Documentary Cinema in the Streets of Paris
Juan, Myriam
Documentary Cinema in the Streets of Paris - 2004.
65
In the 1920s, the cinema literally came down into the street and made Paris one of its main subjects. Restricted in its means, the documentary genre was the most deeply affected by this trend, particularly toward the end of the decade, when, emancipated from other forms of nonfiction, it drew a generation of young movie lovers keen to cut their teeth in the film industry. Historical studies did little more than recognize in these films an illustrative function that was alive and moving. In fact, they constituted a set of protean and ambiguous material that far from offering raw documents about an era, presented reality based on elements supposedly taken from the tangible world. The documentaries made in Paris in the 1920s therefore depict the city’s streets as steeped in the numerous myths that fill this space, whether real, symbolic, or imaginary. The itineraries followed, the traffic problems, and the way in which the streets are used all show over and above their heterogeneity through overlapping images. From the narrow streets of the Old Paris to the broad avenues of the smart districts and the bustling streets of everyday commerce, these documentaries present the city’s hesitations immediately following the Great War as well as its contrasting facets in the spirit of the time, torn between a nostalgic archaism and the desire for modernity.
Documentary Cinema in the Streets of Paris - 2004.
65
In the 1920s, the cinema literally came down into the street and made Paris one of its main subjects. Restricted in its means, the documentary genre was the most deeply affected by this trend, particularly toward the end of the decade, when, emancipated from other forms of nonfiction, it drew a generation of young movie lovers keen to cut their teeth in the film industry. Historical studies did little more than recognize in these films an illustrative function that was alive and moving. In fact, they constituted a set of protean and ambiguous material that far from offering raw documents about an era, presented reality based on elements supposedly taken from the tangible world. The documentaries made in Paris in the 1920s therefore depict the city’s streets as steeped in the numerous myths that fill this space, whether real, symbolic, or imaginary. The itineraries followed, the traffic problems, and the way in which the streets are used all show over and above their heterogeneity through overlapping images. From the narrow streets of the Old Paris to the broad avenues of the smart districts and the bustling streets of everyday commerce, these documentaries present the city’s hesitations immediately following the Great War as well as its contrasting facets in the spirit of the time, torn between a nostalgic archaism and the desire for modernity.
Réseaux sociaux