"Enthusiasm": From Kino-Eye to Radio-Eye

Author(s): Lucy Fischer

Source: Film Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Winter, 1977-1978), pp. 25-34
Published by: University of California Press
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LUCY FISCHER
Enthusiasm:
Fr o m
Kino -Eye
to
Radio -Eye
... Listen!
The lo co mo tives
gr o an,
and a
dr aft
blo ws
thr o ugh
cr anniesand
flo o r ;
"Give us
co alfr o m
the Do n!
Metal wo r ker s
and mechanics
fo r
the
depo t!
Ateach
r iver 'so utlet, steamer s
withan
aching
ho le intheir side,
ho wl
thr o ugh
the
do cks.
"Give us
o ilfr o m
Baku!"
While we dawdle and
quar r el
insear ch
o ffundamental answer s,
all
thingsyell:
"give
usnew
fo r ms!"
Ther e ar e no
fo o ls to day
to
cr o wd,
o pen-mo uthed,
r o und a"maestr o "
and awaithis
pr o no uncement
Co mr ades,
give
usanew
fo r mo f
ar t-
anar t
thatwill
pull
the
r epublic
o ut
o f
the mud.
-Vladimir
Mayako vsky
Fr o m: "Or der No . 2 To The
Ar my
o f Ar ts"
(1921)2
The
year
1930 wo uld no tseemto have beena
ver y
pleasant
o ne fo r
Dziga
Ver to v. Onthe
po litical
fr o nt it was a
year
that saw a
har dening
o f the
Stalinist
r egime
and withitthe aesthetic o f So cial-
ist Realism. (Ver to v was
r adically o ppo sed to this
aesthetic.) Onthe technical fr o nt, it was a
year
thatfo und So vietcinemadiso r iented
by
the advent
o f so und and its film-maker sco nflicted as to its
pr o per
use.
(Ver to v was inthe
vanguar d
o f this
co nflict).
Onthe
per so nal fr o nt,
itwasa
year
that
saw Ver to v'sdismissal fr o m
VUFKU,
the Pan-
Ukr ainian Co mmittee o f Cinema and
Pho to g-
r aphy. (Ver to v,
o f
co ur se,
had been
char ged
with
the sino f fo r malism.) But 1930 wasalso the year
inwhichVer to v made Enthusiasm, afilmthat it
may
be useful to see asthe o bjectupo nwhichthese
o ther lines
co nver ge.
Ear lier in1930 Ver to v had wr ittenaplanfo r
the film,
giving it the dual titleso f Sympho ny o f
the Do nbas o r Enthusiasm. This
plandescr ibed
mainly
the visual sho tsto be included inthe film.
Butitismo r e
inter esting
to no te that
dur ing 19291
he had wr ittenano ther tr eatmentfo r the film, o ne
that was co nceived almo st
to tally
in ter ms o f
so und. Enthusiasmwasto be Ver to v's(and, o ne
o f Russia's) fir st so und films, and hisfascinatio n
withthe new mediumis
appar ent
inhis
wr iting:
A clo ck ticks.
Quietly atfir st.
Gr adually lo uder . Still lo uder .
Unbear ably lo ud (almo st like the blo ws o f a hammer ).
Gr adually so fter , to aneutr al, clear ly audible level. Asif the
beating
o f ahear t, o nly co nsider ably lo uder .'
The fact that he co uld co nceive o f and descr ibe
inadvance an
independent
so und tr ack fo r the
film
is, in
itself,
extr ao r dinar y;
but less
so , when
o ne co nsider sthe co ncer nso f Ver to v's
yo uth.
His
academic
backgr o und
seems to have been
quite
br o ad. He studied music at a
co nser vato r y in
Bialysto k,
and then attended medical scho o l.
While
ther e, he
pur sued
aninter estthathad been
hissince childho o d-that o f cr eative
wr iting.
After
co mpleting
sever al
no vels, Ver to v
explains
inhis
No tebo o ks:
.
. . all wastr ansfo r med into afascinatio nwitha
mo ntage
o f
steno gr aphic no tesand so und
r eco r ding--in
par ticular a
fascinatio nwiththe po ssibilitieso f
do cumenting so unds in
wr iting, inattemptsto depict inwo r dsand letter sthe so und
o f awater fall, the no ise o f a
sawmill,
inmusical-thematic
cr eatio nso f wo r d
mo ntage
. .
Ashisto r ian
Geo r ges
Sado ul makesclear inhis
wo r k o n
Ver to v, insuch
pur suits
the latter wasno
do ubtinfluenced
by
the ItalianFutur istar tmo ve-
ment, thenco ncer ned withthe use o f so und in
gener al
and industr ial no ise in
par ticular .
In
1911,
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26
ENTHUSIASM
BaillaPr atellahad wr ittena"Manifesto to Futur -
ist Musicians" inwhichhe had called fo r the ex-
pr essio n
o f "the musical so ul o f the
masses, o f
gr eat
industr ial timber
yar ds,
o f
tr ains,
o f tr ans-
atlantic
ships,
o f
. . .
the
glo r ificatio n
o f elec-
tr icity."'
In
1912,
Mar inetti had said that wr iter s
sho uld
"give
the wo r d" to
o bjects
and machines
and intr o duce no ise into liter atur e. In
1913,
painter Luigi
Russo lo had wr itten:
Let us tr avel
to gether
acr o ss a
gr eat
mo der n
capital,
ear s
mo r e attentive than
eyes,
and we will
var y
the
pleasur e
o f
o ur
sensibility
in
distinguishing
the
gur gling
o f
water ,
o f
air ,
o f
gas
inthe metal
pipes
.. .'
As Sado ul
po ints o ut,8
the
phr ase
"ear smo r e
attentive than
eyes"
seems
cer tainly
to have been
a
key
o ne fo r Ver to v. Fo r in 1916 he set
up
a
Labo r ato r y
o f
Hear ing
inwhichto co nduct such
Futur ist-influenced so und
exper iments.
Thus we
find,
str angely,
that the film-maker mo st kno wn
fo r his co ncer nwiththe
eye
was
r eally,
at
fir st,
mo st co ncer ned withthe ear . And o ne cansee
Enthusiasm, whichVer to v himself r efer r ed to as
"a
sympho ny
o f
no ises,"
asanalmo st
po stpo ned
event-o ne that he wasso meho w
r eady
fo r inthe
twenties,
but which was
no t,
techno lo gically
speaking, r eady
fo r him.
But let usr etur nto Ver to v'sso und scenar io o f
1929.
Examining
this
alo ng
withthe 1930 tr eat-
ment o f the
visuals,
we r ealize that we have what
amo untsto
separ ate
so und tr ack and visual tr ack
co nceptio ns
fo r the film. One
might
r ead into this
fact the no tio nthat the so und tr ack is
pr imar y.
(After all,
its
plan
did co me fir st and seems to
have been wr ittenwith mo r e car e and
detail.)
But this
may
be unfair . What can
cer tainly
be
infer r ed, ho wever ,
isthat Ver to v intended to tr eat
the so und and visual elementsinthe filmas
sep-
ar ate and
equal.
This
gener al
attitude to war d
so und
had,
o f
co ur se,
beencalled fo r
by
Eisen-
stein
(and Pudo vkinand
Alexandr o v)
in 1928.
