B[O][E][A]U[N]TIFUL SUMMER
[via Boris Barnet & Jean-Luc Godard & Jacques Rivette]
Be half of the railroad workers, and my self.
Oh heart, calm down.
Enough. If you need one, go
ahead and build
us, far away there . . .
Never forget, my friend, how
the road
is taking us.
Filled in and we’ll see you later.
Up and
leave it at that.
So should we pay
up? That doesn’t count
mistake, and it’s our job to correct him.
Medal winner for the whole district.
Energetic.
Register the purchase of the bull.
Barry Alpert / Silver Spring, MD US / 1-26-05 (2:37 PM)
Written during my first viewing of Boris Barnet’s 1951 musical
comedy “Shchedroye leto”, a title which was translated as either “Beautiful
Summer” or “Bountiful Summer”. I found both translations corresponded to
my filmic impressions. The attention given to Barnet’s films by French
directors/critics Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette must have contributed
to the ultimate decision to stage a retrospective of this neglected Russian
filmmaker. Rivette has stated, “Eisenstein apart, Boris Barnet must be
considered the best Soviet filmmaker.” One of Godard’s favorite films is
Barnet’s 1936 musical comedy, “By the Bluest of Seas”. The two male leads
in that film reappear in similar roles within the 1951 “Shchedroye leto”,
and the particular qualities of Barnet’s directorial self-consciousness
help me to understand what Godard and Rivette were building upon or
extrapolating from when their films approached musical comedy. I had
previously thought their precedents must be American or French.
What I wrote while watching “By the Bluest of Seas” can be read at:
http://www.fieralingue.it/corner.php?pa=printpage&pid=769
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