#OBSERVER
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In London in 1956 people were talking about Free Cinema. That was the title of showings
organized at the National Film Theatre by Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson, and others-young critics and film makers intent on prodding film into new paths. The title had the ring of a manifesto. One was their stance. The film makers were observes, rejecting the role of promoter.
New, light equipment made possible an intimacy of observation new to documentary,
and this involved sound as well as image. These film makers were as intent on listeining as on watching.
It was a though the tape recorder had opened a new world to them, and they were fascinated by its sounds and speech rhythms. They often poked into places society was inclined to ignore or keep hidden.
Leaving conclusions to viewers, the films were ambiguous. When they seemed iconoclastic, it was not because of superimposed commentaries,
but because there were new sights, sounds, and juxtapositions from which viewers or at leats some of them-drew disturbing inferences. The ambiguity was exhilarating to some film goers, infuriating to others.
Savannah
Georgia
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