Eisenstein’s Methods of Montage seems more inclined towards
an analytical filmmaker’s technique than the previous mystical musings of
artists like Smith and Belson. Using
various analyses that break down the rhythm of a film as expressive if its
themes or tone, Eisenstein shows us a means of communicating to a viewer
without explicitly showing us in explicit, conspicuous terms.
I experienced this in the creation of my second film for
this class as I became pretty caught up in the ide of creating a film frame by
frame, inspired heavily by previous examples or the “flicker” films we were shown
previously. The process became extremely
tedious, but viewing the final product did create a very unique sensation.
I wonder however if this is more from the rhythmic tone of
the piece or due to it being tethered to a very cacophonous, blast-beat
soundtrack. This relationship between
film and sound is very interesting to me, and reading this piece by Eisenstein
makes me wonder what the final result would have been without the connotation
and weight of a soundtrack.
Although looking at some examples of Eisenstein’s work,
soundtracks seemed to play a critical role in his films as well. He also was perfectly tied to the time in
which he lived and the area he lived in relation to his theories on
editing. Invariably tied to Marxist
ideas and a culture propagated on propaganda, Eisenstein undoubtedly pulled
from these ideas in his own work.
These ideas made me think to a scene from one of my favorite
movies, Pan’s Labyrinth. In the scene
the protagonist enters the lair of a character called the Pale Man. The scene transpires with mostly equal
measured clips until the aforementioned creature chases after the
protagonist. There is also a smaller
instance within this scene that I would argue is somewhat indicative of
Eisenstein’s “intellectual montage.”
When the Pale Man grabs and eats the fairies that accompany our heroine,
it is a direct and obvious recall to William Blake’s painting Saturn Devouring
His Son.” While Guillermo del Toro
doesn’t flash the painting as a frame within his movie, our mind’s eye recalls
it in a split second and the montage transpires within our own imagination.
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