Eisensteinfear ed thatmo sto f the fir stso und films
wo uld be tho se inwhichso und
r eco r ding
wo uld
"pr o ceed
o na natur alistic
level,
exactly
co r r es-
po nding
withthe mo vement o nthe scr een. . .
pr o viding
acer tainillusio no f
talking peo ple,
o f
audible
o bjects,
etc."'
This,
he
felt,
wo uld
destr o y
mo ntage
and thushe called fo r so und to be tr eated
as
"anew
mo ntage
element
(as
afacto r divo r ced
fr o mthe visual
image.)"
As ameans o f acco m-
plishing
the divo r ce o f so und fr o m
pictur e, he pr o -
po sed "its distinct
no n-synchr o nizatio nwiththe
visual images."
In1930, Ver to v made hiso wnstatemento nthe
so und film, par tly
inr eactio nto thato f Eisenstein:
Declar atio nsabo ut the need to keep visual mo mentsfr o m
co inciding withaudible mo ments, justlike declar atio nsabo ut
the need to have o nly so und filmso r o nly talkiesar en'two r th
abean. Inso und film, asinsilentfilm, we distinguisho nly
two kindso f films:do cumentar y (withr eal co nver satio nsand
so unds) and play-films(withar tificially pr epar ed co nver sa-
tio nsand so unds). Neither do cumentar iesno r
play
filmsar e
o bligated to have visible mo mentsco incide [o r no tco incide]
withaudible mo ments. So und sho ts and silent sho ts ar e
edited alike; they canco incide [o r no t
co incide] inmo ntage
o r they canmix witheacho ther invar io usco mbinatio ns
...
Lo
Clear ly, Ver to v, like Eisenstein, isco ncer ned with
the
integr ity
o f the so und tr ack, the cr eatio no f
so und aswell asvisual
mo ntage.
But his
co ncep-
tio no f this is
per haps
mo r e r adical. He
r ejects
Eisenstein's no tio n o f
achieving
aur al
indepen-
dence
thr o ugh
amer e
no nsynchr o nizatio n
o f visual
and
audito r y mater ial, and, as we shall see in
examining
Enthusiasm, achievesit
thr o ughco n-
cepts
o f
editing
and
synchr o nizatio n
o f a mo r e
subtle natur e.
But, mo r e
impo r tantly,
Ver to v is
also , like
Eisenstein, war y
o f the so und film's
po tential
fo r natur alistic illusio n.
Ho wever ,
he
pr o ceeds
to
inter pr et
and subver tthat illusio nism
ina
fundamentally
differ entmanner .
Enthusiasmis, fir st o f all, a
do cumentar y,
which, o no ne level, isabo utthe effo r tso f the Do n
Basin
r egio n
to
acco mplish
cer tain industr ial-
agr icultur al
tasks o f the Fir st Five Year Plan.
These tasksco nsist
mainly
o f the
mining
o f
co al,
the
pr o ductio n
o f
steel,
and the
har vesting
o f
wheat
(in
that
o r der ).
It isano de to the
co o per -
ative enthusiasmo f So viet wo r ker sand alesso n
co ncer ning
the inter r elatedness o f their var io us
tasksin
achieving
State So cialism. Whato ccur sin
the Do nBasinisa
synecdo che
fo r what iso ccur -
r ing
inRussiaat
lar ge.
ButEnthusiasmiso bvio us-
ly
mo r e thanthis. And
per haps
anexaminatio n
o f the fir st sectio no f the film
(the
o nly
sectio n
which
is,
significantly,
no t abo ut the Five Year
Plan) will
help
to make the film's
deeper meaning
clear . Fo r whatis
impo r tant
abo utthe fir st
par t
o f
Enthusiasmis
that,
examined
micr o co smically,
it
canr eveal to usthe essential str uctur eso f the film
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Ver to v's
ENTHUSIASM.
To gether
with
sucho ther
significant
So v-
iet
filmso f
the
twentiesas
A SIXTH OF THE
WORLD,
SALT FOR
SVANETIA, and
AELITA,
itWill
so o nbe
placed
incir culatio n
by
the Museum
o f
Mo der nAr t.
::-;::N:%N
::::Al.
1Wi
in its
entir ety.
It can r eveal Ver to v's
theo r y
o f
so und and ho w it r elates to his
co nceptio n
o f film
in
gener al.
What o ne is mo st str uck
by
inthe fir st sectio n
o f Enthusiasmis the sense o f incr edible tensio n
that exists betweenthe so und and visuals. The
so und
physically pushes
itself
away
fr o mthe
scr een;
and the two seemr elated inthe manner o f
magnets
withlike
po les
aligned--physically
separ -
ate,
but
inter acting thr o ugh
lineso f fo r ce. Because
o f this
dynamism,
we ar e
co ntinually
made awar e
o f the so und tr ack and visual tr ack as
separ ate
entities.
This,
o f
co ur se,
ar isesfr o mVer to v's
high-
ly exper imental
use o f so und inthe film. He studi-
o usly
avo idsthe co nventio ns
alr eady develo ped
fo r
the so und filminBr itainand the United States
(like synchr o no usdialo gue, natur alistically
r elated
so und and
image,
and
backgr o und
"musak"),
and instead
emplo ys
the abstr actand disso ciative
technique
o f audio visual
co llage.
But befo r e
co nfr o nting
the
pr ecise
natur e o f
that
co llage,
it isuseful to answer two
questio ns:
(1)
Why
do esVer to v cr eate thisr adical audio visual
disjunctio n:
and
(2)
Ho w do eshe
acco mplish
it?
One
might co njectur e,
fo r
example,
that it is
mer ely
avir tuo so
attempt
to edit so und sho tsas
flexibly
asvisual
sho ts,
and ascr ibe its diso r ient-
ing
use o f so und
mo ntage
to Ver to v'sear lier ex-
per ience
withFutur ist
exper imentatio n.
But this
wo uld be
lo o king
atthe aestheticso f the filmwith-
o ut
r egar d
to its
po litical
co ntent.
The cr ucial
thing
to r emember is that Enthu-
siamis a
do cumentar y,
afilmwho se so und as
well asvisualsar e
do cumentar y
innatur e. And if
o ne examines
br iefly
Ver to v's
theo r y
o f do cumen-
tar y (best
kno wninthe fo r mo f Kino - o r Cinema-
Eye)
so me
puzzling aspects
o f the filmfall into
place.
Fo r Ver to v's
co nceptio n
o f
Cinema-Eye
appliesexactly
to his no tio no f
Radio -Eye;
what
ho ldsfo r his
theo r y
o f cinematic visuals
applies
to
his
theo r y
o f cinematic so und aswell.
To
summar ize,
Ver to v'sfir st
assumptio npo liti-
cally
is that the masses must be educated and
co nscio us o f the
so cial,
eco no mic and
po litical
wo r kings
o f the So vietstate:
We need co nscio usmen,
no tanunco nscio us mass. Submis-
sive to
any passing suggestio n."
Hisseco nd
assumptio n
isthatthe
aver age
human
being,
withthe no r mal human
per ceptual appar a-
tus and limitatio nso f time and
space,
is
sever ely
handicapped
inhis
ability
to be
co gnizant
o f these
facto r s. The wo r ld is:
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28 ENTHUSIASM
.
