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DOCUMENTARY FILMS / STYLEShave a history, like everything else. The following is a chronology of documentary and ethnographic styles. This chronology includes films I especially love, and some I heartily dislike, and accordingly recommend for varying reasons. After the chronology (based on the spectacular work of David MacDougall in his great book entitled TRANSCULTURAL CINEMA), they are listed first in alphabetical order and are then categorized into each of the four major documentary styles-to-date.
DOCUMENTARY
FILMS / STYLES CONTENTS CHRONOLOGY CHRONOLOGY 1851: Still photographs catalogue East Indian human types. 1868-75: Houghton and Tanner publish THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, photos and texts in eight volumes. 1873: Breeks and Marshall publish some of the earliest photographs from the field to be published in an ethnographic book (photos of the Todas--see Everard im Thurn, below in 1887). 1877: Eadweard Muybridge photographs horses. 1883: Etienne Jules Marey experiments with chronophotography--the photography of people in movement. 1983: World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago. Family groups from many cultures are imported. The great anthropologist Franz Boas helps to organize. Early anthropology emphasizes the visual display of objects and people. 1883: Everard im Thurn pubilshes his photographic classic AMONG THE INDIANS OF GUIANA after years of intimate knowledge of them. 1887: Eadweard Muybridge publishes 16 volume series on human and animal locomotion. 1895: Felix-Louis Regnault films a Wolof woman during Paris Exposition Ethnographique de l’Afrique Occidentale--the beginning of the use of the camera for ethnographic research footage. 1898: A.C. Haddon takes Lumiere camera to Torres Staits for the Cambridge Expedition and films fire-making techniques and ritual dances–the beginning of of the use of the camera for ethnographic record footage. 1906: •W.H.R. Rivers publishes THE TODAS contains 76 still photos (actually taken by Theodor Klein). •William Alfred Gibson and Millard Johnson, LIVING HAWTHORN (Australian town: mix of setups and observational style, including subjective looks into the camera). 1907: Rudolf Poch makes first ethnographic film for which the accompanying sound has been successfully synched. 1911: Seligmann publishes THE VEDDAS containing 119 still photos. 1914: Edward Curtis films IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES (a narrative dramatization using Kwakiutl actors and originally entitled IN THE LAND OF THE HEAD HUNTERS (Jim Jarmusch reportedly based his set for DEAD MAN upon the village in this film). 1917: Missionary film, THE TRANSFORMED ISLE, filmed in the South Pacific Solomon Island between 1907-1915. It suggests an indigenous POV. 1922: Robert Flaherty, NANOOK OF THE NORTH. Third person narration with subjective tone, and focussing on an indigenous person as the film's hero. This film is an early example of cultural relativism and the collaboration between informant and filmmaker. 1925: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, GRASS 1926: Robert Flaherty, MOANA (Flaherty projected rushes every evening, building on the suggestions coming from his subjects). Film built on collaboration. 1927: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, CHANG (pseudo epic which translated native dialogue in orientalist fashion. 1928: Dziga Vertov, THE MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA. Makes explicit the various kinds of filmic manipulation then possible, the subjective inclusion of the filmmaker, and the re-working of previously shown footage. 1929: Jean Epstein, FINNIS TERRAE. Fictionalized documentary on islands off Brittany. Film focuses on actual day-to-day problems, including tensions between characters. This is not the epic, distanced approach of Flaherty in MAN OF ARAN. 1930s: Invention of the sound fllm. Documentary films now become commentary-bound. This developed out of the popularity of the lecture circuit and of the medium of radio. Results: films are based in pedagogical intent and teach the viewer through a distanced, omniscient Voice of God commentary. From this point, there is a notable decline in the use of still photographs in anthropology and in monographs because of shift in interest from objects to structural and psycholanalytical approaches to culture (except in the Third Reich). (1933: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, KING KONG. The filmic representation and treatment of "natives" perfectly embodies the Western cultural attitudes). 1934: •Robert Flaherty, MAN OF ARAN (pseudo-doc, idealized, romantic) •Basil Wright, SONG OF CEYLON (a celebration of the filmmaker’s sensibility in encountering another society. Wright: "It was the only film I’ve made that I really loved, and it was in fact a religious epiphany" MacDougall, p. 113). 