Ben Corbett Mick Grierson
FI506 Avant Garde Film

What Constitutes a Diary Film, and Why Might it be Considered a Form of Avant-Garde or ‘Critical’ Film?

In order to answer this question there are a few areas that require specific definition. The term Avant-Garde itself is something that often can differ in its exact meaning due to interpretation. This makes it an almost undesiferrable term for both historians and critics alike. Critic, Ian Christie claims that the term is, ‘always open to dispute and redefinition.’[1] This claim has very strong foundations. The very nature of Avant-Garde film requires it to be at the forefront of experimentation. As new techniques are explored and boundaries are broken down, what may have been at the forefront of experimentation in the Fifties for example, may be one of the most used techniques in Hollywood by the Seventies or now. This gives the impression that to remain innovative, Avant-Garde directors must change style to fit what is required of them during their particular time period. The mention of Hollywood hints at the relationship it has with the Avant-Garde. Murray Smith describes Avant-Garde as a ‘personal mode’, and goes on to say the films are made by, ‘filmmakers alone or in combination with private patronage and grants from arts institutions.’[2] It seems easy to glean that Avant-Garde cinema works outside the Hollywood community. This ‘personal mode’ gives filmmakers a chance to make films for reasons beyond money. To test limits, reaction and technique is more important. Perhaps these films are made not for an audience, but for the pleasure of the filmmakers themselves. Smith does not mention funding from big studios, as this does not happen within the Avant-Garde scene. However, for some, this may be a stepping-stone to getting noticed as many filmmakers rely on grants and prizes to fund their work. The chance to work alone gives the filmmaker a chance to put a piece of themselves into the film itself, this leads to the idea of lyrical film, in which the filmmaker can often be seen as the protagonist. This is a point that will be addressed in more detail. The screening of such films is also important. Smith says, ‘films are usually distributed through film co-operatives, and exhibited by film societies, museums and universities.’[3] This is extremely important as it may be argued that this shows the attitude towards the films. It is of some importance that Smith uses the word, ‘exhibited’. This is a term often associated with art rather than film. However, many may argue that Avant-Garde film may be more closely related to art rather than the money spinning blockbusters of Hollywood. The location of screenings is also of note. To not go through the usual cinematic channels opens the doors of censorship. This is important to the content of many Avant-Garde films, including one of the two to be focused on in this essay, Window, Baby, Water, Moving. (1962, Stan Brakhage). There is absolutely no doubt that such a film would never have got passed the censors. This is integral to the breaking down of social barriers that censorship helps to maintain.

This may be a theme that runs through many films considered to have diaristic elements. The term diary film is another one that often needs clarification. It is usually considered as an aspect of lyrical film in which, as mentioned earlier, usually hold some sort of argument pointing towards the actual filmmaker being the major protagonist. This may happen in different ways. It does not necessarily mean that the filmmaker is in the orthodox way, a main character. It may be that the link between artist and their work is directly linked to that of a poet. Often poetry will not tell a coherent story that resembles a series of events. Instead the form of the words and the sounds, using such devices as alliteration or metaphor attempts to portray a situation or feeling the poet may experience. The reader takes what they will from the poem, whether it is through putting themselves in the exact situation of the poet or adapting the situation to fit something they have felt themselves. It may be argued that this is very similar to lyrical film. It may not contain an everyman, as it is not necessarily important for the audience to relate to the character. Michael O’Pray backs up this idea when talking about the post-war American Avant-Garde scene. He claims it carries a, ‘strand of creativity which is especially to be found in… American poets, Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens.’ To sum this argument up, it may be argued that lyrical and diary film link to poetry and O’Pray links the post-war American Avant-Garde scene to poetry. Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon, (1943) may just fit into this wave of American films.
Whether it links to diary and lyrical film will be discussed later, although this early argument gives the impression it will carry some aspects considered lyrical. The idea of a diary fits into the realm of lyrical film, as it will of course, involve the filmmaker as the central focus, at least emotionally. However, it may be argued that diary film may deal with what would be considered a natural situation. The word diary gives the impression that it must carry some sort of every day aspect. However, it may also suggest that the filmmaker gives the audience a deeply personal insight regarding experience and emotion.

