Entr'acte

Rene Clair - 1924
Short film; I would genuinely call it surrealist. This is because it deals with the everyday; not larger than life characters, or in costumes, but just part of life. The trick as that this life moves; from one thing to another, without one knowing or understanding the sequence. The speeded up procession, a camel (why not?), the pointless chase, the magician at the end. The exciting montage of the chase is cinema creating for the purpose of pushing on a narrative, though there isn’t a narrative; it is positively Rivette-esque.
Clair also uses various possibilities of the cinema, its capacity to make these ‘illogical’ moves. It’s capacity to evoke images, ideas that aren’t ‘really’ there; for creating an emotion through its ability to make people disappear, double the screen. This even extends to those extremely fast, though smooth, pans.
I’m not going to pretend the film discusses or uses these kind of possibilities with any of the same kind of intelligence, depth, or power as ‘Qui Sauve Peut’ (always stupid to compare to Godard). It rather shows them, and its historical in that sense.