CONTEMPORARY ARTS
THE CINEMA
"La Symphonie Pastorale " and Instruments of the Orchestra." (Curzon). —"24 Square Miles—C.o.I." (Non-Theatrical release.) —"Love Laughs at Andy Hardy." (Empire).
La Symphonic Pastorale is an exceptionally moving and beautiful film. Based on a novel by Gide, and directed by Jean Delannoy, it tells the story of a wild, neglected little blind girl who is adopted by the pastor of a small mountain village. As she grows up, the life of his household is gradually dislocated by the fact—neither realised or admitted—that he loves her. His son also loves her ; and when, after a successful operation, she can see for the first time, all the ugly passions from which her blindness had protected her blaze up in front of her, and final tragedy ensues. At no point in the film are the delicate psychological and emotional situations over-dramatised or sensationalised. They are depicted with a meticulous sensitivity and a miraculous understanding of the hidden deeps of the heart. An impeccable cast is headed by Michele Morgan and Pierre Blanchar, and the settings, both the interiors of church and home and the crisp crackling mountain landscapes of snow and conifers, are perfectly presented. La Symphonic Pastorale is indeed one of those rare films which grows and blossoms in the mind for days after it has been seen ; and see it you most certainly must.
With it is a short film from the Crown Film Unit—one of a series commissioned by the C.O.I. for the Ministry of Education for use in schools. It is a first introduction to the make-up of the symphony orchestra, which is revealed as a whole, in groups, and instrument by instrument. The score has been specially written by Benjamin Britten in the form of 15 variations and a fugue on an eight-bar theme of Purcell ; it has already been heard several times in the concert-hall, but is at its best (admirably recorded, by the way) in conjunction with this excellent visual analysis, cleverly directed by Muir Mathieson ; and with the brief but telling comments of Dr. Malcolm Sargent, who is also the conductor. It was a wise move to make Instruments of the Orchestra available to general audiences in addition to school-children, for it is an example of instruction and entertainment combined to the detriment of neither.
Also from the C.O.I. but not for release to the cinemas, is Kay Mander's 24 Square lades. This unusual and extremely effective film is a straightforward pictorial representation of the facts and conclusions reached by an Oxford survey of population and living conditions in a typical rural area of England. Diagrams and models are well used to make the statistical aspects clear, but the real quality of the film comes from the fact that the camera, roving skilfully from field to village, from village street to the innermost rooms of a farmhouse or cottage, brings life to the dry bones of the survey and makes us realise, in human everyday terms, the real meaning of no water-supply, no electricity, no sanitation. The people of the countryside, seen almost casually at work or at rest, emerge finally as accusing figures—more convincing than all the mathematical figures of the original survey. 24 Square Miles will be available to study and discussion groups, and presumably to the large non-theatrical audiences in clubs, institutes, libraries and schools. It should be of great positive value wherever it is Shown for it will start people thinking and talking—and thought and talk are an indispensable prelude to common action.
The series of films about the everyday life of the Hardy family began as a somewhat ethereal, but none the less pleasant, presentation of American middle-class life. Latterly, however, they have become less and less human, and more and more contrived and artificial. Love Laughs at Andy Hardy has none of the qualities of earlier films in this series, and the brunt of a rather hying tale of calf love is borne by Mickey Rooney, who, despite lack of opportunity, succeeds from time to time in reminding us that he is a first-class screen actor
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