Maya Deren’s, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a film many argue to have diaristic elements. This film had sparked much confusion and controversy since its creation. The film, quite literally has Deren in the main role. She is both the filmmaker and the protagonist in this film. The film seems to examine the relationship between dreams and reality in such a way that gives the audience a glimpse into the mind of Deren. The film begins in what may be argued as a representation of the real world. Several objects are established as important and serve as recurring images or motifs during Deren’s dream. Initially, the film begins with the camera following Deren’s shadow. This creates a certain amount of mystery and distance between the viewer and the character. However, once, she reaches her house, everything changes as the audience are thrust into her shoes through a very obvious point of view shot. This establishes a strong relationship between Deren and her audience. As the film continues, more and more point of view shots allow the viewer to gain a very personal view of what is going on. After entering her house, Deren falls asleep in a chair. This is a good point to begin close scene analysis. As she drifts into fantasy, it seems much effort is made to establish the dream world. Deren sees a person in a black cloak pick up a flower. Her initial view of the person is through some sort of tunnel vision. This tunnel vision is the first impression the audience is given that this world is unnatural is some way. As the head of the person turns, the face is revealed as a mirror. This may relate to a person Deren saw before she went to sleep. She did not see the person’s face. This has carried over to her dream. The relevance of the mirror may be interpreted in different ways. Perhaps the mirror shows the internal nature of memory and subconscious. This may manifest itself as a mirror, as the answers she looks for regarding the identity of the person, lead her only back to herself. This may be because she is in a world created in her head. Such an idea gives the impression that Meshes of the Afternoon is so personal and inward that it could only be witnessed through the film. The viewer is given something that Deren experiences in her head through dream. This point is further explained by Deren herself when saying, ‘this film is concerned with the interior experiences of an individual. It does not record an event, that could be witnessed by other persons.’[4] So the offering of an emotional state, truly experienced by the filmmaker and her experience of life points towards the film being undoubtedly lyrical. Whether it fits into the lyrical realm of diary is far more debatable. Window, Water, Baby, Moving seems to be an obvious diary film. Brakhage opens his life and that of his partner to the audience. He does so in a very exterior way, which I will discuss later. This is different to the ‘interior experiences’ of Maya Deren. The extent to which Meshes of the Afternoon fits into the realm of diary film, seems to depend on the interpretation of the story. Many may argue that to make a diary film, something real and personal must be conveyed to the viewer. So the argument lies in whether such an, ‘interior’ experience can really involve sharing inner emotion and experience with the viewer. Moving back to the film, at this point, Deren follows the mysterious figure but to no avail. At this point she goes up steps to her house as she did in reality. A key she dropped before her dream seems to have been replaced with a knife on the floor. The key and knife both figured in the real world, but Deren may have begun to move these recurring images around to fit her mental state. It is also of note that during this journey into the house, Deren’s face has been in shot. During the first scene, I mentioned the following of a shadow. This distance from the main character has been broken down. This gives the impression that Deren wants to really concentrate on giving something extremely personal to the viewer. Despite this, the ambiguity of the characters and the fractured narrative confirm that she refuses to totally give herself up and remains in a superior position over her audience. So here is the conflict between arguments. Deren manages to balance the surreal quality of a dream like world, that keeps the viewer guessing (confounded further at this very point in the film as the camera shows close-up of Deren’s feet, slowly walking up the stairs in a way that can only be described as half floating.) with a willingness to share what many consider as a very real struggle within herself regarding interpretation and identity. The latter aspect described, fits in with what is considered as a diary film. However, the surreal style would be less likely to be associated with it. It may be gleaned from this, that Deren did not necessarily intent to create a diary film. It is possible that her inner struggle was so close to the surface at this point, that it could not fail to be reflected in her work. Critic, Lucy Fisher comments that post-war American Avant-Garde is often, ‘fundamentally motivated by an obsession with self-definition.’[5] There is an extremely strong argument that this is the case with Meshes of the Afternoon. Perhaps Deren’s major concern is not with sharing this experience, but with merely having it in order to give herself some sort of ‘self-definition’ or piece of mind. Of course, it is intended that the audience be able to come along for the ride, but this may not be the initial purpose. Some may argue that it is possible that Deren does not care about her audience. She explores herself in the film, what others take from it is down to interpretation. Moving back to film analysis, Deren arrives at the top of the stairs. She then enters the house and dwells on a net curtain. Once again, her movement is dreamlike in style. This confounds the imaginary world she is in. Her expression seems to be one of confusion and inner struggle. The audience is offered a point of view shot around the room. It seems that most of the objects encountered in reality are accounted for in the dream. The viewer is reintroduced to the phone and the record player. She puts the phone back on the hook. Since before walking up the stairs, there does not seem to be any sound. This is another aspect of the sequence that seems to move away from a naturalistic environment. This continues as the camera begins to play with the audience’s idea of perspective and ratio. A shot of Deren makes her seem extremely tall, with her head and outstretched arms coming into contact with the ceiling and an archway. She re-experiences switching off the record player. However, this time the point of view shot starts very high and Deren seems to float down from the ceiling to the floor with her hand in the bottom right of the frame. The impression given is that Deren intends the viewer to redefine the actions that took place earlier in order to give the world we have now entered a clear context. All this is done through a mixture of shots of Deren, much of which are off balance or show strange perspective and point of view shots. These point of view shots are what give the impression of diaristic elements. However, Sitney claims, ‘lyrical film postulates the filmmaker behind the camera as the first-person protagonist of the film.’[6] This throws the idea of Meshes of the Afternoon being a lyrical film on its head. This is due to the fact that Deren herself is more often in front of the camera than behind, it seems. Her husband, Alexander Hammid, did the majority of the filming. This is the major stumbling block for proving the film as either lyrical or diary. The viewer does not see the actual sight of Deren when looking at the world. It may be possible that the spectator looks at Deren’s concept through the eyes of Hammid. Sitney further backs this up when claiming the film is, ‘Hammid’s portrait of his young wife’.[7] Some may say that this offers Hammid a little too much credit for a film that carries such a personal aspect for Deren. Many challenge the idea that Deren would allow herself to have her character manipulated by anyone due to the strength of her personality. It does carry an undoubtedly important argument against the film being a diaristic. It is for this reason that Meshes of the Afternoon may be seen as too controlled and composed to be a diary film. Even if the film carries the personal view of Deren’s character and not her husband’s idea, it is not an actual account. The film shows a point of view that Deren has on her own personality. Despite this, it is a constructed and carefully put together fictional representation. This discredits the film as documenting a part of her life as it happens, as is so often the case in diary films.

