Screening Modernism Cinema and Modernity a Series Edited by Tom Gunning Screening Modernism: European Art Cinema, 1950–1980
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Screening Modernism Cinema and Modernity A Series Edited by Tom Gunning Screening Modernism: European Art Cinema, 1950–1980 andrás bálint kovács The University of Chicago Press CHICAGO AND LONDON András Bálint Kovács is professor of fi lm studies at Eotvos University in Budapest and the director of the Hungarian Institute in Paris. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2007 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN–13: 978–0–226–45163–3 (cloth) ISBN-13: 978–0–226–45165–7 (paper) ISBN–10: 0–226–45163–1 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0–226–45165–8 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kovács, András Bálint. Screening modernism : European art cinema, 1950–1980 / András Bálint Kovács. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-45163-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-226-45163-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures— Europe—History. 2. Modernism (Aesthetics)—Europe I. Title. PN1993.5.E8K68 2007 791.43094'09045—dc22 2007013782 ᭺ϱ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. to my father Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part One: What Is the Modern? 1 theorizing modernism 7 Modern 8 Modernism 11 Avant-Garde 14 Cinema and Modernism: The First Encounter 16 The Institution of the Art Film 20 Modernist Art Cinema and the Avant-Garde 27 2 theories of the classical/modern distinction in the cinema 33 Style Analysts 34 Evolutionists 38 Modern Cinema and Deleuze 40 Modernism as an Unfi nished Project 44 Part Two: The Forms of Modernism 3 modern art cinema: style or movement? 51 4 narration in modern cinema 56 Classical versus Modernist Art Films 61 The Alienation of the Abstract Individual 65 contents Who Is “the Individual” in Modern Cinema? 67 The Role of Chance 70 Open-Ended Narrative 77 Narrative Trajectory Patterns: Linear, Circular, Spiral 78 5 genre in modern cinema 82 Melodrama and Modernism 84 Excursus: Sartre and the Philosophy of Nothingness 90 A Modern Melodrama: Antonioni’s Eclipse (1962) 96 Other Genres and Recurrent Plot Elements 99 Investigation 99 Wandering/Travel 102 The Mental Journey 103 Closed-Situation Drama 111 Satire/Genre Parody 114 viii The Film Essay 116 6 patterns of modern forms 120 Primary Formation: Continuity and Discontinuity 122 Radical Continuity 128 Imaginary Time in Last Year at Marienbad 130 Radical Discontinuity 131 The Fragmented Form according to Godard 132 Serial Form 136 7 styles modernism 140 Minimalist Styles 140 The Bresson Style 141 Abstract Subjectivity and the “Model” 146 Bresson and His Followers 148 Analytical Minimalism: The Antonioni Style 149 Psychic Landscape? 149 Continuity 153 Antonioni and His Followers 156 Expressive Minimalism 161 8 naturalist styles 168 Post-neorealism 169 Cinéma Vérité 170 The “New Wave” Style 172 9 ornamental styles 175 10 theatrical styles 192 11 modern cinema trends 203 The Family Tree of Modern Cinema 210 contents Part Three: Appearance and Propagation of Modernism (1949–1958) 12 critical reflexivity or the birth of the auteur 217 The Birth of the Auteur 218 Historical Forms of Refl exivity 224 The Emergence of Critical Refl exivity: Bergman’s Prison 227 Refl exivity and Abstraction: Modern Cinema and the Nouveau Roman 231 13 the return of the theatrical 238 Abstract Drama 241 14 the destabilization of the fabula 244 Voice-Over Narration 245 The Dissolution of Classical Narrative: Film Noir ix and Modernism 246 Fabula Alternatives: Hitchcock 248 Alternative Subjective Narration: Rashomon 251 15 an alternative to the classical form: neorealism and modernism 253 The End of Neorealism 255 Modernism in Story of a Love Affair: Neorealism Meets Film Noir 256 Rossellini: The “Neorealist Miracle” 260 Part Four: The Short Story of Modern Cinema (1959–1975) 16 the romantic period, 1959–1961 275 Neorealism: The Reference 276 Eastern Europe: From Socialist Realism toward Neorealism 282 Heroism versus Modernism 284 Jerzy Kawalerowicz: The First Modern Polish Auteur 286 The Year 1959 290 Forms of Romantic Modernism 293 Genre and Narration in the Early Years 295 Sound and Image 298 Background and Foreground 300 From Hiroshima to Marienbad: Modernism and the Cinema of the Elite 303 The Production System of the “New Cinema” 306 contents 17 established modernism, 1962–1966 310 Western Europe around 1962 310 The Key Film of 1962: Fellini’s 8 1/2 316 Central Europe 322 Czechoslovak Grotesque Realism 324 The “Central European Experience” 326 Jancsó and the Ornamental Style 329 Summary 336 18 the year 1966 338 The Loneliness of the Auteur 341 19 political modernism, 1967–1975 349 The Year 1968 