Youthful Dreams. Vincent Minnelli. Gigi

presentation by Corry Shores
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[The following is quotation. My own notes are bracketed in red.]

Youthful Dreams
Vincent Minnelli
Gigi

Gilles Deleuze

Cinema I
Cinéma I

Ch.7
The Affection-image: Qualities, Powers, Any-space-whatevers
L'image-affection : qualités, puissances, espaces quelconques

3d
Colour and Absorption(Minnelli)
La couleur et absorption (Minnelli)

[...] from the beginning of a total cinema of colour, Minnelli had made absorption the properly cinematographic power of this new dimension of the image. This is the source of the role of the dream in his work: the dream is only the absorbent form of colour. His work in musical comedy, but also in all other genres, follows the obsessive theme of characters literally absorbed by their own dream, and above all by the dream of others and the past of others (Yoldanda and the Thief, The Pirate, Gigi, Melinda [sic: English title, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever]) by the dream of power of an Other (Les Ensorcelés [sic: English title: The Bad and the Beautiful]). [Deleuze Cinema 1, 1986: 122a.b]

[…] dés le début d’un cinéma total de la couleur, Minnelli avait fait de l’absorption la puissance proprement cinématographique de cette nouvelle dimension de l’image. D’où chez lui le rôle du rêve : le rêve n’est que la forme absorbante de la couleur. Son œuvre, de comédie musicale mais aussi de tout autre genre, allait poursuivre le thème lancinant de personnages littéralement absorbés par leur propre rêve, et surtout par le rêve d’autrui et le passé d’autrui («Yolanda », « Le pirate », « Gigi », « Melinda »), par le rêve de puissance d’un Autre (« Les ensorcelés »). [Deleuze Cinéma 1, 1985: 167b]

[Gaston is a wealthy and socially prominent bachelor. He has had a friendship with Gigi while she was a child, and now that she has grown, he has fallen in love with her. Gigi's grandmother and great-aunt 'dream' of Gigi marrying into Gaston's fortune and fame. In these clips we see Gaston partly inclined toward Gigi, and guided a little bit into the marriage, as a result of him being absorbed by the dreams of Gigi's caretakers.]

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 1: The Movement-Image. Transl. Hugh Tomlinson & Barbara Habberjam, London: Continuum, 1986.

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinéma 1: L'image-mouvement. Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1983.

Bulls & Guns. Buster Keaton. Go West

presentation by Corry Shores
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Bulls & Guns

Buster Keaton

Go West

Gilles Deleuze

Cinema 1

Cinéma 1

Ch X. The Action-Image: The Small Form

Ch X. L'image-action : La petite forme

Go West effects very varied 'minorations'; from the minuscule revolver to the little calf who has the task of rounding up the vast herd. [Deleuze, Cinema 1, 1986: 180d]

« Go West » procède à des monorations très diverses, du revolver minuscule au petit veau chargé de rassembler l’immense troupeau. [Deleuze Cinéma 1, 1985: 241a]

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 1: The Movement-Image.Transl. Hugh Tomlinson & Barbara Habberjam, London: Continuum, 1986

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinéma 1: L'image-mouvement. Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1983.

The Birth of St. Vitus' Dance. Mark Sandrich. Top Hat

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[The following is quotation. May I thank the source of the St. Vitus image, allposters.com. Image credits given below.]

The Birth of St. Vitus' Dance
Mark Sandrich
Top Hat

[Second image above obtained very gratefully from: allposters.com]

Gilles Deleuze

Cinema 2: The Time Image
Cinéma 2: L'image-temps

Chapter III. From Recollection to Dreams: Third Commentary on Bergson
Chapitre III. Du souvenir aux rêves (troisième commentaire de Bergson)

3e
From Donen and Minnelli to Jerry Lewis
3g
De Donen et Minnelli à Jerry Lewis

Between the motor step and the dance step there is sometimes what Alain Masson calls a 'degree zero', like a hesitation, a discrepancy, a making late, a series of preparatory blunders (Sandrich's Follow the Fleet), or on the contrary a sudden birth (Top Hat). [Deleuze Cinema 2, 1989: 58d]

Entre le pas moteur et le pas de danse, il y a parfois ce qu’Alain Masson appelle un « degré zero », comme une hésitation, un décalage, un retardement, un série de ratés préparatoires (« Suivons la flotte » de Sandrich), ou au contraire une brusque naissance (« Top hat »). [Deleuze Cinéma 2, 1985: 83bc]

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinema 2: The Time Image. Transl. Hugh Tomlinson and Robert Galeta. London & New York: 1989.

Deleuze, Gilles. Cinéma 2: L'image-temps. Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1985.



Image credits:
http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/17/1746/1BM3D00Z.jpg