Misère au Borinage
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| - | '''''Misère au Borinage''''' is a [[Belgian cinema|Belgian]] [[political cinema|political]] [[documentary film]] made by [[Henri Storck]] and [[Joris Ivens]] is a film about the living conditions of the miners in the Belgian [[coalmining]] industry of the [[Borinage]]. The film was recorded in [[1932]] and explores the [[misery]] of the miners, the savage exploitaton of the workers and the difficult living conditions and ilnesses of the miners, expelled from their homes if they couldn't afford the rent. | + | '''''Misère au Borinage''''' ([[French language|French]], literally "Poverty in the [[Borinage]]"), also known as '''''Borinage''''', was a 1934 Belgian documentary film directed by [[Henri Storck]] and [[Joris Ivens]]. Produced during the [[Great Depression]], the film has a strongly [[Socialism|socialist]] theme, covering the poor living conditions of the workers and [[coal mine]]rs of the [[Borinage]] region of Belgium. It is considered a classic work of [[political cinema]]. |
| - | Henri Storck recamms: " We stopped thinking about cinema and how to frame shots and instead bacame dominated by the irrepressible need to produce images as stark, bare, and sincere as possible to fit the cruel facts reality had thrown at us." | + | The film was recorded in [[1932]] and explores the [[misery]] of the miners, the savage exploitaton of the workers and the difficult living conditions and illnesses of the miners, expelled from their homes if they couldn't afford the rent. |
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| + | Henri Storck recalls: " We stopped thinking about cinema and how to frame shots and instead bacame dominated by the irrepressible need to produce images as stark, bare, and sincere as possible to fit the cruel facts reality had thrown at us." | ||
| Ivens used the method of [[Historical reenactment|re-enactment]] to incorporate the miners' strike of 1932 in the film. | Ivens used the method of [[Historical reenactment|re-enactment]] to incorporate the miners' strike of 1932 in the film. | ||
| - | == Réalité et fiction == | + | == Reality and fiction == |
| - | Like most documentaries, it mixes reality and fiction, and in this case, sometimes contrary to [[authorial intention]]. For the film, the two directors had arranged a manifestation with [[extra]]s from the Borinage. The miners were to walk behind a portrait of [[Karl Marx]]. The police mistook it for a real manifestation, they intervened and the "protest" was dispersed. This was filmed by Ivens and Storck. It would cause [[Walter Benjamin]] to write in ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]'': | + | Like most documentaries, it mixes reality and fiction, and in this case, sometimes contrary to [[authorial intention]]. For the film, the two directors had arranged a manifestation with [[Extra (actor)|extra]]s from the Borinage. The miners were to walk behind a portrait of [[Karl Marx]]. The police mistook it for a real manifestation, they intervened and the "protest" was dispersed. This was filmed by Ivens and Storck. It would cause [[Walter Benjamin]] to write in ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]'': |
| - | :"Similarly, the [[newsreel]] offers everyone the opportunity to rise from passer-by to movie extra. In this way any man might even find himself part of a work of art, as witness [[Vertov]]'s ''[[Three Songs About Lenin]]'' or [[Ivens]] ''[[Borinage]]''. Any man today can lay claim to being filmed. This claim can best be elucidated by a comparative look at the historical situation of [[Modernist literature|contemporary literature]]."'' | + | :"Similarly, the [[newsreel]] offers everyone the opportunity to rise from passer-by to [[movie extra]]. In this way any man might even find himself part of a work of art, as witness [[Vertov]]'s ''[[Three Songs About Lenin]]'' or [[Ivens]] ''[[Misère au Borinage|Borinage]]''. Any man today can lay claim to being filmed. This claim can best be elucidated by a comparative look at the historical situation of [[Modernist literature|contemporary literature]]."'' |
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Misère au Borinage (French, literally "Poverty in the Borinage"), also known as Borinage, was a 1934 Belgian documentary film directed by Henri Storck and Joris Ivens. Produced during the Great Depression, the film has a strongly socialist theme, covering the poor living conditions of the workers and coal miners of the Borinage region of Belgium. It is considered a classic work of political cinema.
The film was recorded in 1932 and explores the misery of the miners, the savage exploitaton of the workers and the difficult living conditions and illnesses of the miners, expelled from their homes if they couldn't afford the rent.
Henri Storck recalls: " We stopped thinking about cinema and how to frame shots and instead bacame dominated by the irrepressible need to produce images as stark, bare, and sincere as possible to fit the cruel facts reality had thrown at us."
Ivens used the method of re-enactment to incorporate the miners' strike of 1932 in the film.
Reality and fiction
Like most documentaries, it mixes reality and fiction, and in this case, sometimes contrary to authorial intention. For the film, the two directors had arranged a manifestation with extras from the Borinage. The miners were to walk behind a portrait of Karl Marx. The police mistook it for a real manifestation, they intervened and the "protest" was dispersed. This was filmed by Ivens and Storck. It would cause Walter Benjamin to write in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction:
- "Similarly, the newsreel offers everyone the opportunity to rise from passer-by to movie extra. In this way any man might even find himself part of a work of art, as witness Vertov's Three Songs About Lenin or Ivens Borinage. Any man today can lay claim to being filmed. This claim can best be elucidated by a comparative look at the historical situation of contemporary literature."
