El Cid and Kracauer’s Mass Ornament :: Medievalism Kracauer Film Cinema Movies

The numerous diachronic records that merely illustrate the pastare attempts at deception according to their have got terms.Since whizz always runs the danger, when picturing currentevents, of turning easily excitable masses against powerfulinstitutions that are in fact often not appealing, one prefers todirect the camera towards a Middle Ages that the audience forget find harmlessly edifying. The further back the story issituated historically, the more audacious filmmakersbecome. They will risk depicting a successful revolution inhistorical costumes in order to induce people to forgetmodern revolutions, and they are capable to satisfy thetheoretical sense of justice by filming struggles for freedomthat are long past.1Kracauers analysis of the historical film culminates in a dismissal ofhistorical, and thereby factual, efficacy. In this circumstance, the period piece canassume an earlier time frame as a departure from the burden of verity ratherthan an acceptance of it. Academi c records indicate that El Cid (dir. AnthonyMann, 1961) ignores much of Rodrigo Daz de Bivars factual exploits as awarrior for hire, fighting more often for compensation than any religious or moralcertitude. Why, then, was this characters story so appealing as a platform for ahistorical epic film? El Cids historical ambivalence suggests that its story is moreappropriately detailed for potential esthetic achievement than realism.Kracauer begins describing the aesthetic condition of the mass ornamentas a reference to the Tiller Girls, a performance group based on visual uniformity.He focuses on their performance of emulation and repetition, through which theyare no longer individual girls, but indissoluble girl clusters whose movements aredemonstrations of mathematics.... One need only contemplate at the screen to learnthat the ornaments are composed of thousands of bodies, sexless bodies inbathing suits. The regularity of their patterns is cheered by the masses,1 This passage is tak en from Siegfried Kracauers see The Little Shopgirls Go to the Movies.themselves arranged by the stands in tier upon ordered tier.2 Already, there isan allegory bridging this performance art with the cinema. The masses areclearly the films intended audience gathered in a theater, which composes themodern medium for the cinematic ornament.The films actors become the performative aspect of this equation, whereintheir acting and involvement in a character role, no matter how important, ismeager and unnecessary without the remainder of the operative whole. The filmopens with a revelatory glance at this phenomenon, as Rodrigo carries a crossthrough an empty landscape. In retrospect, his great battles and leadership areabstract and ineffectual without the massive army of followers. As the stand-in rescuer figure, he showcases the absence of the epics ornament a solitary figure,