The Reflexive Mode

I can scarcely think about the reflexive mode without Vertov Coming to mind. Barnouw explains very clearly the impact that Dziga Vertov had on both documentarians and fiction filmmakers around the world. Perhaps most interestingly though, is the portion of the Barnouw reading that explains the creation of The Man With A Movie Camera. Vertov, who opposed contrivance, embraced it in a manner that seemed to embody the reflexivity available to filmmakers and their films. He makes clear that the audience is watching a film, but not just watching any film, the audience is watching the film that they are watching being made(great potential for confusion and complexity). They are reminded that they are an audience, seeing 'themselves' in proxy on the screen. They are shown that the film consists of still images, it is physically pieced together by an editor, and it consists of multiple times and places. This attention to creating an awareness of the film itself, to avoid entirely the 'opium for the masses' potential of film that Vertov reviled, resulted in a fascinating self reflexive documentary.

Similar to Land Without Bread, Vertov's film makes assumptions about what an audience expects from a film, particularly documentary. It uses these assumptions to direct the thoughts of the audience to their own roles in the process of filmmaking: the consumption and assimilation of the experience into their lives.

This Is Not A Film is an excellent example of the strengths of reflexive documentary. I feel the film is designed to ask the questions such as what is a film? What consists of making a film? Is footage from an afternoon spent talking about filmmaking with a friend a film? Aside from the tragic ideological struggles in the film that make a strong political commentary, the film functions as a great critique of institutional definitions of film and filmmaking. It constantly reminds us that what we are watching was not supposed to be made; it is a film. This lends great strength to the argument and viewpoint of the filmmakers. It gives the simple afternoon spent with Jafar an ironic and satirical insight, charging it with a political buzz. It is hard to pin down wether the film really was as serendipitous as it was presented, but regardless of the answer, we are well aware with each passing second, that we are witnessing a film being made.