Stan Brakage’s Window, Water, Baby, Moving was made around twenty years later. Many would say this film would be considered as an obvious diary film. Brakhage’s piece gives an account of his first child’s birth. The film challenges the ideals of censorship in a way that would not have been acceptable within the mainstream cinema. In what many see as an exploration of the connections and relationships associated with the birth of his child, Brakhage chose to film the most explicit footage of childbirth to date. The study of relationships and use of metaphor is clear from the very first shot of Window, Water, Baby, Moving. Brakhage begins by intercutting images of a window, a man’s naked posterior and his wife, Jane Brakhage, sitting in a paddling pool. The viewer is immediately thrust into a world where consequences link people and objects together. The sexuality of Jane Brakhage is clearly illuminated through the lighting of her breasts and bump. Brakhage seems to value the importance of where the light comes from when intercutting images of the window. The importance of relationships is a theme that, many would argue, runs throughout. Jane Brakhage reinforces this point when saying ‘it is like we are doing something together, each with his own task.’[8] She refers mainly to the actual event of childbirth that comes later in the film. However, it clearly illustrates the way in which the couple establish a relationship between the roles they play during childbirth. The honesty Brakhage portrays through establishing the style of his film in the same way as he lives the subject, clearly illustrates its diaristic content. Stylistically, many would argue that Brakhage has succeeded in matching his film to his feelings on the subject. This gives the spectator an opportunity to partake in a very personal experience. Moving back to the film, once these initial, physical relationships are established, Brakhage begins to intercut images of Jane’s face with the bump and the window. She is extremely happy. As she looks passed the camera, the spectator is given a sense that Brakhage may be smiling back at her. Through this, the filmmaker is able to give the spectator an idea of how the pregnancy has affected him and Jane emotionally. This is not Brakhage on screen, but it resembles the feelings he experiences from behind the camera. This idea links to an idea by Sitney. Sitney says that Brakhage created a way to, ‘compress his thoughts and feelings, while recording his direct confrontation with intense experiences’.[9] In this way, Brakhage allows the spectator to confront these experiences with him. From behind the camera he allows the audience to face his situation head on, as he does. Compressing ‘thoughts and feelings’, is something that would be associated with diary. A chance to write or record such feelings is often a way of venting them and facing them. Moving back to a quotation used earlier, it was argued that Meshes of the Afternoon might not be regarded as a lyrical film as Sitney claimed that the filmmaker should be, ‘behind the camera as the first-person protagonist of the film.’[10] This is certainly the case in Window, Water, Baby, Moving. This quotation may claim Maya Deren’s film is not lyrical, but it certainly does the opposite for Stan Brakhage’s. Taking Sitney’s claim as a standard for lyrical film would certainly persuade the viewer to consider Window, Water, Baby, Moving in such a genre. With this in mind, many argue that diary film fits into this category, conclusively proving in many peoples opinion that Brakhage has made a diary film in this instance. Another argument may be is put across by Phoebe Cohen when claiming Brakhage’s work resembles an, ‘autobiographical film cycle’.[11] The essence of writing a diary is autobiographical, although many would claim there is more to making a diary film than making it autobiography. It may be that a sense of realism is required within the narrative. I will explore this further with reference to both films as I conclude. During a close-up of the bump, that appears to have lasted longer than the shots of the film so far, Stan Brakhage’s hand moves into the frame and begins to stroke his wife’s stomach. This leads to seeing the couple together kissing and expressing love. At this point it is clear that Brakhage is using a technique similar to montage to help the audience make connections between what they have seen. For example, love has lead to pregnancy, pregnancy has lead to happiness and the window has lead to the lighting of the bump. The significance of the window can also be viewed as metaphorical. The beautiful gateway of the window exudes a pure white light. This may be comparable to Jane’s vagina and the pure and beautiful event which will see the baby pass into the world. Yet another interpretation that may be considered views the window as the metaphorical gateway between the world of the audience and that of the Brakhage family. To be given the opportunity to see through such a window would resemble watching a diary film.