A
whir lpo o l
o f co ntacts, blo ws, embr aces, games, acci-
dents, athletics, dances, taxes, spectacles,
r o bber ies, and
inco ming
and
o utgo ing paper s, against
a
backgr o und
o f
seething
humanlabo r .
Ho w is the
o r dinar y
unar med
eye
to make sense o f this
visual chao s."
Histhir d
assumptio n
is that machines
(fo r ex-
ample,
the camer aand the so und
r eco r der ) have
the
capability
that humansdo
no t, to
per ceive
life
and, fur ther mo r e,
to
o r ganize
its chao s into a
meaningful
who le. This is due
lar gely
to their
mo r e
per fect r eco r ding
mechanisms and their
po wer s
o f
mo bility:
Slicing
into the
seeming
chao so f life
Kino -Eye attempts
to
find answer sinlife itself. To find the r esultantfo r ce
amo ng
the millio nso f
pheno mena
r elated to
any givensubject.3"
His use o f the ter m
"r esultantfo r ce"
gives
us
ano ther
clue,
which is that Ver to v
r egar ds
the
pr o cess
o f
film-making
as a
scientific
endeavo r .
His task is "to co mbine science withcinematic
depictio n
inthe
str uggle
to r eveal tr uth. . . to
decipher r eality.""4
Thisis
impo r tant
because
just
asthe scientist's
depictio n
o f the wo r ld has
no thing
to do withthe
aver age
man's
per ceptio n
o f the
wo r ld
(e.g.,
I see the sun"r ise" and "set" and do
no t see the
tur ning
o f the ear tho nits
axis),
so
Ver to v's
depictio n
o f the wo r ld incinematic
ter ms,
tho ughdo cumentar y,
will be far fr o m
iso mo r phic
witho ur
per ceptio n
o f it. His mo del is life as it
exists
independent
o f the human
per cepto r ,
no t
life as
exper ienced by
Man.
And
finally,
asAnnette Michelso nhasstated in
her seminal wo r k o nThe Man Withthe Mo vie
Camer a, 's
Ver to v inhisr adical co ncer nwithmass
co nscio usnesswantsthe viewer o f his
do cumentar y
filmsto be
co ntinually
awar e thathe is
watching
a
film. He wantsto br eak the mesmer ic
spell
o f the
cinemato insur e itsdidactic
po wer s.
If the masses
watch a
play-film
with even
appr o ved
so cialist
co ntent,
they may
be
swayed by
the
po wer s
o f the
medium,
and its
acto r s,
and no t
per suaded,
intel-
lectually, by
the tr uth o f its
ar guments.'6
Fo r
Ver to v the
peo ple
must have
kno wledge
and no t
belief;
and to insur e
this,
o ne must subver t the
po wer
o f the cinematic illusio n:
Fo r the Kino k
demystificatio n
is
equally impo r tant
o nthe
scr eenand inlife."
Thus,
the use o f so und inEnthusiasmisno t
just
avir tuo so
attempt
at so und
co llage,
ar tfo r ar t's
sake. Itisar adical
attempt
to br eak the natur alis-
tic illusio no f the so und medium.
Lo ng live the class co nscio usnesso f healthy menwitheyes
and ear sto see and hear with.I"
Thisisbo r ne o utby aclo se r eading o f the fir st
sectio no f the filminter mso f bo th
technique
and
co ntent. Fo r what is the
subject
o f the fir st sec-
tio no f Enthusiasmif no t the pr o cesso f
demysti-
ficatio nitself? Onthe level o f co ntent, the film
begins
with
images
o f Russiainthe
gr ips
o f
hyp-
no sis
by
Tsar ismand
r eligio n.
We ar e flo o ded
with
images
that r eco nstr uctthe
per io d:
the Tsar -
ist
mo no gr am,
chur chbells, statues o f Chr ist,
genuflecting wo r shipper s, cr ucifixes, etc. Co unter -
po inted
withthese
images
ar e so undso f
litur gical
cho ir s
singing, peo ple into ning
the mass, sacr ed
music, cucko o s, and
ticking
clo cks. Mo st so und-
image
r elatio nsfall under the
catego r y
o f
asyn-
chr o nicity,
withthe
exceptio n
o f the chur chbells
whichar e
simultaneo usly
seenand hear d.
Inter cut with these
images
o f
r eligio us and
mo nar chal
wo r ship
ar e
images
o f
stagger ing
dr unks. It is no t difficult to
inter pr et
Ver to v's
statement;
r eligio nis, after
all,
the
o piate
o f the
peo ple.
Inthe next
sequence,
Ver to v center so nthe
pr o -
cesso f
demystificatio n.
The act o f
co ming
o ut o f
the
po litical-r eligio us
tr ance is
acco mplished,
symbo lically, thr o ugh
the destr uctio no f achur ch
and its
subsequent
co nver sio ninto a
public
so cial
club. Inthis
ver y spectacular sequence,
we see
multiple pr ismatic images
o f the chur ch
spir e
appear
o nthe scr eenand
jump
ar o und. A
split-
scr een
image
o f the cr ucifix isseenwitheachcr o ss
bending
to war d the o ther as
tho ughfalling.
Other
images
o f cr ucifixes vibr ate and
go
r o und ina
cir cle. The
impact
o f the visuals is under sco r ed
and accentuated
by
the so und
tr ack,
whichco n-
sists o f dr umr o llsthat ar e
car efully
matched to
the
r hythm
o f the
images."9
Finally,
we see the
castr ated chur ch
spir e
fall to the
gr o und,
acco m-
panied by
the
lar ge
cr asho nthe so und tr ack. This
is
r epeated
sever al times inadr amatic climax to
the
sequence.
Ultimately,
inaser ieso f r ever se sho ts acco m-
panied by
band
music,
we see so cialist
flags fly
o nto the fr o nt o f the defr o cked chur chand the
inver se
r eligio us
co nver sio nis
acco mplished.
Reli-
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ENTHUSIASM
gio n
is seenand hear d fo r what it is and elimi-
nated. "The
per fumed
veil o f
kisses, mur der s,
do vesand
pr estigidatio n"
is lifted.20 The
peo ple
ar e
finally
co nscio us. The r ed star flies
up
and
magically
the chur chis
tr ansfo r med;
and
magic
is, per haps,
the
po int.
Fo r
o nly
the Cinema
Eye/
Ear cansee and hear inthis
extr ao r dinar y way-
canstr addle time and
space, uniting visually
and
aur ally
eventsthatto the
aver age per so n
ar e unr e-
lated
(
. .
.
"fr eed fr o mtime and
space,
I co o r -
dinate
any
and all
po ints
o f the univer se wher ever
I
may plo t
them."21)
And it is also the
po int
in
thatVer to v
co ntinually
makesso und and
image
so
"tr icky"
that o ne isawar e o f the tr ick. He islike
a
magician
who
per fo r ms
tr icks
o nly
to r eveal to
usho w
they
ar e
do ne; o nly
to instr uctus
against
falling
fo r tr icksinthe fir st
place.22
The co ntent o f the fir st sectio no f the filmr e-
veals
so mething
else aswell. The
ver y
fir stvisual
sho t is an
ambiguo usimage
o f a
yo ung wo man,
who
puts
o n
headpho nes
and sitsinfr o nto f so me
kind o f switchbo ar d:
(likely,
the
"r adio -telegr aph"
mentio ned inVer to v'sso und
scenar io ).
