Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes

Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes

This article examines Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s short film Sheet. Though little scholarship exists on Sheet, the enigmatic quality of the film and the sheet that gives it its name has given rise to a number of contrasting interpretations. The article discusses two opposing accounts of the fil...

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Pubblicato in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles,
Autore principale: Devaney, Kieran
Natura: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lingua:Anglais
Pubblicazione: Angles 2021
Soggetti:
film
avant-garde
Leggett Mike
Breakwell Ian
experimental film
repetition
May ’68
film expérimental
répétition
mai 68
Accesso online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_4263
record_format openedition
spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_4263 https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.4263 urn:doi:10.4000/angles.4263 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/4263 2021-12-27T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9n1l https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Devaney, Kieran film avant-garde Leggett Mike Breakwell Ian experimental film repetition May ’68 film avant-garde Leggett Mike Breakwell Ian film expérimental répétition mai 68 This article examines Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s short film Sheet. Though little scholarship exists on Sheet, the enigmatic quality of the film and the sheet that gives it its name has given rise to a number of contrasting interpretations. The article discusses two opposing accounts of the film, one which sees it as being a film haunted by the ghostly presence of the titular sheet, and which contains some form of narrative and resolution, and one which sees it as an example of structural film, characterised by repetition and formal concerns. I align these two interpretations with Peter Wollen’s article on the two avant-gardes in contemporary film and argue that Leggett and Breakwell’s work, through their improvisatory approach, triangulates Wollen’s distinction, and allows both interpretations to be simultaneously true. In addition, I discuss the way in which the film re-examines a theme found in filmmaking in the immediate post May ’68 moment, of characters moving from the urban to the rural. As such, the film can be seen as expressing the anxieties and concerns of that period, both political and artistic. Cet article analyse le court métrage Sheet de Mike Leggett et Ian Breakwell. Bien qu'il existe peu d'études sur Sheet, la nature énigmatique du film et du drap qui lui donne son nom a donné lieu à un certain nombre d'interprétations très contrastées. L'article aborde deux interprétations opposées du film, l'une qui considère qu'il s'agit d'un film hanté par la présence fantomatique du drap du titre, et qui contient une certaine forme de récit et de résolution, et l'autre qui le considère comme un exemple de film structurel, caractérisé par la répétition et les préoccupations formelles. Je rapproche ces deux interprétations de l'article de Peter Wollen sur les deux avant-gardes du cinéma contemporain et affirme que le travail cinématographique de Leggett et Breakwell, par son approche improvisée, fait la synthèse de la distinction de Wollen et permet aux deux interprétations d'être simultanément vraies. En outre, je me penche sur la manière dont le film réexamine un thème que l'on retrouve dans le cinéma au lendemain de Mai 68, celui des personnages qui passent de la ville à la campagne. En tant que tel, le film peut être considéré comme l'expression des angoisses et des préoccupations de cette période, tant politiques qu'artistiques.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic film
avant-garde
Leggett Mike
Breakwell Ian
experimental film
repetition
May ’68
film
avant-garde
Leggett Mike
Breakwell Ian
film expérimental
répétition
mai 68
spellingShingle film
avant-garde
Leggett Mike
Breakwell Ian
experimental film
repetition
May ’68
film
avant-garde
Leggett Mike
Breakwell Ian
film expérimental
répétition
mai 68
Devaney, Kieran
Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
description This article examines Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s short film Sheet. Though little scholarship exists on Sheet, the enigmatic quality of the film and the sheet that gives it its name has given rise to a number of contrasting interpretations. The article discusses two opposing accounts of the film, one which sees it as being a film haunted by the ghostly presence of the titular sheet, and which contains some form of narrative and resolution, and one which sees it as an example of structural film, characterised by repetition and formal concerns. I align these two interpretations with Peter Wollen’s article on the two avant-gardes in contemporary film and argue that Leggett and Breakwell’s work, through their improvisatory approach, triangulates Wollen’s distinction, and allows both interpretations to be simultaneously true. In addition, I discuss the way in which the film re-examines a theme found in filmmaking in the immediate post May ’68 moment, of characters moving from the urban to the rural. As such, the film can be seen as expressing the anxieties and concerns of that period, both political and artistic.
author Devaney, Kieran
author_facet Devaney, Kieran
author_sort Devaney, Kieran
title Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
title_short Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
title_full Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
title_fullStr Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
title_full_unstemmed Improvisation, Blankness and Mesmerism: Mike Leggett and Ian Breakwell’s Sheet and the Two Avant-Gardes
title_sort improvisation, blankness and mesmerism: mike leggett and ian breakwell’s sheet and the two avant-gardes
publisher Angles
publishDate 2021
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.4263
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/4263
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