1935-51: MARCH OF TIME, series. Approx 200 monthly films of 15-25 minutes. Embodiments of the Voice of God commentary. 1936: Basil Wright, NIGHT MAIL •1936-38: Bateson and Mead’s work in Bali 1945-50’s: Italian neo-realist film movement becomes the inspiration for documentary and ethnographic films. 1948: Luchino Visconti, LA TERRA TREMA. Example of the interest in the dramatization of a European subculture. This interest came out of the Depresson and WWII). 1950: John Marshall begins to film 2 million feet of 16mm film of the Ju/’hoansi people in the Kalahari using the observational approach. His interest turned from technology to human relationships. (See MacDougall for the story of his informant going into the bush and having a baby while he was filming knot-tying and how that event changed his approach from research to recording). 1951: Jean Rouch, BATAILLE SUR LE GRAND FLUEVE, introduces Damoure Zika whom he follows over a 40+year period to MADAME L’EAU (1992) 1954: Roman Kroiter, PAUL TOMLOWICZ: STREET-RAILWAY SWITCH MAN. Film on the "little man" with his ruminations. 1955: Jean Rouch, LES MAITRES FOUS. Rouch's friends advised him to destroy the footage for this film. Rouch did not--and it has come to be appreciated as the most powerful manifestation on film of the effects of colonization upon a subjected people. 1956: Alain Resnais, NIGHT AND FOG, V6951. Musical score plays "alongside" the content of the picture rather than underscoring it. Mix of B/W and color footage. Distanced, ironic, seminall. 1957: Jean Rouch, MOI UN NOIR, using mix of fiction and reality. His characters adopted the roles of Edward G. Robinson and Eddie Constantine in the back alleys of Treichville, Cote d’Ivoire. 1958: Jean Rouch begins to film LA LYRAMIDE HUMAINE that used role playing ("When people are being recorded, the reactions that they have are always infinitely more sincere than those they have when they are not being recorded" MacDougall, Transcultural Cinema, p. 111) 1960’S: •the interview emerged out of journalism and TV to become a key element in documentaries. •development of highly portable synch sound film equipment 1960: • Godard, A BOUT D’UN SOUFFLE —after which Marchsll and Asch began to edit A JOKING RELATIONSHIP using subtitles in a documentary film for the first time. • (Antonioni, L’AVENTURA, placed figures within an environment and let them work within it with long camera takes–prefigured by Jean Epstein’s FINNIS TERRAE (1929--see MacDougall). 1961: Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, CHRONIQUE D’UN ETE, first film to be set up and filmed as a text to be read, and the first to use psychodrama in which testimony was an externalization of interior space. Rouch then rejected psycholdrama as too dangerous for the informant. The CRUCIAL documentary film in terms of its influence on those coming after. 1963: •Robert Gardner, DEAD BIRDS (voice-over commentary) •Asen Balikci begins Netsilik Eskimo series using observational approach. 1964: Chris Marker, LA JETEE 1966: Timothy Asch and John Marshall, A JOKING RELATIONSHIP (first use of subtitles for indigenous dialogue thereby giving the "natives" a voice). 1967: •Frederick Wiseman and John Marshall, TITTICUT FOLLIES •Jean Rouch, JAGUAR, use of "what-if" conversational commentary by the indigenous leads. Contains scene in which the African leads discover their own "primitives". 1969: Maysles brothers, SALESMAN. Built on fiction narrative structures and on Eisenstein’s character types. 1970-?: Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon began major series of "sequence films" on the Yanomamo. See the October 9th issue of THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE for disturbing contemporary follow-up. 1970-73: John Marshall’s series on the Pittsburgh police, THREE DOMESTICS (1970) HENRY IS DRUNK (1972) YOU WASN’T LOITERING (1973) 1972: David and Judith MacDougall, TO LIVE WITH HERDS. Gentle, unfolding, 1975: •Timothy Asch, THE AX FIGHT. One of the crucial films in the cinematic essay genre. •Orson Welles, F FOR FAKE. Film about the impossibility of making a documentary--that all docs are "fakes". Finest example of the cinematic essay genre. 1979: Jean Eustache, LES PHOTOS D’ALIX, readdresses the cinema as photography. 1980: John Marshall, N!AI: THE STORY OF A !KUNG WOMAN. A sequence film that uses footage shot over a 28 year period. 1981: Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill, SOLDIER GIRLS. Uses Eisensteins' theory of character types but then reverses those characters: see especially Private Alves and the scene with Sargeant Abing at the end of the film. 1983: Gary Kildea, CELSO AND CORA. 198?: Michael Apted, 28 UP. Sequence film. Uses extensive footage from a 28 year period. Latest version of this epic work: 42 UP (1999). 1992: Andrew Young and Susan Todd, CHILDREN OF FATE. Sequnce film. explores fate of several people filmed by Robert Young and Michael Roemer in CORTILE CASCINO (1961) and includes footage from that earlier film.
I ESPECIALLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTARY FILMS for varying reasons. Most I adore, some I dislike, heartily. They all can be learned from. A title followed by a catalogue number refers to the Columbia College catalogue. A "PT collection" indicates that it is in my personal collection and is available to screen during class. 28 UP, V7611 AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER ANDERSON PLATOON, V6938 ASANTE MARKET WOMEN, V11593 ATOMIC CAFE, V6566 AX FIGHT, V7335 BATTLE OF CULLODON, V6349 SADIE BENNING FILMS, PT Collection BEST BOY CHICKEN HAWK CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER, V10082 DAIRY FOR TIMOTHY, V9248 DANNY LYONS FILMS, PT collection DAY AFTER TRINITY, V7089 DEAR AMERICA, pT collection DONT’ LOOK BACK, D.A. Pennebaker DERVISHES OF KURDISTAN, V11592 EDVARD MUNCH, V10861 F FOR FAKE, VD729 FAR FROM POLAND, V7596 FINDING CHRISTA, V9913 FOUR LITTLE GIRLS, V11124 FRED MARX FILMS, PT Collection GAP TOOTHED WOMEN, V8096 GATES OF HEAVEN GREY GARDENS HEARTS AND MINDS, V6947 HEARTS OF DARKNESS HOOP DREAMS HOUSING PROBLEMS, V7670 IN THE STREET, V11380 IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES, PT COLLECTION IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG V7099 INCIDENT AT OGLALA JAGUAR, V10134 LAST WALTZ LETTERS FROM VIET NAM LIFE AND NOTHING MORE LIGHTNING OVER WATER LISTEN TO BRITAIN, V9248 LION HUNTERS, V10139 LORANG'S WAY, V11413 MAITRES FOUS, V10158 MANUFACTURING CONSENT, V9806 MEMORANDUM, V7197 MIX UP, PT collection MODELS, WISEMAN NEW EARTH, V7670 NAWI, V11414 NIGHT AND FOG, V6951 NIGHT MAIL, V7670 NOTES FOR AN AFRICAN ORESTES ON THE ROPES, V11576 OUR HITLER, PT collection PAUL ROBESON: HERE I STAND, V11219 PANAMA DECEPTION, V6304 PERFUMED NIGHTMARE, V11043 PHOTO WALLAHS, V11417 PRIMARY, V0298 RAINBOW BRIDGE RING OF FIRE SAD SONG OF YELLOW SKIN, V7766 SAKUDDEI OF INDONESIA, V11597 SANG DES BETES, V9898 SHERMAN'S MARCH SHOAH SILVERLAKE LIFE SOLDIER GIRLS, V7656 SONG OF CEYLON, V7670 STRAVINSKY, V10379 TITTICUT FOLLIES TONGUES UNTIED, V9262 TOKYO GA, V7278 TO LIVE WITH HERDS, V11414 TRUE STORY OF LILI MARLEEN, V9248 TWO GIRLS GO HUNTING, V11594 TWO PORTRAITS, V7481 UNCOMMON SENSES UNIVERSAL CITIZEN, V7481 UNIVERSAL HOTEL, V7481 VALENCIA DIARY, V11382 VERNON, FLORIDA, V7580 VIETNAM: YEAR OF THE PIG VLADIMIR HOROWITZ: LAST ROMANTIC WAR ROOM WEDDING CAMELS, V11416 WILD CHILD (false doc–V8511) WOMEN WHO SMILE, V11595 WORD IS OUT, V9540
