Review and Analysis of French Dada Film: Entr'acte

A detailed Summary of Review and Analysis of French Dada Film: Entr'acte

The film Entr'acte, directed by Rene Clair in 1924, in many ways illustrates an important goal of the Dada movement. The second half of the film which involves a bourgeoisie funeral procession specifically depicts what the artists of the Dada movement were after. I suggest that the funeral procession scene, by it's use of several camera techniques, draws the viewer into the frenzy of the film, a goal that the Dada artists were after.

The whole funeral procession scene is a chase that Rene Clair intends to make the audience a part of. Several camera techniques are employed to create a dizzying, frenzied affect on the viewer. Close-up shots of the spinning wheels of the hearse, often followed by shots of the mourner's pumping legs, bring the viewer up close to the chase. Several camera technique are often layered. Examples of this are cars superimposed over the chase scene, at a sped up rate or superimposition of the rapid tracking of some generic sc

At the first showing of Entr'acte "...the ending drew as much applause as catcalls and whistles" (Claire, 111). It seems that the film met the aims of the Dada movement quite well. The audience felt drawn into the action of the film itself, thrown about and disorientated. The aim of Rene Claire, as well as the other Dadaist involved in the film, was to draw the audience in and provoke them, make then laugh, or hiss, but to have a reaction and to throw away their old conceptions of what not only art, but life, was about. After World War I, they felt it necessary to lighten the mood of war torn France, and this they did.

r] , howls brought the disorder...to their climax" (Clair, 111). It seems that it would be difficult to not get caught up in the action of the film because of the dizzying amount of camera techniques and fast paced changing from shot to shot. Celia McGerr noted in her biography of Rene Clair that, "The sequence leaves one almost breathless..." (Mc

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Approximate Word count = 653
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies

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