Bresson 'avant la lettre', or an 'A' Grade Stylistic Exercise: „Public Affairs”
Tomasz Kłys
tomasz.klys@uni.lodz.plUniversity of Łódź (Poland)
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7443-9479
Abstract
Public Affairs (Affaires publiques, 1934), Robert Bresson’s debut film, have long been considered missing. Found in Cinémathèque Française in 1987, it turned out to be quite a surprise, which showed Bresson as a director who did not resemble the creator of the transcendental style made famous by Paul Schrader. In his article, Kłys recalls the genesis and production contexts of the film, unveiled by Colin Burnett in The Invention of Robert Bresson: The Auteur and His Market, and in the analysis of the plot and formal solutions reveals Bresson’s inspirations: absurdity straight out of the surrealistic and dadaistic avant-garde, poetic-fantastic comedy of René Clair’s early films, the American burlesque and anarchism of Jean Vigo. An important aspect of the film, created just when films ceased to be silent, is the use of sophisticated gags to “deconstruct” the relationship between the image, sound and the actual sound source.
Keywords:
Robert BressonReferences
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Authors
Tomasz Kłystomasz.klys@uni.lodz.pl
University of Łódź Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7443-9479
Filmoznawca, absolwent kulturoznawstwa na Uniwersytecie Łódzkim, obecnie profesor UŁ i pracownik Zakładu Historii i Teorii Filmu w Katedrze Mediów i Kultury Audiowizualnej tejże uczelni. W obszarze jego zainteresowań badawczych znajdują się m.in.: narratologia filmowa, teoria diegezy oraz kino niemieckie z okresu Republiki Weimarskiej i Trzeciej Rzeszy. Autor książek: Film fikcji i jego dominanty (1999), Dekada doktora Mabuse (2006), Od Mabusego do Goebbelsa (2013) oraz współautor (wraz z E. Nurczyńską-Fidelską, P. Sitarskim i K. Klejsą) podręcznika Kino bez tajemnic (2009).
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