THE ABOVE
FILMS CATALOGUED BY HISTORICAL STYLE DIRECT ADDRESS DOCUMENTARY VOICE DAIRY FOR TIMOTHY, V9248 DERVISHES OF KURDISTAN, V11592 HOUSING PROBLEMS, V7670 IN THE LAND OF THE WAR CANOES, PT COLLECTION LISTEN TO BRITAIN, V9248 MARCH OF TIME SERIES NEW EARTH, V7670 NIGHT MAIL, V7670 SONG OF CEYLON, V7670 TRUE STORY OF LILI MARLEEN, V9248
CINEMA VERITE DOCUMENTARY VOICE AN AMERICAN FAMILY ANDERSON PLATOON, V6938 BACKBREAKING LEAF BATTLE OF CHILE BRIG, V7700 CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER, V10082 HOOP DREAMS JAGUAR, V10134 LE JOLI MAI LION HUNTERS, V10139 LONELY BOY MAITRES FOUS, V10158 NAWI, V11415 PHOTO WALLAHS, V11417 PRIMARY, F0298 SALESMAN, V7451 SOLDIER GIRLS, V7656 THE CHAIR TITTICUT FOLLIES, V11008 VALENCIA DIARY, V11382
DIRECT ADDRESS TO VIEWER DOCUMENTARY VOICE 28 UP, V7611 ASANTE MARKET WOMEN, V11593 ATOMIC café, V6566 DAY AFTER TRINITY, V7089 FOUR LITTLE GIRLS, V11124 GREY GARDENS HARLAN COUNTY, USA HEARTS AND MINDS HEARTS OF DARKNESS* IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG V7099 LAST WALTZ LORANG'S WAY, V11413 ON THE ROPES, V11576 PANAMA DECEPTION, V6304 PAUL ROBESON: HERE I STAND, V11219 POINT OF ORDER, V7483, OR V9799 ROSIE THE RIVETTER SAD SONG OF YELLOW SKIN SAKUDDEI OF INDONESIA, V11597 SHOAH STRAVINSKY, V10379 TO LIVE WITH HERDS, V11414 TWO GIRLS GO HUNTING, V11594 VERNON, FLORIDA, V7580 VIETNAM: YEAR OF THE PIG WAR ROOM WEDDING CAMELS, V11416 WOBBLIES, V6663 WOMEN WHO SMILE, V11595 WORD IS OUT, V9540
SELF-REFLEXIVE DOCUMENTARY VOICE / CINEMATIC ESSAY AX FIGHT, V7335 BATTLE OF CULLODON, V6349 DEAR AMERICA, PTcollection EDVARD MUNCH, V10861 F FOR FAKE, VD729 FAST, CHEAP, OUT OF CONTROL FINDING CHRISTA, V9913 IN THE STREET, V11380 LIGHTNING OVER WATER, V7671 MIX UP, PT collection NOTES FOR AN AFRICAN ORESTES OUR HITLER, PT collection SHERMAN'S MARCH, V7629 TOKYO GA, V7278 TONGUES UNTIED, V9262 TURKANA TRILOGY A WIFE AMONG WIVES LORANG’S WAY WEDDING CAMELS TWO PORTRAITS, V7481 UNCOMMON SENSES UNIVERSAL CITIZEN, V7481 UNIVERSAL HOTEL, V7481 WILD CHILD (false doc–V8511)
TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY NARRATION BATTLE OF COLLODON, V6349 CIVIL WAR, V7982 DIARY FOR TIMOTHY F FOR FAKE, VD729 LAND WITHOUT BREAD V7011 NIGHT AND FOG, V6951 NIGHT MAIL, V7670 ROGER AND ME V8227 SONG OF CEYLON, V7670 TOYKO GA, V7278 TWO PORTRAITS, V7481 UNIVERSAL HOTEL, V7481
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