All My Life(1966 film)
| All My Life | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bruce Baillie |
| Distributed by | Canyon Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 3 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
All My Lifeis a 1966 Americanexperimentalshort film directed byBruce Baillie.It shows a continuous shot of a fence, soundtracked byElla Fitzgerald's 1936 debut single "All My Life". Film criticP. Adams Sitneyidentified it as an early example of what he termedstructural film.
Description
[edit]
The film consists of a single shot that begins panning along a picket fence. As the camera continues to pan, red flowers on the fence are seen. The film ends after the camera angles upward to show a horizontal telephone wire and, finally, a blue sky. It uses "All My Life" by Ella Fitzgerald as its soundtrack.[1]
Production
[edit]
All My Lifewas shot during a summer trip Baillie took toCaspar, California.Baillie had been admiring the quality of the sunlight, and while driving back down toSan Franciscoon the second day, he insisted on stopping so he could film. He used a camera with atelephoto lens,set up on a tripod so he couldpanand adjustfocusat the same time. Having only one roll of outdatedAnsco16 mm filmto use, Baillie practiced the timing first and had a friend call out the minutes as they passed. He filmedAll My Lifeas one continuous shot that ended by angling up into the sky.[2]
Baillie had "All My Life" in mind for the soundtrack because it had been playing at Paul Tulley's cabin where they had been staying. Therecord playerthere had a potato sack over its speaker, giving it a scratchy sound that Baillie wanted to use.[2]He completed the film at theMorningstar CommuneinSebastopol, California.[3]
Release
[edit]The film was released in 1966 and distributed throughCanyon Cinema,a cooperative co-founded by Baillie. When a newinternegativewas created in 1989, retaining the film's vibrant colors was a key concern. TheKodak7390 stock that Baillie had used for his prints was no longer available, and to replicate the intense red hues of the flowers, preservationists decided against the cyan correction typically used when transferring to the lower-contrast Kodak 7389.[4]It is now part ofAnthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection.[5]A digital transfer was made forAll My Life's home release in 2013, in a DVD collection of some of Baillie's work.[6]
Reception and legacy
[edit]Film criticManohla DargiscalledAll My Life"one of the most perfect films that I've ever seen".[7]P. Adams Sitney identified it as an early example of what he termed structural film, in particular for its monomorphic form and its emphasis on the mechanics of filmmaking tools.[8]FilmmakerChris Welsbyremarked that "it has taken me, quite literally, all my life so far to truly appreciate the simple elegant beauty of this cinematic gem. There is nothing in the film that could be changed for the better."Phil Solomoncalled it "one of the great works of film art".[1]
FilmmakerLaida Lertxundicited the camera movement inAll My Lifeas an influence on her 2009 filmMy Tears Are Dry.[9]
References
[edit]- ^abCutler, Aaron (April 9, 2016). "Communal Filmmaking: Bruce Baillie's Work Still Inspires".Keyframe.Fandor.
- ^abMacDonald, Scott(1992).A Critical Cinema 2: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers.University of California Press.pp. 120–121.ISBN978-0-520-07918-2.
- ^Bordwell, David(1971). "Bruce Baillie".Film Comment.Vol. 7, no. 1. p. 30.
- ^Anker, Steve; Geritz, Kathy; Seid, Steve, eds. (2010).Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945–2000.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-24911-0.
- ^"Essential Cinema".Anthology Film Archives.RetrievedMay 16,2021.
- ^"New for Sale: Bruce Baillie Volume I DVD".Canyon Cinema.January 7, 2013.RetrievedApril 26,2021.
- ^Dargis, Manohla(April 1, 2016)."Bruce Baillie, a Film-Poet Collapsing Inner and Outer Space".The New York Times.RetrievedApril 26,2021.
- ^Sitney, P. Adams(1974).Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-514886-2.
- ^Yue, Genevieve (2012). "Walkin' in the Sand: Interview with Laida Lertxundi".Film Quarterly.66(2): 39.doi:10.1525/fq.2012.66.2.35.