Enthusiasm

Entuziazm: Simfoniya Donbassa
(Dziga Vertov / Soviet Union / 1931)

Just watched a documentary about Peter Kubelka’s restoration of Dziga Vertov’s Entuziazm which was originally made in the Soviet Union in 1930. In it, Peter Kubelka explains how the restoration process took place in 1972, and what the main difficulties are. We see him sitting at the original cutting table he used at that time, while he compares his restored version to the original. What makes the whole thing special, is the fact that according to Kubelka he didn’t actually restore a single image, but re-synchronized image and sound, meaning that he tried to make the original sound track fit the image we were able to see on-screen. What Kubelka did to readjust the two tracks was putting in “black film” where an image wasn’t available to fit the sound. The result can be felt as a rediscovery of the movie itself. The impressionistic and muddled "original" soundscape (though not without its charm) is re/placed through the possibility of an active participation by the viewer in witnessing Vertov's new concept of the cinematic medium on film, which is a testimonial of Vertov’s hopes and possibilities for filmmaking during the commercial advent of sound in film history. Entuziazm had thus before been shown in a modified version that couldn’t have possibly exposed the full scope of Vertov’s achievments.

This becomes evident if we compare the two versions with each other, both of which are available on a DVD release of the new label “Edition Filmmuseum”, on which Kubelka’s statements are also given their space on a 2nd DVD. The edition has english subtitles and is intended as a showcase for how archival work can be transposed and presented on the DVD medium.

For more information on the film and the DVD edition (with screencaps!) here is a link to DVDBeaver: www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/Entuziazm_Simfoniya_Donbassa

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More interesting releases by the label can be accessed directly under www.edition-filmmuseum.de (only in german, though).