The usual interpretation of a diary is to write a piece about every day of your life. Many may believe to make a diary film, you make a film about your life or feelings.
This gives the impression that to direct an autobiographical piece, may class as diary film. However, it is the reality of the film that really confirms it in the realm of diary. Brakhage manages to capture a true event of his life for others to experience. Although influence is very obvious in terms of editing and montage, the events are not fictional. This is of great contrast to Meshes of the Afternoon. A diary film needs to carry more than the point of view of a filmmaker. It shares real experiences and situations. It may also be argued that diary film allows the viewer to share and relate to an experience. Meshes of the Afternoon seems to offer a slight insight into the feelings of Deren, but it does not do so in a fashion that gives its viewer a glimpse of a real event. This reality allows an honest reaction. Deren makes her feelings the subject of the film, but fails to present them in an unbiased way. She gives a very personal image of what goes on in her head through a fictional piece. However, Brakhage shoots reactions and real events for his film. This presents his audience with the impression that he has ripped a page out of his diary and allowed others to share this event in his life. A diary film may be interpreted as a lyrical film, but a lyrical film does not necessarily need to be a diary film. However, it is my strong belief that both fit into Avant-Garde movement. Diary film offers an opportunity to experience real life situations. These situations do not usually offer what would be considered as an acceptable narrative for mainstream film. Reality is sometimes not as exciting as what can be moulded and suited to audience enjoyment. Working outside the Hollywood environment also breaks down the shackles of censorship. Real life does not always pay regard to the rules set down. In order to give an accurate account of real life, censorship must be avoided. This cannot be done within the mainstream. It takes a member of the Avant-Garde movement to challenge ideals associated with film. This is the only way a true diary film can be made.

Bibliography

- Cohen, Phoebe, “Brakhage’s Sincerity III”, Millenium Film Journal n.4/5 July 1979 - Friedberg, Anne, “Misconception= the ‘Division of Labour’ in the childbirth film”, Millenium Film Journal n.4/5 July 1979 - O’Pray, Michael, Avant-Garde Film: Forms, Themes and Passions, Wallflower Press 2003 - Sitney, P. Adams, Visionary Film, New York Oxford University Press 1974
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[1] Ian Christie, quoted by Michael O’Pray, Avant-Garde Film: Forms, Themes and Passions. P1.
[2] Murray Smith, quoted by Michael O’Pray, Avant-Garde Film; Forms, Themes and Passions. P2.
[3] Murray Smith, quoted by Michael O’Pray, Avant-Garde Film: Forms, Themes and Passions. P2.
[4] Maya Deren, quoted by P.A. Sitney, Visionary Film p9
[5] Lucy Fisher, quoted by Michael O’Pray in, Avant-Garde Film: Forms, Themes and Passions, p50
[6] Sitney, Visionary Film, p180
[7] Sitney, Visionary Film, p10
[8] Jane Brakhage quoted by Anne Friedberg, ‘Misconception = the “Division of Labour” in the childbirth film’, p64
[9] Sitney, Visionary Film, p188
[10] Sitney, Visionary Film, p180
[11] Phoebe Cohen, ‘Brakhage’s Sincerity III’, p153