Tuesday, September 25, 2007

La Peinture cubiste

For French readers.

Thierry Kuntzel and Philippe Grandrieux's La Peinture cubiste, a film/video-produced hybrid that MoMA has shown (on a worn videotape) in their series in tribute to the late Kuntzel, may very well be a major work that we don't often hear about.

Never have I been more frustrated at my own inadequate comprehension at French, particularly spoken French--words and phrases bubbling up so that they made some sense but, without subtitles, I was generally adrift. I must really learn this language. This videofilm could be one of my favorites. Grandrieux filmed (a cubist painter and his wife, in an apartment), and Kuntzel videotaped (negative filter effects, tromboning to distort the linear integrity of the objects). Something about the nature of vision, the visual experience of a cubist painter as he sees the objects and furniture of his room; Grandrieux & Kuntzel have situated him in the history of Western painting since the Renaissance. I think it could be great. I wish I could tell.

3 comments:

Marcelo said...

have you seen grandrieux's feature work?

Frank Partisan said...

I returned the favor, and linked back to this fine blog.

Is video the best way of tribute for such work?

ZC said...

Marcelo, unfortunately I have not seen Grandrieux's other films, although I will see Sombre (on DVD) sometime soon.

Thanks for the link, RE. I assume you're questioning MoMA's presentation of La Peinture cubiste on video (as opposed to film)? The film (shot part-film, part-video--alternating the two throughout) was commissioned for television, and premiered there, so while Grandrieux and/or Kuntzel might well have wished any theatrical screenings to be on film--I don't know--it seems to be kosher to screen it through tape rather than celluloid. (I'm most disappointed that the videotape was clearly rough.)