Photography and Cinema

EvenfromthefirstfewpagesitisclearthatKrull’smethodinvolved

adoptingcinematicdevicessuchasthedissolveandthecross-cut.

TheNewCritique

Thephotonovelbegantodieawayinthe 1960 swiththeriseoftelevision,

eventuallybecomingobsoletewhendomesticvideomadefilms‘possess-

able’anddvdsuppliedthesupplementsandcommentariesbelovedof

fansandscholars.Butasitwanedthepagedidbecomethesitefornew

formsofcinematicanalysis.Europeanfilmmakers,particularlyfromthe

FrenchNewWave,tookupthebookasameansofre-presentingand

expandingtheirfilms.AlainRobbe-Grilletreworkedhisscriptswritten

forfilmsdirectedbyAlainResnais(includingL’Année dernière à Marien-

bad,( 1961 )intociné-romansor‘cine-novels’.

Halfwaybetweenillustratedscriptandnovelization,hedescribedthe

formas

adetailedanalysisofanaudio-visualwholethatistoocomplexand

toorapidtobestudiedveryeasilyduringtheactualprojection.But

theciné-novelcanalsoberead,bysomeonewhohasnotseenthe

film,inthesamewayasamusicalscore;whatisthencommunicated

isawhollymentalexperience,whereastheworkitself[thefilm]is

intendedtobeaprimarilysensualexperience,andthisaspectofit

canneverreallybereplaced.^42

Inprinciple,anytranslationofafilmintoillustratedtextopensup

aninterpretivegap.Thefixeddurationofafilmisconvertedintothe

moreprivatetimeofthereader.Onthepagetextandimagecanbecon-

templatedatwillandintheprocessthefilmisalways‘laidbare’tosome

extent.In 1965 Jean-LucGodardsuggestedthat‘onecouldimaginethe

critiqueofafilmasthetextanditsdialogue,withphotosandafew

wordsofcommentary’.^43 Godardpublishedprintversionsofnearlyall

hisfilmsofthe 1960 s.Somewerestraightforwardillustratedscripts,

86 othersmoreexperimental.ThebookbasedonUne femme mariée( 1964 )