Matt Teichman wrote:
> This definition would exclude most documentaries made
before the late 50s,
> including the films produced by John Grierson, who
invented the term.
All three of these are highly contestable assertions - and
I'm no historian. I suspect that you're applying Grierson's
ideas of documentary, which is fine, but it's not
necessarily the only concept of documentary. As
for "inventing" it, I'm not so sure - occasionally I come
across texts either contemporary with or preceding Grierson
(usually on photography) which use the term, although it is
rare. It's also not clear how much is lost in translations
of texts, or in the re-appropriation of texts in which the
term is 'added'. In any case, we're in a discussion of
primacy which I'm not equipped to deal with.
Anyway, even Grierson's terminology would not necessarily
rule out actuality films from very early cinema, or even
newsreels, so where you get the '50's' idea is beyond me,
in most respects.
Finally, my claim still stands. Documentary for me has to
include the occupation of people in actuality, rather than
staged events, if they are to be about contemporary events.
The difficulty for me is when the subjects are historical,
since it's a common thing for historical documentaries to
use staged sequences with actors. Where the line is drawn
between actuality and contrivance is moot. Aguirre (to
bring it back to that) is wholly acted. I agree, however,
that Klaus Kinski well and truly 'acted up' though.
Anyway, as I said, this isn't my field, and it's best left
to others.
You still haven't answered about Nosferatu, though.
Yours
>
>
>
> >I've always understood 'documentary' to mean
events/objects
> >photographed or filmed actually undergoing the events
that
> >are being represented, rather than undergoing events as
if
> >they were actually happening. This does not include
staging
> >re-enactments, or anything similar. "Reconstructions"
are,
> >well, *difficult" for me to accept as documentary.
>
Damian Peter Sutton
University of Glasgow
Department of French
16 University Gardens
Glasgow G12 8QL
tel 0141-330 5642
fax 0141-330 4234
email [log in to unmask]
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