It is an
image
thatwill co ntinue to
r eappear
and
punctu-
ate the sectio n as a leit-mo tif. The wo manis
usually
seeninthe
po stur e
o f
listening;
hence,
the
pr epo nder ance
o f
clo se-up
sho ts o f her ear sand
ear pho nes.
Itso o nbeco mesclear thatthiswo man
ser vesthe functio no f
standing
fo r the filmlistener .
Ato ne
po int,
in
fact,
asshe
puts
o nher
ear pho nes
the so und tr ack car r iesthe vo ice o f amansho ut-
ing:
"Attentio n. Attentio n.
Leningr ad speaking
. RV3 . . .
at a
wavelength
o f
1,000
meter s.
We no w br o adcast the
mar ch,
"The Final Sun-
day,"
fr o mthe
film, Sympho ny o f
the Do nbas. "23
This is
immediately
fo llo wed
by
the
image
o f a
co nducto r
leading
ano r chestr awhichis
pr esum-
ably playing
the
ver y
music thatshe is
listening
to .
The wo man ser ves
essentially
two functio ns.
Withinthe co ntexto f the filmshe seemsto
play
the
r o le o f so und
"mo nito r ,"
amember o f the film
pr o ductio n
cr ew who auditsthe so und
r eco r ding
pr o cess.24
Onano ther
level, ho wever ,
she seemsto
stand o utside the
film,
and inthis
capacity
isiden-
tified withthe filmaudience itself.
Clear ly,
the
ico no gr aphy
o f this
pr eface
to
Enthusiasmr evealsVer to v'sco mmitmentto cine-
matic
r eflexivity;
to
sabo taging
all filmic
illusio ns,
inthis
case,
tho se
per taining
to the mediumo f
... .....
,ANSI,;.
.....
.....
Dziga
Ver to v
so und. Just as inManwiththe Mo vie Camer a
we ar e made awar e o f the
Cinema-Eye,
so inEn-
thusiasm
(o r ,
"Wo manwiththe
Ear pho nes")
we
ar e fo r ced to be co nscio uso f the Cinema-Ear .
The last time the
r adio -telegr aph
wo man
ap-
pear s
is
dur ing
the final sho tso f this
sectio n,
when
demystificatio n
o f
r eligio n
is
acco mplished. Signi-
ficantly,
she isseenwitho ut
ear pho nes, sculpting
abusto f Lenin.
Ther e isalso ano ther
aur ally
r eflexive elementin
this
intr o ducto r y
sectio n:the o r chestr aco nducto r .
Ear ly
o n inthe filmwe hear o r chestr al music
acco mpanying
cer tain
images.
But it is no t until
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30 ENTHUSIASM
many
sho ts later that Ver to v sho ws us this
ver y
music inthe
pr o cess
o f
being
co nducted. Itseems
bo thaninstance o f audio visual time r ever sal and
an
example
o f Ver to v'sdesir e to r eveal the film-
making pr o cess.
It
may
also be an
apo lo gia
fo r
what is
pr o bably
the
o nly
studio -r eco r ded so und
sho twithinthe film.
Ver to v had
ver y r igid
no tio ns o f the need fo r
pur e do cumentar y fo o tage.
As anear lier
quo te
r eveals,
fo r himthe
impo r tant
distinctio ninthe
so und filmwasno tbetween
asynchr o nizatio n
and
synchr o nizatio n
but between r eal and ar tificial
co nver satio nsand so unds. One
might ask,
ho w-
ever ,
why
the distinctio nisso
impo r tant; why
the
bell so und used inthe filmco uld no t have been
r eco r ded o naso und
stage
o r cr eated inaso und
effects machine. But o ne need
o nly
examine
Ver to v'sstatementabo utthe
apple:
If afake
apple
and ar eal
apple
ar e filmed so thato ne canno t
be
distinguished
fr o mano ther o nthe
scr een,
this is no t
ability,
but
inco mpetence-inability
to
pho to gr aph.2"
And so it iswithso und. But it also
impo r tant
to
r emember that Ver to v co nsider ed himself ascien-
tist and was co ncer ned with
using
so und asevi-
dence.26
We can
lear n,
fo r
example,
abo ut the
human
bo dy by seeing
a
plastic
mo del o f the skele-
tal
system.
But thenwe ar e
o nly taking
o nfaith
thatit
co r r espo nds
to whatis
actually
beneaththe
skin.
Ho wever ,
if we dissectacadaver and o bser ve
ar eal skeletal
system
we have evidence. And it is
the same withfilm.
But
ho w,
specifically,
o n the .level o f so und
technique,
do es
Ver to v
help
to br eak the aur al
cinematic
illusio n,
the illusio nthatwe ar e "ther e"
listening,
and r emind uswe ar e
listening
to afilm?
Onthe mo st
gener al
level he causesthe viewer to
feel
pr o fo undly
diso r iented inthe so und
space
o f
the film. Hismeanso f
achieving
thisar e numer o us
and canbe fo und inanexaminatio no f the fir st
sectio no f the film:
1. Disembo died So und:
Dur ing
the sho ts o f the r adio -tele-
gr aph
wo manwe
inter mittently
hear o nthe so und tr ack aclo ck
ticking
and amechanical cucko o . These so unds
r emain, ho wever ,
disembo died and ar e never identified with
anything depicted
o n
the scr een.
2. So und
Super impo sitio n(fr o m
var io usso und
spaces):
At
po ints
inthe fir st sectio no f the filmthe clo ck
ticking
is hear d
"o ver "
the chur chbells.
Clear ly
the clo ck and bellsar e
spatially
unr elated.
3. So und/Visual Time Rever sal:The example o f the o r chestr a
co nducto r has
alr eady
beencited.
4. Abr uptSo und Br eaks:Dur ing the title sequence the Ko m-
so mo l band music abr uptly changesto cucko o calls; and later a
wo o dwind mar chis
abr uptly
cuto ff
by
the lo ud
to lling
o f abell.
The mo st extr eme
example o f this o ccur s
dur ing amar chse-
quence whenthe music is actually br o keno ff thr ee times fo r
mo mentso f silence, as
tho ugh
so meo ne had lifted aneedle o ff
ar eco r d and
placed
itdo wn
again.
5.
Abr upt
To nal Co ntr asts:This
technique
is similar to the
o ne abo ve. Ho wever instead o f
invo lving
so und "br eaks" it in-
vo lvesstar k to nal co ntr asts
(e.g.,
the cut fr o mthe
light so und
o f awo o dwind mar chto the
heavy to lling
o f achur chbell).
6. So und Edited to Cr eate an
Effect o f Inappr o pr iate Physical
Co nnectio nto the
Image:
The best
example
o f thiso ccur sbefo r e
the destr uctio no f the chur ch. We see o nthe scr eenasuccessio n
o f static
images:
achur ch
spir e,
a
mado nna, astatue o f Chr ist,
aTsar ist
mo no gr am.
Eacho ne is
acco mpanied
o nthe so und
tr ack
by
the
to lling
o f abell. The
feeling
that ar isesfr o mthis
par ticular co upling
o f so und and
image
is that the
ver y
same
impact
o f the bell
clapper
that causes it to to ll, also "causes"
the
image
to
appear
o nthe scr een. Itisas
tho ugh
the bell co uld
to ll no t
o nly
so undsbut
pictur es.
