Jeff Holley
Richard Simpson
ENGL 342
October 13, 2020
Post Modernism and the Avant-Guard
The dreariness of these films, although debatable as visionary, it would depend on how the viewer would perceive the era where films like Drifter and the ushering in of a new narrated version of the documentary. This film gave Hollywood the distance to pursue something more educationally satisfying for the Grierson, but that set him apart from his predecessor Flaherty.
If Flaherty, as considered by some, the first accidental documentarist filmmaker, John Grierson, took it to another level. Grierson initially pursued the relationship but held a “love-hate” relationship with Flaherty due to his primitive leanings of the films he produced, namely Moana, which when Grierson actually uses the term “documentary” in reference to Flaherty’s box office dud. (Barnouw, 88).
Grierson had his growing agenda filming the North Sea herring fisherman and being English and having studied initially at Glasgow University. The University of Chicago, he returned to put his film career to use, cutting and shaping a narrative that, although silent, could capture a more dominant documentary presence. (Barnouw, 90).
In the beginning, he describes the “brown sails” of the original fishing vessels and the open sea and small village from where the harbor was mostly vacant as the first scene, written out on screen. Then the shift to the hustle and bustle of black smoke billowing, steel controls, levers, and the regurgitating saltwater pushed the modern version of mariners back to the harbor to sell the enormous catch.
The film depicts the miles of “log-line” used and the fact that despite the galley time cooking, measuring flour, when the lines are out, and the fishing starts, the deckhands are always working well into the night until the job is finished. It’s a sad story of capitalism and the change from the smalltime sailor to the vast sea of vessels, all spewing smoke and contributing to the horror of a greedy society. It leads to fodder for future endeavors, which Grierson develops his life-long career to become the father of documentary.
You know Jeff, as I was watching Grierson's film drifters, I hardly considered it a film on capitalism until you discussed your observations. One of the reasons I thought this way is because of the fact that the ending, for the most part, seemed to be a positive depiction of sales. Especially with the upbeat music, and numerous, excited crowds. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
ReplyDelete~Shaelene Moler
Jeff, you are right that the decision to focus on labor and work as a subject matter of the film is an important one to Grierson. And it seems that you identify Grierson's use and unification of both the expository mode from Flaherty as well as the expressionist or poetic mode of the City Symphonies. I like your description of the montage in the later paragraphs here. Tighten these connections between the films and filmmakers by incorporating the camera angles and editing techniques into your response paper observations, okay? Doing so will help you when you turn to the final project.
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