Serhiy Eisensteinʹs Filmmaking in the Context of Japanese Visual and Performative Practices.

Abstract

The article examines creative techniques of the outstanding film director Serhiy Eisenstein in the context of Japanese visual and performative practices. In particular, a range of sources that formed Eisenstein’s idea of the Japanese artistic experience is identified. They include works of Japanese art, hieroglyphics, scientific literature, kabuki theatrical performances and communication with the bearers of Japanese theatrical tradition. A variety of borrowings of creative techniques of Japanese artists and their creative interpretation is revealed on the basis of a comparative analysis of Japanese visual and performative practices with the materials of theoretical and creative heritage of the artist and memoirs. Pre-drawn compositions of frames (so called “sketches”) reveal the techniques of Japanese engraving, samples of which were stored in the directorʹs own collection: close up compositions, sharp camera angles and perspective cuts, expressive silhouettes, shadow play, forming a second meaningful plan. Close ups in the film Ivan the Terrible contain many parallels with such techniques of Kabuki Theater as grotesque facial expressions, mimic facial wrinkles, apples of the eyes extremely slanted to the side, or brought to the bridge of the nose. The models of expression of various emotional states honed in the theatrical practice of Japan corresponded to Eisenstein’s idea of cinema “types”. The principles of using sound as one of the means of expression in the performance of kabuki prompted the director to develop the concept of editing as the main means of developing an audiovisual work. It is established that Eisensteinʹs research of various branches of Japanese art, his experience in the study of hieroglyphic writing directed the masterʹs creative experiments in search of metaphorical language, the principles of developing a clear, easy to read visual component.