350 Conceptual Modernism: The Auteur’s New World 355 Reconstructing Reality 357 x Counter-Cinema: Narration as a Direct Auteurial Discourse 363 The Film as a Means of Direct Political Action 368 Parabolic Discourse 371 Teorema 373 The Auteur’s Private Mythology 376 The Self-Critique of Political Modernism: Sweet Movie 380 Summary 382 20 “the death of the auteur” 383 The Last of Modernism: Mirror 387 Mirror and Serial Structure 389 The Disappearance of Nothingness 394 Appendix: A Chronology of Modern Cinema 401 Selected Bibliography 409 Index of Names and Movie Titles 415 Acknowledgments The idea of a book like this seems to have been with me since my days as a young researcher. When I mentioned it to Michel Marie in Paris twenty years ago, all he said was, “Hm, très ambitieux!” Twelve years passed before I ever dared to return to this idea. In 1996, at the kind invitation of Michal Friedman I presented a paper at the Blurred Boundaries conference in Tel Aviv where the fi rst draft of my ideas about cinematic modernism was out- lined. Daniel Dayan’s and especially Dana Polan’s encouraging comments on that piece convinced me that I was mostly likely on the right track to develop some aspects of this project. That is when I started to seriously consider beginning intensive and systematic research. I wrote preliminary drafts of chapters in 1998, but still I wasn’t very sure where I was going with the proj- ect, and, not being a native English speaker, I worried that I would not be able to write this book in English. Two dear friends, Nancy Wood and David Rodowick, read and patiently edited my fi rst drafts, convinced me to carry on, and gave the last push. I could count on their valuable comments in later phases of my work too. I am thankful to several people and institutions that helped me in my research. First, a Fulbright grant afforded me fi ve months of undisturbed research in the United States. The University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of Southern California hosted me and generously provided access to their rich resource materials, and for this I am especially thank- ful to David Bordwell and Dana Polan. I did my initial research at the Bib- liothèque de l’Arsénale and at the Bibliothèque du Film in Paris where I kept returning at every stage of the work during the four years I spent in this city. I am grateful to Gyula Gazdag who helped me in getting access to the fi lm and video collection of UCLA. Magyar Nemzeti Filmarchívum, acknowledgments and especially Kata Szlauko, helped my research considerably in Budapest. The Pro Helvetia Foundation in Zurich and Budapest generously provided rare Swiss fi lms. I am also grateful to two commercial video stores in the United States—Four Star Video Heaven in Madison, Wisconsin, and Vidiots in Santa Monica, California—whose rare and comprehensive video collec- tions of European art fi lms considerably helped me to constantly refresh my memory and deepen my knowledge while actually writing this book. Different chapters were read and thoroughly commented on by many colleagues and friends. I am especially thankful for the comments of Miklós Almási, Béla Bacsó, Péter Balassa, Péter Galicza, Gábor Gelencsér, Torben Grodal, Péter György, Jeno˝ Király, Sándor Radnóti, József Tamás Remé- nyi, András Rényi, Johannes Riis, Bill Rothman, Ben Singer, Melinda Sza- lóky, Tom Gunning, Balázs Varga, Ginette Vincendeau and Anna Wessely. I am thankful to Dóra Börcsök for her help in the fi lmography research, to xii Deborah Lyons for her help with some of my trasnslations from Italian to English, and in particular to Maia Rigas, copy editor at the University of Chicago Press, for her exceptionally careful work in correcting some awk- ward English sentences and inconsistencies. I have to express my gratitude to three individuals in particular. Yvette Biró and David Bordwell were always ready to discuss any problem whatso- ever that I encountered while writing this book; they were constantly ready to listen to my ideas over and over again, comment on them, and share theirs with me with no reserve. Their experience, enthusiasm, and engagement with modern cinema and their expertise in the fi eld served as the most impor- tant examples to me. Without their own works, without the long conversa- tions I have had with them throughout the years, and without their support- ive friendship, my book would not be the same. However, any shortcomings are my responsibility alone. Last but not least, without the commitment and lasting support of my friend Tom Gunning, series editor for the University of Chicago Press, this book would have never seen the light of day. My wife Erika and daughter Anna-Sarah let themselves be dragged around half the planet during the past eight years, just because I wanted to do this book.