7.
Synthetic
So und
Co llage:
At
po ints
inthe
film,
the so und
mixing beco mes so
synthetic
that
o ne is r eminded o f its ar tifi-
ciality, o f its status as pur e filmso und. An
example o ccur s
dur ing
the sectio n inwhich
r eligio n
is
expo sed. Acco mpany-
ing
the
images
o f ico nsand
genuflecting wo r shipper s
ar e so unds
o f
bleating ho r ns,
o r ganmusic, chur ch
bells, etc.
8.
Inappr o pr iate
So unds: The
spir e "cr ash,"
whenlistened to
clo sely,
seemsto be the so und o f an
explo sio n.
9.
Mismatchingso f So und/Visual Distance: Oftenthe visuals
ar e inmediumsho t o r
lo ng
sho twhile the so und isin
clo se-up.
Fo r instance whenthe
spir e
falls we ar e muchfar ther
away
visually
thanwe ar e
aur ally.
10. Mismatchingso f So und/Visual Lo catio n: At
po ints it is
clear that while avisual has beensho t inexter io r s, the so und
to whichit is linked has beensho t ininter io r s. This
per tains
to the sho t inwhichdr unksseeno ut o f do o r sar e
acco mpanied
by litur gical
music
clear ly
r eco r ded indo o r s.
11.
Metapho r ical
Use
o f' So und.
The cucko o is used inan
o penly
semantic
way.
Its
super impo sitio n
o ver chur ch bells
"says"
that
r eligio n
is
insane, o r , per haps.
"fo r the bir ds." The
ticking
clo ck
(whichis no t
r ealistically cued) beco mes, meta-
pho r ically,
the mechanical
pulse
o f the
natio n, its
"hear tbeat",
asVer to v
puts
itinthe so und scenar io .
12. So und Disto r tio n:Ver to v
o penly emplo ys
so und disto r tio n
incer tainsectio ns o f chur chbell
to lling. This, o f
co ur se, has
semantic
implicatio ns
as
well,
in
alluding
to the
war ped
teach-
ings
o f the chur ch. Aswe hear the disto r ted
chiming, ho wever ,
we see o nthe scr eenthe no r mal mo vemento f the bell. Thus a
fur ther
so und/image disjunctio n
isestablished.
13.
Techno lo gical Reflexivity:
Inthe fir stsectio nwe have two
sho tso f
lo udspeaker shung
inthe co r ner so f the r o o ms. We also
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ENTHUSIASM
31
have the co mmentato r o nthe so und tr ack mentio nthe
film,
The
Sympho ny o f
the Do nbas.
Fur ther mo r e, we have the
pr es-
ence o f the
r adio -telegr aphwo man.
14. Asso ciatio n
o f
One So und WithVar io us
Images:
Over the
co ur se o f the
film
a
single so und
will be synchr o nized
to
a
var iety o f
images. This br eaks the illusio nthat any par ticular
image
isthe so ur ce o f that
so und;
o r that the so und and
image
synchr o nized
wer e r eco r ded at the same time o r inthe same
space.
An
example
o f this
technique
isthe so und o f a
str ange,
high-pitched
whistle whichato ne
po intacco mpanies
sho tso f the
mines, and at
ano ther ,
sho tso f the steel
fo undr y.
15.
Simple Asynchr o nismo f
So und and
Image: Examples
o f
thisar e the chur chcho ir so undsver sus
images
o f
dr unks;
Ko m-
so mo l mar chver susthe
image
o f a
tr ain;
the
to lling
bell ver sus
the
image
o f Chr ist'sstatue.
Acco mpanying
these
techniques
o f aur al r eflex-
ivity Ver to v,
o f
co ur se,
emplo ys
deco nstr uctive
visual
str ategies
to r einfo r ce o ur co nscio usnesso f
film
qua
film.
Per haps
his mo st
gener al
metho d
invo lvesato tal liber atio nfr o ma"r ealistic" mo de
o f
spatial pr esentatio n.
The
spaces
o f co nsecutive
sho tsar e almo stnever
co ntiguo us;
and itis
impo s-
sible ever to r eco nstr uctthe
geo gr aphy
o f the set-
tings
we ar e in. Ver to v's
fr aming
o f sho tsco ntr i-
butesto thisdiso r ientatio n. Almo stall the
images
inthis sectio nar e sho t at an
angle.
The sur faces
upo n
which
peo ple, buildings,
and machines
stand ar e fr amed so ~asto be almo stnever
par allel
to the ho r izo ntal axis o f the scr een. Since
things
ar e no t
po sitio ned
this
way
ino ur r eal life
exper i-
ence we ar e
co nstantly
r eminded o f the mediatio n
o f the
Camer a-Eye.
A seco nd r elated
technique
Ver to v
emplo ys
is to misfr ame a sho t and then
"co r r ect"
it. Ino ne
sho t,
fo r
example,
the
image
o f a chur ch
appear s
askew. The camer a then
r o tatesuntil the
image str aightens
o ut and is
per -
pendicular
to the bo tto mo f the scr een.
Super impo sitio ns, pr ismsho ts,
split-scr een
ef-
fects,
r ever se sho ts and deceler atio ns ar e used
quite lavishly.
The last sho t o f the sectio nco n-
tains anacceler atio nthat makes clear Ver to v's
co ncer n. We have o nthe scr eenastatic
image--
that o f the chur chwhichhasbeenco nver ted into
a so cial club. Instead o f
sho o ting
it at no r mal
speed, ho wever ,
Ver to v hassho t it so that it
ap-
pear s
inacceler ated mo tio n. The chur cho f co ur se
r emains
"still";
but clo udsr ush
past
it infantas-
tic
pixilatio n.
Onasemantic
level, Ver to v ismo st
likely aiming
atasense o f the so cialiststate "r ush-
ing
into the futur e." Buto nafo r mal
level, by
tak-
ing
what is essentially astatic sho t and giving it
synthetic acceler atio n, Ver to v under sco r esthe fact
that the chur chexistswithinthe
space o f afilm.
The intr o ducto r y sectio nalso co ntainssuchvisual-
ly
r eflexive elementsas: asho t o f the mo vie thea-
tr e; an image o f a dr unk who visibly "sho o s"
away the camer aman; and exagger ated camer a
mo vementsthatr emind uso f itsmechanical
pr es-
ence (its "dr unken" mo vement info llo wing an
inebr iated man; its
swinging
mo vementin
par allel-
ing the
r inging
o f abell).
Butto r etur nto the issue o f so und, inthe indus-
tr ial and
agr icultur al sectio ns o f the filmwhich
fo llo w, we find anextensio no f Ver to v's
technique
o f audio -visual
editing.
Ino ur discussio no f the
o pening sequence
o f the filmwe had no ted ho w
Ver to v'suse o f adisto r ted chur chbell and cucko o
so unds, inadditio nto
being aur ally r eflexive, had
thematic r elevance to his
cr itique
o f Tsar ist Rus-
sia. Inthe
agr icultur al and industr ial sectio ns,
Ver to v elabo r ateso nthissemantic use o f so und.
