It’s 40 years since I read John Berger’s “Ways
of Seeing” (reviewed here)
but it’s a phrase which has returned recently to haunt me – see my latest
E-book effort Ways
of Seeing…..the Global Crisis.
I heard the phrase again in a Bucharest cinema in a short trip I made at
the end of the month – although it was expressed as “Maniere de voir” and it came
from the mouth of the legendary photographer Sebastiao Salgado
whose life film director Wim Wenders was celebrating in the documentary Salt
of the Earth.
About time that such photographers were properly celebrated –
have there, I wonder, been films about such figures as Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Andre Kertesz and the times in which they lived? Documentaries we have - eg a curious one with CB here which has him reminiscing...a much more insightful commentary here but what about films which try to recreate the lives and events through actors and film sets?
This question occurred to me since I have been viewing recently quite a
few films about other artists…..such as Picasso, Renoir, Turner, Dickens and
Beethoven.
And it led me to Jeremy Iron’s
portrayal of iconic Alfred Stieglitz in a film (TV biopic actually) which
actually focuses more on the American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and bears her name as
the title. Indeed the only photography which figures in the film is the
infamous exhibition Stieglitz mounts of O’Keeffe’s naked body….
For the most part films about artists
are trite – even if
the scenery is nice (Turner) - with plots turning on an highly selective aspects
of the artist’s life…and failing to give either a sense of the artist’s
creativity or of the times in which (s)he lived.
One exception - The
Invisible Woman – made a big impact on me largely because it gave us
insights into the importance of public readings for people such as Dickens; and
of his God-like status in those days - which allowed everyone to whitewash his
young love out of existence. But although the film apparently cost 12 million
dollars to make only 3 million has been recouped in box-office takings – hardly
an encouragement to creativity when most blockbusters these days cover their
costs within the first month (here I have a confession – I was able to stream
it………).
The detailed book by Claire
Tomalin on which the film is based can be bought for about 15 euros – but
will give many hours of pleasure…..As did Hilary Spurling’s 600 pages of Matisse
It made me wonder about the economics and aesthetics of the different ways of presenting ideas and creativity – such as films, documentaries, books or even video presentations such as this ted talk by Salgado. So many millions of dollars (and wo-man hours) spent on film production to give (each of) us less than 2 hour’s (shallow) “entertainment” compared with a multiple of that enjoyed during the reading of a book – whose costs are a tiny fraction. Nae contest!
And yes I know that it is not a question of either/or – that films
encourage (some) people to buy (and even read) books…..and most people have
neither the time nor the energy to read….
But, still, we need to fight for the book - ""Fahrenheit 451" still gives me a thrill every
time I think of it, depicting a world without books in which a few brave
individuals risked prosecution for their having memorised the text of one
particular book…..
Regular readers know that my nomadic existence of the past couple of
decades has helped me develop an immunity to television and newspapers – now
television sets are banned in the places I control and I am happy to buy only LeMonde Diplomatique (as the only journal which still retains footnotes!). It is
my location which enables me to be so selective - and makes me yearn for a
campaign on the lines of the 1978 book “Four
Arguments for the Elimination of Television”. Rather ironically, I'm currently reading a superbly-written book Armchair Nation - an intimate history of Britain in front of the TV
addenda
- this list of 100 films based on the lives of artists and writers reveals that I missed one great film - Carrington!!
- and this list of books which the current TV series Mad Men has shown characters reading is a sign of hope.......
addenda
- this list of 100 films based on the lives of artists and writers reveals that I missed one great film - Carrington!!
- and this list of books which the current TV series Mad Men has shown characters reading is a sign of hope.......
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