SPAN 3302
Monday, April 9, 2007
Avant Garde
Eisenstein’s Avant Garde:
In an interview that I recently read, David Linx said that there was no avant garde in Cuba among the artists. David Linx is one of the major Jazz singers in Europe. Born in Belgium, he recorded a CD at the age of 20 with lyrics written by the famous writer James Baldwin. Cuba trapped his art into social realism, just as Stalin trapped Eisenstein’s innovative techniques in the box of propaganda. In his movie about Zapata, the end exemplifies the most unusual things put together in one shot: the mourning dance to mock death in front of a gigantic Ferris wheel!!!
To expand what I said in class, I would say that Spaghetti Westerns exemplified the same things. In Sergio Leone’s trilogy with Clint Eastwood or in the Sabata series the final duel between the hero and the villain is the place of avant-gardism. There is always an old man (with no teeth) laughing like crazy in the midst of the most solemn silence.
There can be a man with a mandolin, playing the same happy notes over and over again just before the duel: just as if music was necessary. In some cases the guitar is also a gun.
That contrast is directly inspired by Eisenstein.
Flies are flying on the screen with a horrible sound; sweat is a detail that is magnified, just as the look of watcher’s eyes at a close range. Everything is magnified. These magnified shots aim at giving more impact to ordinary scenes by putting the viewer in the place of a child that sees everything too large.
In an interview that I recently read, David Linx said that there was no avant garde in Cuba among the artists. David Linx is one of the major Jazz singers in Europe. Born in Belgium, he recorded a CD at the age of 20 with lyrics written by the famous writer James Baldwin. Cuba trapped his art into social realism, just as Stalin trapped Eisenstein’s innovative techniques in the box of propaganda. In his movie about Zapata, the end exemplifies the most unusual things put together in one shot: the mourning dance to mock death in front of a gigantic Ferris wheel!!!
To expand what I said in class, I would say that Spaghetti Westerns exemplified the same things. In Sergio Leone’s trilogy with Clint Eastwood or in the Sabata series the final duel between the hero and the villain is the place of avant-gardism. There is always an old man (with no teeth) laughing like crazy in the midst of the most solemn silence.
There can be a man with a mandolin, playing the same happy notes over and over again just before the duel: just as if music was necessary. In some cases the guitar is also a gun.
That contrast is directly inspired by Eisenstein.
Flies are flying on the screen with a horrible sound; sweat is a detail that is magnified, just as the look of watcher’s eyes at a close range. Everything is magnified. These magnified shots aim at giving more impact to ordinary scenes by putting the viewer in the place of a child that sees everything too large.
posted by Nicolau Pereira at 9:15 PM
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