Études des mouvements à Paris is a 1927 city symphony film directed, shot, and edited by Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens. Its original Dutch name is Bewegingsstudie van varkeer te Parijs. The film depicts the city of Paris during the summertime, with an emphasis on its traffic, intersections, and street life.[1] Notably using a variety of camera angles, Ivens attempts to capture the movement of street life in Paris.[2]
| Études des mouvements à Paris | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joris Ivens |
Release date |
|
| Country | France |
| Language | Silent |
Production
editThe film was produced by Ivens in the summer of 1927 while visiting photographer Germaine Krull. Many similarities can be seen between Études des mouvements and Krull's photography, most notably the high-angle shots of busy intersections and tram tracks.[1] Photographs with these features would be published in Krull's 1929 photo book 100 x Paris.[3]
Themes and interpretations
editAs opposed to Ivens' later work within the city symphony genre (such as Rain and The Bridge) Études des mouvements is less observational and demonstrates qualities of cinéma pur, a term created by French actor, screenwriter, and director Henri Chomette.[4][1] This type of filmmaking, which emerged in Paris during the 1920s and early 1930s emphasizes the formal aspects of filmmaking like motion, visual composition, and rhythm.
The film can be seen as a cinematic equivalent to the notion of the flâneur. The repetition of planning and tilting naturalistically in conjunction with shooting on a handheld Kinamo camera simulates the view of an idle walker, showing the city from an onlooker's view.
References
edit- ^ a b c Jacobs, Steven (20 July 2018). The City Symphony Phenomenon: Cinema, Art, and Urban Modernity between the Wars (1st ed.). Milton Park, Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK: Routledge. pp. 222–223. ISBN 9780367459475.
- ^ www.oberon.nl, Oberon Amsterdam. "Etudes des mouvements (2008) | IDFA Archive". IDFA. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ "100 x Paris / / Germaine Krull". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ Horak, Jan-Christopher (Spring 1980). "Discovering Pure Cinema: Avant-Garde Film in the 1920s". Afterimage.