Inthese sectio ns, ho wever , the
majo r thematic
emphasishasshifted fr o ma
cr itique
o f the Russia
o f the
past,
to acelebr atio no f the So vietstate o f
the
pr esent. Specifically,
Ver to v wishesto deline-
ate the inter r elatedness o f the var io us Do nbas
tasks which
co njo in
to fulfill the dir ectiveso f the
fir st Five Year Plan. Thus Ver to v will
emplo y
a
single
so und (like that o f the Inter natio nale
being
sung)
to
unify
suchdiver se
images
as awo r ker s'
meeting,
aco al
miner , and atr ain
leaving
fo r the
Do nbas. Fur ther mo r e, Ver to v cuts
fluidly, with-
o ut tr ansitio n, betweenso unds o f o ne kind o f
Do nbas
activity
and ano ther :fr o mthe so und o f a
tr ain
br inging
co al
wo r ker s,
to that o f far mer s
singing
inthe field. This
technique
asser ts the
fundamental
unity
and co nnectio nbetweenthe
var io uslabo r tasks. A similar semantic functio n
can be ascr ibed to
many
o f the
asynchr o no us
so und/image
r elatio nsinthe film. Fo r
example,
the disembo died sho uts o f "Hur r ah" whichac-
co mpany
the
images
o f the co al miner sar e
clear ly
meant to stand fo r the massive
suppo r t
o f o ther
Do nbas wo r ker s. Thus
thr o ugho ut
Enthusiasm
the
ver y techniques
that Ver to v utilizesto br eak
the so und illusio nser ve
simultaneo usly
to advance
the film's
po litical
and thematic co ntent.
Inadditio nto
entailing
the elabo r atio no f these
semantic
str ategies,
the
agr icultur al
and industr ial
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32 ENTHUSIASM
sectio ns
do ,
o f
co ur se,
invo lve an extensio n o f
Ver to v'sr eflexive aur al
techniques
aswell:
1. So und Acceler atio n: At o ne
po int
inthe filmthe Ko mso -
mo l music beco mes acceler ated in a manner
po ssible o nly
thr o ughvar ying
the
speed
o f the r eco r ded so und tr ack.
2. So und Rever sal:Inthe
agr icultur al
sectio n
invo lving
a
peas-
antdance, aman
plays
anacco r dio n. The seco nd time amusical
theme ishear d it hasa
str ange quality
and seems to have been
mechanically
r ever sed.
3.
Imageso f
So undmen: Insever al sho tso f the filmaso und-
mancan
liter ally
be seeno nthe scr een, r eco r ding.
One such
sho to ccur sinthe
agr icultur al
sectio nasthe wo menar e
stacking
hay. Clear ly,
this r eminds the viewer o f the so und
r eco r ding
pr o cess
and
par allels
the
pr esence
o f the
cinemato gr apher
in
ManwithaMo vie Camer a.
Butwhatismo st
asto nishing
wheno ne co nsider s
the
co mplexity
o f audio visual
editing
inEnthu-
siamar e the
pr o ductio n
cir cumstances under
whichitwasmade. Fo r asVer to v himself
sugges-
ted,
we must no t
mer ely judge
Enthusiasminan
abso lute o r
gener al
sense
"(o utside
o f time and
space)"
but r ather
appr eciate
it "inr elatio nto
the
given
state o f the
develo pment
o f the so und
cinema."27
The So viets
wer e,
o f
co ur se,
late in
o btaining
so und
techno lo gy
because it was no t a cr ucial
aspect
o f the fir st Five Year Plan.28
Also ,
it was
legislated
that all mater ialsfo r so und
equipment
sho uld be made inRussia's o wn
wo r ksho ps
and
fo undr ies,
r ather than
impo r ted
fr o m
capitalist
co untr ies. Thus it was no t until 1928-1929 that
Sho r inand
Tager 's
so und
systems
wer e demo n-
str ated.
The
develo pment
o f
po r table
and
o pen-air
equipment pr esented
additio nal
pr o blems;
and it
was no t until
August
1929 that
Tager
and
Obo lensky
tested an
o pen-air system
inthe str eets
o f Mo sco w.29 Since Ver to v's co ncer ninEnthu-
siasmwaswith
do cumentar y,
r ather than
studio ,
so und,
such
equipment
was
mandato r y
fo r o n-
lo catio n
sho o ting,
and he had to await its devel-
o pment.
Inanar ticle wr itten
by
Ver to v in
1931,
after the film's
co mpletio n,
he r eco untsthe diffi-
cult
pr o cess
invo lved in
pr o ducing
the
appar atus
fo r his
pr o ject:
The
ur gent
manufactur e o f amo bile
so und-r eco r ding
instal-
latio nwas made the main
questio n
o f the
day.
Co mr ades
Timar tsev, Tchibisso v, Khar ito no v and
Mo ltchano v, co lla-
bo r ato r sinthe
labo r ato r y
o f Pr o fesso r
Sho r in, wo r ked
day
and
night
to assemble the installatio n.
Dur ing
the co ur se o f
Apr il
we
pr o ceeded
with the fir st
attempts
at
sho o ting.
Next we filmed May Day, thenthe po r t o f Leningr ad and
finally, after the appar atushad under go ne so me mo difica-
tio ns, we left fo r Khar ko v to filmthe Eleventh
Co ngr ess
o f the Ukr ainianPar ty. After filming the Co ngr ess, the
appar atuswasagainmo dified and we leftfo r the Do nbas.30
Thus, Enthusiasmwas a
pio neer wo r k inthe
develo pment
o f o n-lo catio n so und
technique;
(Ver to v called itan"icebr eaker ... o f so und-film
do cumentar ies"31).
As suchit
pr o vided
co ncr ete
evidence fo r the
po ssibility
o f
do cumentar y
so und
and co unter ed a
then-pr evailing theo r y,
advanced
by
so und
engineer Ippo lit So ko lo v, that all film
so und
r equir ed
studio
po st-synchr o nizatio n.32 En-
thusiasm, ho wever , pr o ved
o ther wise and r ealized
Ver to v'sdesir e to "mo ve o ver fr o mthe velvetco ffin
o f the so undlessstudio and
plunge
into the ter r ible
thunder and ir o n
clanging
o f the
Do nbas."33
In additio n to
pio neer ing
the use o f mo bile
r eco r ding equipment,
Ver to v and hiscr ew
exper i-
mented witho ther
aspects
o f audio visual
r egistr a-
tio n.
Acco r ding
to Ver to v's
"Repo r t
to the Fir st
Co nfer ence o f the Wo r ker so f So und Film"34 his
co llabo r ato r s tested thr ee mo des o f
r eco r ding.
Fir st
they
to o k the
pictur e
and so und at differ ent
timeso ndiffer ent
negatives; seco nd,
they
to o k the
pictur e
and so und
synchr o no usly
o n differ ent
negatives; thir d, they
to o k bo th
pictur e
and so und
synchr o no usly
o nthe same
negative.
Fr o mthese
tests
they
co ncluded that the final metho d
pr o -
vided the
highestquality
visual and aur al mater ial.
But the
o ptimal pr o cedur e
fo r
r eco r ding
so und
and
image
led to difficultiesand
challenges
inthe
editing pr o cess.
Fo r Ver to v was
sever ely hamper ed
by
the lack o f
so phisticated so und-editing
machin-
er y.
