost care toward their effects on the overall film. Few of these have been deemed "classics," but few have been easily available for viewing until fairly recently, so I certainly don't see that as any judge of quality.
Jmark2001 also displays the most basic misunderstanding of Dadaism & its revolt on bourgeois values. The "sea of random and nihilistic violence, disconnection, and rudeness (!)" Jmark2001 cites as characterising modern public life is in fact the direct result of craving the trappings of "bourgious living" [sic]. Jmark seems to equate Dada (& presumably any experimental, avant-garde art) with terrorism, & suggests that passive consumption of daily horrors in the comforts of a coffee shop is just as effective as Dada's shocks to consciousness. Well, do I really need to state that the 9/11 terrorists weren't Dadaists? There is nothing avant-garde about the methods or beliefs of the terrorists; & by the same token, anyone who is satisfied with the "security, comfort, reassurance, civility, and stability" our modern society has provided us with, post-9/11, is simply kidding himself.
We require more than ever a vision of life which neither insulates us from the world nor forces us to comply with an imposed set of ideals; which encourages active participation rather than passive consumption; & which gives the viewer's intelligence the benefit of the doubt by working in turn towards radical innovation. Without experiment, cinema is not worth watching.
& for the record, if, like Jmark2001, all you could derive from Un Chien Andalou was that it was "memorable," I would strongly recommend watching it again, WITH EYES WIDE OPEN.
Summary of Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
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