DOCAlliance /3 DIMANCHE À PÉKIN

CHRIS MARKER: DIMANCHE À PÉKIN

Chris Marker er på optagelse, det er 1955, det er i Kina… Det var jo tidligt efter krigen, så det var tidlige scener fyldt med ærbødighed og håb for den unge revolution han optog. Jeg ved ikke om han var alene, det må jeg have fundet ud af, men jeg ser at Agnes Varda er krediteret for Kinakyndig medvirken. Og det har sat sig smukke spor så det nye Kina det smukke lille essay igennem spejler sig i og på mange mange måder ses fortsætte og udvikle de bevarede elementer af den gamle kultur som Marker lærte at længes mod i sin barndoms billedbøger og fortællinger om drager og kejsere og sværdsvingende atleter og dybt disciplinerede boksekæmpere.

I den velskabte korte film, som kom ud af det som et stykke fejlfri cinematografi, mønstergyldig i samtiden, virker alle elementer kongenialt med Markers mesterligt klassisk akademiske optagelser uden lyd, den gennemtænkte nykomponerede musik af Pierre Barbaud, de muntert præcise lydeffekter ved Arkady (groupe des XXX) lagt på den kunstfærdige lydside af Antonio Harispe i sin tids design, Fracine Gruberts yderst elegante klipning , produceren Madeleine Casanovo-Rodriquez også fra (groupe des XXX), hendes sikre hånd og først og sidst den kloge gennemløbende stemme henover, som Marker har skrevet i sin tænksomt formulerede patos med sommerfuglens lethed.

Chris Marker: Dimanche à Pékin, Frankrig 1956 (restaureret i 2013), 19 min. Kan ses disse dage på:

https://dafilms.com/film/10152-sunday-in-peking

OM AT ERINDRE

“At the same time, Marker merrily messes up the boundaries between individual and cultural memory by acknowledging that his observations have been heavily coloured by his own experience of popular culture – from the storybooks of his childhood to the newsreels and fiction films consumed throughout his life. The outer townships of the city with their banners and tiny lanes are the “Peking of the movies”; the Forbidden City is the “Peking of Jules Verne and Marco Polo…”. We understand what he means instantly – an understanding that is dependant on our own collective experience of Western culture, now used to interpret a filmmaker’s personal memories written down over 50 years ago.” (Louise Sheedy, Senses of Cinema, september 2009)

Sheedys kommentar er argumenteret antropologi-videnskabelig orienteret, men tag ikke fejl, hun er helt indforstået, se videre her:

A CHAIN OF LOGIC

“… Later, the narrator describes girls dancing and singing a tune that would stay with him for the rest of the day. This is accompanied by a montage of little dances; firstly girls in uniform, playing a kind of game, then another group of older girls, dancing in a circle. One of the raised arms is the matched to the arm of a man pulling a cart, waving to someone across the street. In the next shot we see a policeman with arm raised as he directs traffic. All these links form a chain of logic that again suggests the performative dynamic between the tourist or visitor and the local – a separation that, while not insurmountable, needs to be acknowledged.” 

http://sensesofcinema.com/2009/cteq/all-the-thrills-of-the-exotic-collective-memory-and-cultural-performance-in-chris-markers-dimanche-a-pekin/ 

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Allan Berg Nielsen
Allan Berg Nielsen

Allan Berg Nielsen started the first documentary cinema in Randers, Denmark way back in the 1970’es. He did so at the museum, where he was employed. He got the (16mm) films from the collection of the National Film Board of Denmark (Statens Filmcentral). He organised a film festival in his home city, became a member of the Board of Directors of the Film Board, started to write about films in diverse magazines, were a juror at several festivals and wrote television critiques in the local newspaper. From 1998-2003 Allan Berg was documentary film consultant (commissioning editor) at The Danish Film Institute, a continuation of the Film Board. Since then free lance consultant in documentary matters.

abn@filmkommentaren.dk

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