Ashe
explains
it:
We had ato ur
dispo sal
neither a
so und-editing
table no r the
least
appar atus
fo r
o r ganizing
so und and visual cine-mater ial
S.. never thelesswe did no t fo llo w the line o f least r esis-
tance, we did no t explo it the favo r able fact that we wer e
pr o vided
inthe Do nbas withamo bile installatio nand that
co nsequently
the
majo r ity
o f so unds wer e r eco r ded o nthe
same
str ip
as the
image.
We wer e no t co ntent to
simply
have the so und and
image
co incide and we fo llo wed the line
which,
ino ur
situatio n, was that o f maximum
r esistance,
thato f the
co mplex
inter actio nso f so und and
image.3
Cur io usly,
the few instancesinwhichso und and
image
do
simply
co incide inEnthusiasm
(e.g.,
the
wo r ker s'
speeches)
ar e
exper ienced by
the audi-
ence as a kind o f
unexpected
sho ck. Which
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ENTHUSIASM
33
r emindsus that what Ver to v has cr eated inEn-
thusiasmis awo r k inwhichso und almo st never
seemsto issue fr o mthe scr een. Mo st so und films
cr eate fo r usacer tainillusio n:we see o nthe scr een
the
image
o f a man
star ting
a
car ,
and
hear ,
simultaneo usly,
o nthe so und
tr ack,
ano ise thatis
appr o pr iate
to it inter ms o f co ntent and
aur al
quality.
The two
mer ge, o ver lap per fectly
and
seemunited. This
unity
inasense
places
the
spec-
tato r
per ceptually
withinthe
space
o f the
film;
he
exper iences
the scene as
tho ugh
he wer e "ther e."
By br eaking
this
unity (by having
so und and
image
to so me
degr ee "r epel"
each
o ther )
Ver to v leaves
himfo r ever withinthe
space
o f the theater . It
seems
pr o bable
that this
disjunctio n
was what
Ver to v
ho ped
to insur e inhis
o per atio n
o f the
so und
systemdur ing
the Lo ndo n
scr eening
o f the
film:
WhenVer to v attended the
pr esentatio n
o f his fir st so und
film, Enthusiasm, to the Film
So ciety
o f Lo ndo no nNo vem-
ber
15, 1931, he insisted o n
co ntr o lling
the so und
pr o jectio n.
Dur ing
the r ehear sal he
kept
it at no r mal
level, but at the
per fo r mance,
flanked o neither side
by
the so und
manager
o f the Tivo liTheatr e and ano fficer o f the
So ciety,
he r aised
the vo lume at climaxes to an
ear -splitting
level.
Begged
to
desist he r efused and finished the
per fo r mance fighting
fo r
po ssessio n
o f the instr umento f co ntr o l
...36
Ver to v intended fo r usno tto be r efer r ed to the
space
o f the
film,
but r ather to the
space
o f the
o utside wo r ld. Thisstatement
may
seem
co nfusing
and
par ado xical
inthat Enthusiasminno
way
seemsto
r eplicate
o ur
impr essio n
o f
r eality.
Inits
r adical
disr uptio n
o f the cinematic
illusio n,
inits
insistence o n
do cumentar y evidence,
itseemsto us
less
r eal,
less
do cumentar y
thanevenmo stfictio n
films.
Butthisisno t
par ado xical
if o ne r ecallsthatfo r
Ver to v the no tio no f
do cumentar y
inno
way
im-
plied
ado cument o f the human
exper ience
o f the
wo r ld,
o ne
co nfined by
an
imper fect bio lo gical
per ceptual appar atus
and
bo dily
limitatio ns o f
time and
space.
Fo r
Ver to v,
hisfilmswer e ado cu-
ment o f a wo r ld unmediated
by
no r mal human
per ceptio n. "My r o ad,"
he
said,
"is to a fr esh
per ceptio n
o f the
wo r ld."37
The
pur po se
o f this liber atio nfr o mhuman
exper ience (and
thusthe r atio nale fo r a
co mplexity
o f
technique)
wasto affo r d the viewer a
co ncep-
tual
kno wledge
unavailable to himinhis no r mal
per ceptual stance, to allo w himto "decipher ina
new way the wo r ld unkno wnto him.""38
Ver to v said: "Tr uthis o ur o bject. All o ur
devices, mo des and genr es ar e means. The
ways
ar e var io usbut the end must be
o ne-tr uth.""3
Buthiscr iticsmisunder sto o d.
Igno r ing hisintent,
they chastised his means. His ar tistic
vir tuo sity
wasgr atuito us, histechnique, fo r malistic.
Ver to v
wasfo r ced to leave VUFKU. But all thiswasno t
happening inavacuum. It was
o ccur r ing against
the backdr o p o f cer tain po litical and
ar tistic
develo pments. A new aesthetic po licy was
taking
o ver .
Acco r ding to Dickinso nand de laRo che:
The new po licy, kno wnasso cialistr ealism, aimed atasimple
natur alismand adventur esinindividual vir tuo sity wer e
co n-
sider ed unnecessar y if the subject co uld explainitself in
plainstatement. (Italics
mine)40
But fo r Ver to v the subjectco uld never
explain
itself inplainstatement. And a
simple natur alism
co uld mystify, entice, and enter tainthe viewer , but
co uld never pr o vide himwithevidence fo r kno wl-
edge abo utthe r eal wo r ld. Finally, fo r Ver to v
the
par ado x lay no t withinthe str uctur e o f his
films,
but withinthe fact that
altho ughtr uthitself
be
simple, "itisfar fr o msimple to sho w the
tr uth.""'
NOTES
1. Ver to v seemsalter nately to have used the ter m"Radio -Ear "
and "Radio -Eye" inr elatio nto hisco nceptio no f the so und film.
Inastatement o f 1925, fo r example, he uses "Radio -Ear " to
descr ibe, specifically, the so und tr ack o f afilmand talks o f
establishing "avisual class bo nd (Kino -Eye) and an
audito r y
bo nd (Radio -Ear ) betweenthe pr o letar iato f all natio ns
(Ar ticles, Jo ur naux. Pr o jets. tr ans. by Sylvanie
Mo ss6
and
Andr 6e Ro bel. (Par is: Cahier sdu
Cinema.
1972), p. 74.
(My
tr anslatio n.)
Inastatemento f 1929 (Ibid.,
p. 133) Ver to v
seems
to use the ter m"Radio -Eye" to meanso und
film(i.e., so und
plus
image).
Thushe
talkso f
the
Kino ks
Radio ks
having mo ved
fr o mKino -Eye to Radio -Eye "that is to say, to the audible,
r adio -diffused
Kino -Eye." It is because the ter m
"Radio -Eye"
seemsto be mo r e inclusive and
appear sinthe later
wr itingsthat
itisused inthispaper .
2. Vladimir Mayako vsky, "Or der No . 2 to the
Ar my
o f
Ar ts"
(Tr ans. by Max Haywar d and
Geo r ge Reavey)
inPatr icia
Blake
(ed.), The Bedbug and Selected
Po etr y (Lo ndo n: Weidenfeld
and Nico lso n, 1960), p. 147-148.
