Sorry我没有很认真的看..只是给自己做个记录
The documentary Handsworth Song directed by John Akomfrah presents the riots regarding to the issue of immigration in Birmingham, UK in the 80s. It raises the controversial debate over immigration. However, while we can look into this controversy, we can never actually find out a best resolution. Mentioned by Salman Rushdie in the article from The Guardian, ‘songs doesn’t know the score’ in January 1987. “The film’s handout provide a clue. ‘The film attempts to excavate hidden ruptures/agonies of “Race”’. It ‘looks at the riots as a political field coloured by the trajectories of industrial decline and structural crisis.’”
One of the most important point we should bear in mind for documentaries is the concept of dialectical materialism put forward by Julia Lesage. That we juxtapose two contradictory views in mind and not to judge the political or social correctness of each one.Comparing Handsworth Song to Les maîtres fous by Jean Rouch, we can see the use of cinéma vérité that the filmmakers try to engage in the event. And the camera acts no longer simply as a blatant tool of direct recording, instead, the camera and the events engage in reciprocation and act as a means of provocation. The proximity and authenticity presented in the films attribute to the innovative use of camera in filming documentaries. Les maîtres fous has its main focus on how Africans see western colonizers through disturbing scenes and strange ritual movements. Handsworth Song also emphasize on the conflicts but more explicitly through conversations, accusations and interviews. The soundtrack is prominent in Handsworth Song as it foreshadows the subtle and fragile relationship. Also, it is interesting to see the painting (54 min) as a means of unveiling a intensifying the riots and division of the immigrants and indigenous people. The soundtrack and its scene settings in Handsworth Song heightened it in a more aesthetic aspect.
