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supermen have confronted them with the aplomb of Greek gods. The Western repre-
sents the clearest statement of myth in the cinema, a common pattern being a mysteri-
ous stranger who takes on the ills of society. After battling with dark forces he goes
on his way, leaving behind a community which is transformed by his actions. This
basic plot has enthralled generations of schoolboys and was memorably parodied in
The Celluloid Canon " 25
Mel Brooks s Blazing Saddles (US, 1974). Comedies belong to the hidden, subver-
sive tradition rather than to myth, while the episodic works of Fellini and the satire of
Kubrick s Dr Strangelove; Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(GB, 1963) seem light years away. Among other films touched on in this chapter,
2001: A Space Odyssey and The Searchers fit the mythic mould, while the series
based on Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings aspire to be sagas of Wagnerian pro-
portions. The Godfather trilogy and Citizen Kane also display mythic qualities, while
being set in a recognizably twentieth-century America. Stalker is notable for attempt-
ing to refashion myth for the modern age perhaps a post-nuclear age the enemy
being an alien landscape where a disparate group of men search for their grail.
In Jungian terms, a heroine, or the star playing her, can be seen as the anima. The
 superhuman glamour of the mother is transferred to this love object, who is treated
with  boundless fascination, overvaluation, and infatuation . As Jung concedes, this
is a matter of psychological need, not of truth. Rational explanation achieves noth-
ing.39 This disposes of rational explanation, but more pertinently, is the notion of
the anima useful? It provides a way of exposing a weakness in Vertigo. The love
object (Kim Novak) provokes boundless fascination on the part of the hero (James
Stewart) and the audience, but Hitchcock sacrifices her, along with ambiguity and
any aspiration to psychological insight, in the interests of a neat ending which fails
to ring true. Any film with a femme fatale can be approached using the concept of the
anima, but what of Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, US, 1959), or the black comedy
The Anniversary (Roy Ward Baker, GB, 1968)? These are cases where the Jungian
model fails to fit.
A canon of great films justifies the medium being defined as an art form and di-
rects attention towards important works. A new generation may accept the status of
some films in today s canon, or newer works may displace the old as Burr contends,
changing the nature of film culture and overturning the rubric that greatness emerges
over time. Does this reveal independence of mind, or a relentless emphasis on the
ephemeral? In an ideal world, a liberal education exposes us to all forms of expres-
sion and offers glimpses of their potential; then we should be free to seek works
which have meaning for us, regardless of their status. A canon has value if it intro-
duces us to works we do not know; too often it is greeted as confirmation of great-
ness. Accepting that some films are above criticism closes down debate as effectively
as an obsessive focus on box-office returns. It concentrates power in the hands of a
coterie of opinion-formers whose influence is already pernicious, with the result that
some films are approached with reverence rather than any expectation of pleasure.
Films speak to us across time and across cultures. Those flickering images of our
lives are something societies must share, and we erect barriers against this process
at our peril, handing decision-making to experts and to those who shout the loudest.
This should be resisted.
The film canon may not be displaced easily, but it bears critical examination.
If less attention were devoted to so-called masterworks, more eclectic tastes might
prevail, making private passion central to evaluating films.
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 3
The Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925):
The Politics of the Cinema
Production Company: Goskino
Producer: Jacob Bliokh
Director/Screenplay/Editor: Sergei Eisenstein
Scenario: Nina F. Agadzhanova-Shurko
Photography: Eduard Tisse
Art Director: Vasili Rakhals
Cast: Aleksander Antonov (Grigory Vakulinchuk Bolshevik sailor), Vladimir
Barsky (Commander Golikov), Grigori Alexandrov (Chief Officer Giliarovsky),
Aleksander Liovshin (petty officer), N. Poltatseva (woman with pince-nez),
Beatrice Vitoldi (woman with pram)
Synopsis
The crew of the battleship Potemkin relax in their hammocks after coming off duty
and show no support for the agitator Vakulinchuk. Their mood is different the next
morning. They complain about their diet of maggot-infested meat and raid the food
store when nothing is done. They are summoned on deck, where the commander
harangues them. Many sailors ignore orders to disperse and congregate by the
turret. Armed guards are summoned. An isolated group of sailors tries to escape
through the hatch used by the admiral, but they are beaten back. A tarpaulin is
thrown over them and orders are given to shoot them. Vakulinchuk successfully
urges the guards to rebel. The officers are thrown overboard, but Vakulinchuk is
killed in the struggle. His body is taken to the pier, where the townspeople pay
their respects. They support the sailors by taking food to the battleship. Soldiers
appear, driving people down the Odessa Steps and shooting them. The battleship
fires on the army s headquarters in retaliation. When the sailors hear that the fleet
is approaching, the battleship steams out of the harbour to confront the other ships.
The sailors on the Potemkin are ready to fi
ght for their cause, but the other crews
side with them.
 27 
28 " Movie Greats
Cultural Context
The Battleship Potemkin was conceived as an episode of an eight-part series cel-
ebrating the failed 1905 revolution. A French magazine article about the mutiny pro- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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