Joris Ivens was born in the
Netherlands and became the first Dutch documentary filmmaker. In his 70 years
of filming, Ivens made more than 80 films in over 20 countries (European
Foundation). The thematic context of his films began as poetic and artistic search, but soon expanded into social concern and advocacy. Ivens' early
films (De Brug and Regen) are categorized under the gene
“painter-as-documentarist,” because instead of concentrating on a story to
tell, Ivens was more interested in form and movement, or “experiments of
design” (Barnouw 131). It was at the time of the depression when Ivens began
making more realistic and controversial films and he soon became globally
popular for his advocacy. Upon invitation, Ivens traveled to countries such as
Russia, Belgium, China, Indonesia and the United States to make films. The
Spanish Earth (1937) —an anti-fascist
film made in Spain during the Spanish Civil War—was Ivens’ first war experience
and is considered to be his masterpiece.
De Brug (The Bridge,
1928) “concentrated on the complex action involving a Rotterdam railroad
bridge”—a bridge that enabled trains to pass over, and then by
opening up, boats could pass under (Barnouw 77). Ivens was particularly interested in
capturing the patterns of the bridge in motion. A New York Times article
describes the camerawork as a rhythmic study of the structure and functions
(Flint). The Bridge attracted
national attention and made Ivens “the pioneer of Dutch film art” (European
Foundation).
Regen (Rain,
1929) is a film that, like The Bridge,
beautifully portrays patterns. Rain
shows a day in the life of a rainstorm in Amsterdam, focusing on the movement of rain and people as it transforms the city. Ivens’ portrayal and editing of the
day’s changing moods (sunny, windy, cloudy, light rain, heavy rain, etc.) mixed with (the later added) music rhythmically “allows us to live through an
everyday event with all the vividness cinema has to offer” (Gunning 2). Barnouw
describes Rain as “a gem-like
study” (78), and became Ivens’ “major breakthrough as an avant-garde film artist”
(European Foundation).
Ivens viewed these early films as
“technical experiments in capturing human vision” (Gunning 2). The camera work
is as if the lens corresponds to the human eye and is subjectively captured in
a way just like it is physically experienced.
Social issues had always been
important to Ivens. In 1936, Ivens moved to the United States and collaborated
with American intellectuals (Ernest Hemmingway was one of them) in a production
company called Contemporary Historians, Inc. to make a film in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In The Spanish Earth (1937), Ivens was able to capture a balance of footage between Spanish daily life and the ongoing war horror. This film has become one of the major pictures on the Spanish Civil War and one
of the most important films in Ivens' career” (The European Foundation).
The Spanish Earth premiered in
Hollywood, 1937. Ivens’ speech after the film screening gives a clear example
of him as a film advocate for action. Descriptions of his experiences and the
importance to help those in need are emphasized. The following are a couple
parts of his speech, which I think helps to define—both at that time and in his
overall career—Ivens’ genuine aim for action as an advocate filmmaker:
“Now you have seen what it
looks like.
There are some things we could
not get in. The way the ground rocks and sways under your belly and against your forehead when the big bomb
falls. That does not show. Nor the noise kids make when they are hit, although there is a sort of foretaste of that
when the child sees the planes coming and yells
‘AVIACION!’
Then, too, when they are hit
some kids are very quiet until you move them. We have not got any pictures of the full streetcar a shell made a
direct hit on in the Gran Via. There were 32 people in it. They carried out two badly wounded, and what
was left had to be handled with shovels. That was in the town center around noon.
Such a
scene is just a by-product of the totalitarian war the fascist countries make.
This war originally consisted in trying to terrorize the
civil populations in order to break their morale. It was taking
deliberate planned murderous vengeance on the opposing civil population
whenever the fascist armies are defeated
in the field. Hemingway and I watched this kind of murder being done for a long
time. For too long a time.
You have seen
something of it and you have also seen the face of the men who are opposing it.
We have lived with them behind the lines
and in the lines. We have gone with them in the attacks and we have seen them wounded and we have seen them die.
This is a war in which there are no rewards or
any decorations. Wounds are the only decorations and the only reward is that of a good conscience. I
think that those who do what they can do this year will sleep a little bit better at night than those who do
nothing. I know that money is hard to make, but dying is not easy either. If you would like to keep hundreds of
fighting men from dying between now and Christmas, you can do it with a dime, a dollar, 10, 100, 500…”
(Ivens 1937).
References
Barnouw,
Erik. Documentary: a history of the non-fiction film. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.
Flint,
Peter. “Joris Ivens, 90, Dutch Documentary Film Maker.” The New York Times 30 June 1989: Web.
Gunning,
Tom. Joris Ivens; Filmmaker of the Twentieth Century, of The Netherlands and
the
Ivens,
Joris. De Brug (1928). Film. www.youtube.com.
Ivens,
Joris. Regen (1929). Film. www.youtube.com.
Ivens,
Joris. Speech After Screening of The Spanish Earth, 1937. http://www.ivens.nl/upload/?p=121&k=1&t=2&m=1.
Ivens,
Joris. The Spanish Earth (1937).
Film. www.youtube.com
The
European Foundation Joris Ivens. “Filmography”
16 Sept. 1990. Web.