3. The datesfo r the so und and visual scenar io sfo r Enthusiasm
co me fr o mthe Ger man editio n o f Ver to v's wr itings: Dsiga
Wer to w:
Aufsiitze, Tagebiicher ,
Skizzen. Edited by Her mann
Her linghauswiththe co llabo r atio no f Ro lf Liebmann. (Ber lin:
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
34 ENTHUSIASM
Institutfuir Filmwissenschaftand der DeutschenHo chschule fur
Filmkunst, 1967), p.
314ff.
4. P. 282 o f Ver to v'sco llected wo r ksinRussian. Fr o mthe fo r th-
co ming
Ver to v vo lume edited
by
Annette Michelso nand tr ans-
lated
by
KevinO'Br ien.
5.
DzigaVer to v, "The
Wr itings
o f
Dziga Ver to v, tr ans.
by S.
Br o dy,
inP. Adams
Sitney (ed.), FilmCultur e Reader (New
Yo r k:
Pr aeger , 1970), pp.
361-362.
6.
Geo r gesSado ul, "DzigaVer to v," Cahier sdu
Cindma,
(May/
June
1970), p.
19.
(My tr anslatio n.) The mater ial inthisar ticle is
also co ntained inSado ul'sbo o k o nVer to v:
Dziga
Ver to v.
(Par is:
Editio ns
ChampsLibr e, 1971).
7.
Ibid., p.
21.
8. Ibid.
9.
Ser gei Eisenstein,
FilmFo r m, tr ans.
by Jay Leyda, (New
Yo r k:
Har co ur t, Br ace and
Wo r ld, 1949), p.
258.
(Italicsmine.)
The nexttwo
quo tesby
Eisensteinar e takenfr o mthe same
text,
pp.
258-259.
10.
Dziga Ver to v, "The Ver to v
Paper s,"
tr ans.
by
Mar co
Car ynnyk,
FilmCo mment,
(Spr ing 1972) p.
50.
(The mater ial
withinthe br acketsis
my
o wnadditio nal tr anslatio no f mater ial
takenfr o m
"Respo nses
A des
Questio ns"
inCahier sduCinema,
(May/June 1970), p. 16.)
11.
Dziga
Ver to v
quo ted
inAnnette
Michelso n, "The
Manwith
the Mo vie Camer a:Fr o m
Magician
to
Epistemo lo gist," Ar tfo r um
(Mar ch1972), p.
66.
12.
DzigaVer to v, "The Ver to v
Paper s," o p.
cit.,
p.
46.
13.
Ibid., p.
48.
14.
Dziga Ver to v, "The
Wr itings
o f
Dziga Ver to v,"
o p. cit.,
p.
362.
15. This
co ncept
o f
subver ting
the cinematic illusio nis acen-
tr al
po int
inMichelso n'sar ticle.
16. Itwo uld be
inter esting
her e to co ntr astthe didactic meanso f
a
play-film(like Eisenstein's The Old and the
New) withtho se
o f Enthusiasm.
17.
Dziga
Ver to v,
"Fr o m
the No tebo o ks
o f DzigaVer to v, "tr ans.
by
Mar co
Car ynnyk,
Ar tfo r um
(Mar ch1972),
p.
75.
18.
Dziga
Ver to v
quo ted
in
Michelso n,
o p. cit., p.
66.
19.
My descr iptio n
o f these
sequences
is takenfr o ma
pr int
o f
Enthusiasmthat has been r esto r ed
by
Peter Kubelka and is
sho wnin
r eper to r y
at
Antho lo gy
FilmAr chivesinNew Yo r k
City.
The Museumo f Mo der nAr thasthe Go sfilmo fo nd ver sio nwhich
fo r med the
star ting po int
fo r Kubelka'sr esto r atio n.
20.
DzigaVer to v, quo ted
in
Michelso n,
o p. cit., p.
66.
21.
Dziga Ver to v, "The
Wr itings
o f
Dziga Ver to v," o p. cit.,
p.
359.
22. Michelso n'sno tio no f Ver to v'smo vement"fr o m
magician
to
epistemo lo gist"
iscentr al her e.
23. Fr o mthe tr anslatio no f the film's titles
by
KevinO'Br ien
fo r
Antho lo gy
FilmAr chives.
24. Ther e
may
be so me
suppo r t
fo r
seeing
the
r adio -telegr aph
wo manas
standing
fo r aso und mo nito r in
that,
acco r ding
to
Jay
Leyda
inKino
(Lo ndo n:Allenand
Unwin, 1960, p. 282) par t
o f
Enthusiasmwasr eco r ded o nano n-po r table so und systemthat
washo o ked up to aRadio -Centr e.
25.
Dziga Ver to v, "The
Wr itings o f Dziga Ver to v," o p. cit.,
pp. 368-369.
26. See Annette Michelso n'suse o f the ter m, o p. cit., p. 64.
27.
DzigaVer to v, Ar ticles, Jo ur naux,
Pr o qets, o p. cit., pp. 155-
156. (My tr anslatio n.)
28. Jay Leyda, o p. cit.,
Chapter XIII.
29. Ibid., p. 279.
30. Dziga Ver to v, Ar ticlesJo ur naux, Pr qjets, o p. cit., p. 152
(My tr anslatio n.)
31. Ibid., p.
153.
(My
tr anslatio nfr o mthe Fr ench).
32. Ibid., p.
156.
(My
tr anslatio nfr o mthe Fr ench).
33. DzigaVer to v,
"Repo r tto the 1stCo nfer ence o f the Wo r ker s
o f So und Film," (deliver ed inthe summer o f 1931). Acco r ding
to VladaPetr ic, the
manuscr ipt
o f this
Repo r t
is
kept
inthe
Her ber tMar shall Ar chive, Center fo r So vietand East
Eur o pean
Studies, So uther nIllino is
Univer sity,
Car bo ndale. I wish to
thank VladaPetr ic fo r
br inging
this
Repo r t
to
my
attentio nand
fo r histr anslatio nso f
passages
fr o mit.
34. Ibid. (My descr iptio n
o f Ver to v's
metho do lo gy
is based o n
Petr ic's
par aphr ase
o f
po r tio ns
o f the
Repo r t).
35. DzigaVer to v, Ar ticles, Jo ur naux,
Pr qjets, o p. cit., pp. 154-
155.
(My tr anslatio n.)
36. Jay Leyda, o p.
cit.,
p.
282.
37.
Dziga Ver to v, "The
Wr itings
o f
Dziga Ver to v,"
o p. cit.,
p. 359.
38. Ibid.
39.
DzigaVer to v, "Fr o mthe No tebo o kso f
DzigaVer to v," o p.
cit., p.
81.
40. Tho r o ld Dickinso n and Cather ine de la Ro che, So viet
Cinema(Lo ndo n:Falco nPr ess, 1948), p.
27.
41.
Dziga Ver to v, "The
Wr itings
o f
Dziga Ver to v," o p. cit.,
p.
365.
VERTOV IN ENGLISH
The
Univer sity
o f Califo r niaPr ess is
pr e-
par ing
aVer to v
vo lume, edited with an
intr o ductio n
by
Annette
Michelso n, text
tr anslated
by
KevinOBr ien. Publicatio nis
scheduled fo r late 1978.
CORRECTION: Ino ur last
issue,
so me o f the stills
in the
Her zo g
ar ticle wer e
no t, as
cr edited, by
autho r Gideo nBachmann.
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