Popular productions such as cinema can say a lot about society, the collective consciousness of a given place and period, as well as the collective unconscious. Since the U.S. is experiencing it's first Pluto return, I thought that this review of a French book would be a good reminder of the considerable socio-cultural legacy that the country has built over the 20th century, which it seems to be in danger of losing sight of: Youssef Ishaghpour, Orson Welles, cinéaste, une caméra visible I (Mais notre dépendance à l'image est énorme...), Éditions de la Différence, 2001, a monumental 3-volume work by an erudite and prolific Iranian-French film and art historian.
 |
| Youssef Ishaghpour |
The book is a massive
compendium of essays examining various aspects of Welles' career - there
are two other large volumes - dealing more specifically with Welles'
career chronologically. This post is a brief summary of first two sections of this book - the other
sections deal with Welles and film theory, Welles as public figure,
actor, and director, Welles in theatre and radio, and ends with an
analysis of Welles' Heart of Darkness project. The broad, eclectic, dense erudition can be quite daunting, but I feel that an English translation of the first two sections of this book would make for a useful, viable, interesting tome, of interest well beyond the film theory field.
This
impressive tome begins with a 30-page general intro - then a 60-page
general intro on art and history as it relates to the modern world. Then
he begins a section on Welles and modernity.
Welles and modernity
Starting with the the
notion of individualism as it was in the Renaissance, referencing Ernst Cassirer - Modern individualism begins, he says, when there's a break from the Renaissance notion of individualism, a crisis that can be seen in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the first great theatrical role for Welles...
He mentions Cervantes and Shakespeare in the next section - (and
talks about Warhol in the following section) in a part on Mannerism
and Baroque periods of art. He cites Erwin Panosfsky among several
others. He makes a case for Welles being an exponent of a Mannerism
perspective. Looking at artists like Caravaggio,
Rembrandt, Vermeer, El Greco, one can see a number of 'cinematic'
effects that they use. (i.e. chiaroscuro lighting, various compositional
elements that emphasize certain dramatic and emotional points, ...)
The rest of the section basically outlines the development of
modernism from the Renaissance to the present. He cites such authors as
Descartes, Kant, and Heidegger and touches on such modern notions as
representation, subjectivity, reflexivity, capitalism, the
enlightenment, individualism, the autonomy of art, art and the
marketplace, the commercial promotion of genius as begun in the romantic
period via Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Carlyle, etc.. the
notion of the 'Byronic hero' and Lord Byron are examined...
'Welles' in America
 |
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
|
This section is 'a
study of the American zeitgeist during Welles' lifetime. It begins with a comparison of a
Norman Mailer article on JFK, followed by a discussion on the Puritan notion's
of individualism and success in America and a segment on the
Age of enlightenment, mainly citing Harold Laski, moving on to the
transcendentalist movement with Emerson. There's a substantial
passage on Melville, with some interesting comparisons between him and
Welles. There's a section on Walt Whitman, all of these brief segments
serve to illustrate the development of the American zeitgeist via it's
literary and cultural exponents. Henry James is used to illustrate a
period that Mark Twain had termed 'the gilded age' , the age of the
robber barons, business moguls, mentioning as an example Theodore Dreiser's novel, the Financier. This is followed by a section on the
cinema and the writer's known as the 'lost generation', starting with
Dos Passos, comparing the structure of U.S.A. with Kane. Then a section
on Fitzgerald and Hemingway that are more direct comparisons with Welles'
career. Then a section on Faulkner which notes a structural similarity
with Absalom! Absalom! and Kane. Then we arrive at the period where
Welles' career begins with a section on the great depression and the New Deal that goes into the efforts of Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, &
Keynes to counter the monopolistic tendencies of capitalism.Antifascism and the Popular Front
Estrangement - the alienation of the American intellectual
 |
Orson Welles painting
|
In
1947, Welles, who had been called the Emperor of the United States a
decade earlier is now being called America's youngest has-been. Welles'
problem is seen as having tried unsuccessfully to bring intellectual and
artistic content to the the mass market context of Hollywood, which
left him alienated from both Hollywood and American intellectuals.
He cites an interesting book, 'The New radicalism in America 1889-1963',
by Christopher Lasch. There is much mention of the New York School, i.e.
the avant garde of American intelligentsia of writers and painters. The
romantic notion of the artist in isolation and rebellion i.e. art for
art's sake, the purity of the artistic vision is discussed. Welles is in
a paradoxical position between art and mass communication. Jackson Pollock is celebrated for the same excentricities that Welles is
reproached for. Welles liberal radicalism partly explains his
estrangement from American intellectuals.
 |
Joseph Conrad
|
Between popular and elite culture
Prior
to the 20th century, there did not exist the pronounced opposition
between high and low culture, i.e. Shakespeare was still appreciated by
all classes. By embracing elements of high and low culture, Welles was
unable to interest either sides. He is compared to Joseph Conrad in
that respect. The separation of art and the cultural industry is
examined in relation to Welles' career. MacBeth is seen in terms of
contemporary political and cultural climate.
Welles political commitment- Wallace
and the defeat of the Liberals
Welles works are seen as meeting ground
of contradictions that are in opposition (Sovereignist and democratic
tendencies, etc.). The decline in Welles' career is compared with the
political decline of the Liberals and Henry Wallace. Themes in Othello and
the contemporary socio-political climate are examined. Welles' political
writings are examined, mainly his articles for the Free World. The
question of the Liberals relationship with communism and the Soviet
Union and Wallace's founding of the Progressive Party are
discussed. Welles' support of the United Nations and how his political
values are present in Touch of Evil, with mention of Welles' 1952 'Dialogue of the XXth
century' article.
Maccarthysme
'The age of conformity' and the birth of the counter-culture
 |
Chimes at Midnight
|
This part begins with Welles'
denunciation of Henry Luce's Life Magazine manifesto and the decline of
the American intellectual is examined, with a quote from Christopher
Lasch's 'The Agony of the American Left' among others. The rise of the
beat generation and the counter culture movement is touched upon -
Chimes at Midnight and the figure of Falstaff is considered as a
reflection of this period.
Communication and
Welles
' dual image of media personality and artist is discussed. The author
identifies the end of the modern period with Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup
prints (ironically establishing a link with Welles' Campbell-sponsored
radio series). The problems of the post-modern mass media consumer
society are examined, including the position of art in mass production marketplace
as exemplified by Warhol. F for Fake is seen as a reflection of this
period.
