05/31/2002 Entry:
"The Spanish Earth - Joris Ivens (1938)
The 400 Million - Joris Ivens (1939)
A Tale Of The Wind - Joris Ivens (1988)"

Film Center ran a frustratingly scheduled Joris Ivens retrospective through May, showing 15 films in all. A Tale Of The Wind was the only one I made it to, and it was mesmerizing. On the surface it chronicles Ivens' attempts to film the unfilmable - the wind. However it also seems to be a reflection on his life as a filmmaker, an overview of his work, and a way for him to look back and reflect as much as anything else. Ivens seems to be at peace with his own death throughout (he actually died right after the film was released,) yet an infectuous humor and light mood runs throughout the film's length. During the film's final scenes, Ivens seems filled with joy, as if the last dream of his life has finally been fulfilled, and the mood is infectious. The slow, measured pace is perfect for the subject matter and reflective of Ivens' age and thoughtfulness.

Beautifully shot throughout China, A Tale Of The Wind contains some amazing location footage of various Chinese locales. This is especially true of the desert portions near the film's end. The images linger - a local man placing Ivens' chair at the crest of a dune, a child playing in the sand, Ivens raising his face to the wind and walking down the far side of the dune in victory. I have seen some writers referring to some of Ivens' films as visual poems, and the description fits perfectly. I love this kind of lush filmmaking that relies as much on mood and energy as plot and story. Yet its not as if the film has nothing to say either, its not all style and no substance. The thread of the film does have an arc which builds to a conclusion, but its not narrative either. I feel like I'm not quite getting down what is in my brain, perhaps lack the context and words to describe this kind of filmmaking. I was into it though.

When I realized that I was going to miss most of the Ivens films, I tried to hunt down any DVDs I might find. The only one in existence contains two of Ivens' early documentaries - The Spanish Earth and The 400 Million. Even that is out of print, although I managed to get my hands on a copy used from Amazon. This was actually one of those cases when I felt train viewing worked slightly better since each film was about 52 minutes long - perfect for fitting into a single leg.

I much preferred The Spanish Earth of the two films. It is a pretty straightforward telling of the defense of Madrid and the people in the surrounding lands during The Spanish Civil War, with fairly minimal narration by Ernest Hemingway. The film was originally supposed to be narrated by Orson Welles, but Ivens decided Welles' voice was "too beautiful" for the subject matter and replaced him with Hemmingway. Both narration tracks are included on the DVD (although I've only listened to the Hemmingway one.) One of the weird things about watching this film now is how little actual battle footage you see. Its obvious Ivens was away from the main field of battle, for whatever reason, and its a sharp contrast to the kind of up close footage that came to the forefront during Vietnam (Ivens actually made a Vietnam film - The 17th Parallel - which I missed during the retrospective.) In a way this fits the flow of the film though - much of it is concerned with the war's impact on the people living in and around Madrid, and their efforts to live and get on with their work while the battles rage around them. A thread throughout is their attempts to keep the Franco forces from interfering with their efforts to build an irrigation system. Which one came first - the theme or the footage - I have no idea.

The 400 Million was more like a propaganda piece, much of the rhetoric was very heavy-handed. In particular, the introductory text was so in your face that I actually chuckled a little. This film covered the defense of China from invasion by Japan with a very Chinese slany, and a lot of the commentary is pretty dated. Still, it was interesting, if for no other reason than to see Ivens' first shots of the same Chinese sand dunes he would revisit so exquisitely 50 years later in A Tale Of The Wind. Also notable is the fact that some of the cinematography was done by photojournalist and Magnum photographer Robert Capa, as well as an appearance by Sidney Lumet, all of 15 at the time.

There is a website for the Joris Ivens foundation which says they are working on getting more of his works released on DVD, which would be welcome news as these few viewings have only wetted my appetite to see more.

Further Reading
Films By Joris Ivens - Johnathan Rosenbaum in The Chicago Reader
European Foundation Joris Ivens
Man With The Movie