What were the aims of the British Documentary Film Movement in Britain?
What were the aims of the Documentary Film Movement in Britain?
The British Documentary Film Movement describes the group of film-makers, put together by John Grierson and they produced content, which engaged in social issues. There were several aims to it, including: trying to highlight and improve the living conditions of the working class, to show the ‘real society’ in comparison to Newsreels and to incorporate a poetic element into film.
Before discussing the movement, the influences on Grierson and on the group itself must be indicated. Grierson was strongly influenced by Robert Flaherty, especially with his work ‘Moana’ (1926). This film was centred around the everyday life of Polynesian people. Jack Ellis quotes Grierson’s review in the book ‘John Grierson: Life Contributions, Influence’. In his review of the documentary, he made a reference to the poetic element when he said: “It (‘Moana’) could only have been produced by a man with an artistic conscience and an intense poetic feeling” and he continued by saying: “And therefore I think ‘Moana’ achieves greatness primarily through its poetic feeling for natural elements.”1 It is interesting that he used “poetic” twice, so it is clear that this was a special piece of film and that is why it had an influence on him. Also in his review, he used the word “documentary”. According to Ellis, that was believed to be the first time that word had been used to describe a film.
Another person, who had an effect on Grierson, was Sergei Eisenstein. Eisenstein was the first person to create a “montage of attractions – in which arbitrarily chosen images, independent from action, would be presented in whatever way to create the maximum psychological impact.”2
In Grierson’s film ‘Drifters’ (1929), the influence of Flaherty and Eisenstein is clear. ‘Drifters’ is based around fishermen sailing in the North Sea. Grierson used the idea of struggling people from Flaherty and the idea of montage from Eisenstein.
The British Documentary Film Movement describes the group of film-makers, put together by John Grierson and they produced content, which engaged in social issues. There were several aims to it, including: trying to highlight and improve the living conditions of the working class, to show the ‘real society’ in comparison to Newsreels and to incorporate a poetic element into film.
Before discussing the movement, the influences on Grierson and on the group itself must be indicated. Grierson was strongly influenced by Robert Flaherty, especially with his work ‘Moana’ (1926). This film was centred around the everyday life of Polynesian people. Jack Ellis quotes Grierson’s review in the book ‘John Grierson: Life Contributions, Influence’. In his review of the documentary, he made a reference to the poetic element when he said: “It (‘Moana’) could only have been produced by a man with an artistic conscience and an intense poetic feeling” and he continued by saying: “And therefore I think ‘Moana’ achieves greatness primarily through its poetic feeling for natural elements.”1 It is interesting that he used “poetic” twice, so it is clear that this was a special piece of film and that is why it had an influence on him. Also in his review, he used the word “documentary”. According to Ellis, that was believed to be the first time that word had been used to describe a film.
Another person, who had an effect on Grierson, was Sergei Eisenstein. Eisenstein was the first person to create a “montage of attractions – in which arbitrarily chosen images, independent from action, would be presented in whatever way to create the maximum psychological impact.”2
In Grierson’s film ‘Drifters’ (1929), the influence of Flaherty and Eisenstein is clear. ‘Drifters’ is based around fishermen sailing in the North Sea. Grierson used the idea of struggling people from Flaherty and the idea of montage from Eisenstein.
Bibliography: Aitken, I. 2013. ‘The Concise Routledge Encyclopaedia of the Documentary Film’. Page 336. Anthony, S, Mansell, J. 2012. ‘Introduction: The Documentary Film Movement and the Spaces of British Identity’. Page 2. Bluemel, K. 2009. ‘Intermodernism: Literary Culture in Mid-twentieth Century Britain’. Page 192. Bradshaw, D. 2003. ‘A Concise Companion to Modernism’. Page 196. Brivati, B, Buxton, J, Seldon, A. 1996. ‘The Contemporary History Handbook’. Page 425. Ellis, J. 2000. ‘John Grierson: Life, Contributions, Influence’. Page 28. Evans, G. 2005. ‘John Grierson: Trailblazer of Documentary Film’. Page 30. Khouri, M. 2007. ‘Filming Politics’. Page 175. Rothman, W. 1997. ‘Documentary Film Classics’. Page 109. Taylor, J, Russell, P. 2010. ‘Shadows of Progress: Documentary Film in Post-War Britain’. Trumpbour, J. 2002. ‘Selling Hollywood to the World’. Page 135.