SERGEI M EISENSTEIN

5
THE PLACE OF CINEMA
IN THE GENERAL SYSTEM OF THE HISTORY OF THE ARTS 1
Date: 3.I.1948
[RGALI1923-2-1020]
Connection and Synthesis, etc. (as per the beginning of my GIK 2 program)
Whythefilmistop*.
Massdissemination.
Thespectatorshapesthefilm*,“votingwithhisfeet”(nottobequoted!)*.
IntheWest“inthenameofthespectator”–panderingtotheworst.
In our case – with direct participation – both spiritual and material (by the state
andbymeansofeducation).
Cinemaasthemostperfectinstrumentnotonlyofmakingimpacton,butalsoof
reproduction and reconstruction of man in all the variety of his backgrounds*, environmentetc.
Butthere’smoretocinema’s method–themostcompletereflectionofman.
Cinemaasacopyofman’spsychologicalapparatus.
Continuity of flow of images* (K. Stanislavsky uses none other than “film” when he
needstoclarify!).
Close-upsaspointsofinsistenceofinterest(cf.dreams)*
Fading in and out* and the fading of consciousness (sleep or almost consciousness).Dissolves.Themultidimensionalityofsimultaneousflowsofthought.
“Recollections.”
Flashbacks.Soft*.
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