Paradox
a Manifesto of the New British Cinema
This 15th of November 2004 and
This 1st of May 2006
The aim of this series of notes is to examine why British cinema is so anæmic and try to remedy that with some incendiary remarks and guidelines which those of us left standing can follow.
It seems that presenting the ideas as a series of paradoxes may be a worthwhile path forward, as a paradoxical rebuke (because we basically agree) to Francois Truffaut’s remark that to speak of ‘British Cinema’ is a contradiction in terms. Oxymoronic, perhaps.
POLEMICS
To make warmer films you must paradoxically coldly excise all sentimentality.
To win an audience, you must paradoxically disregard them. But, paradoxically again, there is a huge audience out there which will not be won over by lies and facile tricks.
Respect this audience.
Before concerning ourselves with the Rebirth of British Cinema, let us first take care of its Birth.
What is wrong with British Art in general, and cinema in particular is that the British have cut themselves off from European and world culture and not quite found their way back…. But we know the way…
&
America, Americans and American Culture are our friends, colleagues and collaborators… not our employers, mentors or guides. Bear this in mind.
To overcome lack of money, paradoxically we must secure for ourselves a steady supply of it.
All grants and subsidies must be totally without strings.
We must reflect upon the ‘Why?’ behind the fact that so many of the best ‘British’ films were actually directed or written by ‘foreigners’.
Frugality does not equal austerity. We are paradoxically not afraid of flamboyance in our search for authenticity.
It is pointless to increase production without assuring distribution.
Do not give more to those who already have too much.
A genre film is one which asks only one question; ‘What sells?’.
Full employment as artisans for Hollywood productions does NOT constitute a healthy film culture.
ÆSTHETICS
Shoot within your resources. This does not mean tailoring your imagination to your resources, though…
Look for Truth, not the pleasing fiction.
Technology is irrelevant.
Because video (digital media) is fast and cheap, paradoxically it must be handled slowly and thoughtfully.
Make films (and videos) faster and lighter – in a more agile manner – not to save money, but to sharpen our skills and capture truth on the wing.
Work quickly, not to save time, but to seize the moment.
Shoot few takes. Become aware later, in subsequent shots, get better.
Beauty is whatever falls under the lens.
Concepts are empty.
Story is a more or less inoffensive gloss on the real heart of your film.
But… an engaging story allows this heart to beat.
Sound must be the equal of image in emotional presence.
Film is about density, about not losing what you have captured.
Let bodies, gestures, faces and landscapes, streets, light on light… speak as much as, or more than your dialogues.
Forget filmmaking as a remunerative career. This will focus you.
Paradoxically, one film by a Brakhage really does have more influence and value than the entire œuvre of a Spielberg.
Leave loose ends dangling.
Film study course : Watch everything!
Always stay to the end of the credits.
Finally, surrender your passport for five years to prevent defection to Hollywood. (side trips to New York are paradoxically authorised).
Remember – you are British, and live in a multi-cultural, multi-racial society… which includes the average white English person, too…
A dictatorship of youth is as evil as a dictatorship of sex or race. (And more insidiously able to be promoted).
See yourself as a node on a multi-dimensional grid or lattice, not as a point on a line.
SOME (secondhand) words of WISDOM
Ingmar Bergman: Never be boring.
Michael Powell : Collaborate!
Robert Bresson: Be Attentive!
Jean-Luc Godard: Cinema is truth, 24 times a second.
Andrei Tarkovsky: Film is sculpting in time.
Nicolas Ray: Make your films like lightning over water.
(MO: at least one of these is a paraphrase. An honest paraphrase, but – paradoxically – still a paraphrase.)
Inside every bloated, straightlaced film (now there's an image) a lithe, ambiguous film is trying to burst out. Thus, barely treated images from WSS reveal hidden beauty. Whether the images are readable, in and of themselves, is secondary. And beneath the uptempo soundtrack, here, is an eerie industrial whine. The real America encoded inside the facade. Then again, anything with Rita Moreno dancing can't be all bad. At all. Once again, it's when the metaphor coincides with (another) reality that things start to get innarresting.
