Personal Views: Explorations in Film

7. Images of Childhood

189 Like฀a฀fiend฀hid฀in฀a฀cloud ฀ ฀ ฀ William฀Blake Peter฀Coveney’s฀The฀Image฀of฀Childhood฀(Peregrine฀Books,฀1967),฀ an฀indispensable฀work฀of฀literary฀criticism฀by฀a฀historian,฀traces฀ the฀development฀of฀the฀figure฀of฀the฀child฀in฀English฀literature฀ from฀Blake฀and฀Wordsworth฀to฀the฀first฀decades฀of฀the฀present฀ century.฀Its฀premise฀is฀that฀in฀Romantic฀literature฀the฀Child฀acquired ฀a฀rich฀symbolic฀significance,฀representing฀the฀potentiality ฀for฀growth฀and฀renewal฀in฀the฀individual฀and,฀by฀extension,฀ in฀society.฀The฀book฀traces฀the฀development฀of฀this฀image฀from฀ the฀visionary฀children฀of฀Blake฀to฀its฀final฀flowering฀in฀Lawrence฀ (notably฀the฀children฀of฀The฀Rainbow),฀and฀shows฀how฀this฀development ฀was฀counterpointed฀by฀decline฀and฀decadence,฀the฀ Blakean฀symbol฀of฀universal฀rebirth฀dwindling฀into฀Peter฀Pan,฀ the฀child฀who฀refuses฀adulthood.฀The฀figure฀of฀the฀Child,฀in฀this฀ reading,฀reflects฀the฀condition฀of฀civilization,฀its฀health฀or฀sickness ,฀as฀projected฀in฀the฀values฀and฀aspirations฀of฀its฀art. ฀ Since฀the฀death฀of฀Lawrence฀the฀cinema฀has฀increasingly฀taken฀ over฀from฀poetry฀and฀the฀novel฀as฀the฀central฀expression฀of฀creative ฀energies.฀One฀might,฀then,฀expect฀to฀discover฀the฀further฀ progress฀of฀the฀“Image฀of฀Childhood”฀in฀the฀images฀of฀childhood ฀given฀us฀on฀the฀screen;฀and฀such฀expectations฀are฀amply฀ fulfilled.฀A฀book-length฀sequel฀to฀Peter฀Coveney’s฀work฀might฀ well฀be฀undertaken;฀all฀I฀offer฀here฀is฀a฀sketch,฀suggesting฀areas฀ for฀investigation,฀tentatively฀mapping฀lines฀of฀development.฀The฀ complexities฀involved฀are฀multiplied฀by฀the฀universality฀of฀the฀ 7 Images฀of฀Childhood 190 chapter฀7 medium:฀where฀Coveney฀could฀reasonably฀restrict฀himself฀to฀ English฀literature,฀the฀accessibility฀of฀film฀makes฀it฀impossible฀ to฀avoid฀confronting฀the฀cinemas฀of฀Europe฀and฀Hollywood,฀ now฀part฀of฀our฀common฀culture. The฀Neo-Realist฀Child In฀the฀great฀period฀of฀Italian฀neo-realism,฀which฀gained฀so฀much฀ impetus฀from฀World฀War฀II฀and฀its฀immediate฀aftermath,฀the฀ precarious,฀shifting฀balance฀of฀despair฀and฀hope฀for฀renewal฀is฀ repeatedly฀poised฀in฀the฀lives฀(and฀deaths)฀of฀children.฀The฀child฀ at฀the฀end฀of฀Bicycle฀Thieves฀takes฀the฀hand฀of฀his฀humiliated฀ father฀in฀a฀gesture฀that฀reaffirms฀the฀bonds฀of฀natural฀affection฀ in฀a฀world฀where฀everything฀else฀has฀become฀uncertain;฀the฀partisan ฀children฀at฀the฀end฀of฀Rome,฀Open฀City,฀having฀witnessed฀ the฀ execution฀ of฀ the฀ priest,฀ walk฀ away฀ grim฀ but฀ determined฀ against฀Rome’s฀skyline,฀the฀camera฀panning฀with฀them฀to฀stop฀ when฀St.฀Peter’s฀is฀in฀the฀centre฀of฀the฀image.฀Against฀these฀images ฀of฀bleak฀affirmation฀must฀be฀set฀certain฀images฀of฀despair฀ centred฀on฀children฀born฀or฀unborn,฀particularly฀strong฀in฀the฀ first฀three฀postwar฀films฀of฀Rossellini.฀The฀shooting฀down฀of฀ Anna฀Magnani฀in฀Rome,฀Open฀City฀gains฀its฀force฀from฀the฀fact฀ that฀she฀is฀pregnant.฀In฀the฀Naples฀episode฀of฀Paisa฀a฀child฀(who฀ recalls฀the฀boy฀in฀Bicycle฀Thieves฀except฀that฀he฀is฀bereft฀of฀parents ฀and฀exists฀in฀even฀more฀desperate฀material฀circumstances)฀ befriends฀a฀lonely฀negro฀soldier฀but฀knows฀that฀he฀will฀steal฀his฀ boots฀as฀soon฀as฀the฀man฀falls฀asleep;฀in฀the฀final฀episode฀a฀baby฀ totters฀screaming฀among฀the฀corpses฀of฀its฀family฀after฀a฀massacre .฀These฀intimations฀of฀the฀corruption฀of฀innocence฀and฀of฀ irreparable฀loss฀and฀disaster฀come฀together฀in฀Germany,฀Year฀ Zero,฀united฀in฀the฀central฀figure฀Edmund,฀the฀child฀perverted฀ by฀Nazi฀doctrine,฀poisoner฀of฀his฀own฀sick฀father.฀The฀extraordinary ฀last฀half฀hour฀of฀the฀film฀charts฀Edmund’s฀progress฀to฀a฀casual ,฀unpremeditated฀suicide฀amid฀the฀ruins฀of฀Berlin:฀Released฀ 191 images฀of฀childhood into฀solitude฀from฀the฀prematurely฀adult฀responsibilities฀of฀his฀ situation,฀he฀becomes฀a฀real฀child฀for฀the฀first฀time฀in฀the฀film,฀ playing฀desultory฀little฀improvised฀games;฀then,฀realizing฀he฀no฀ longer฀has฀anywhere฀to฀go,฀he฀throws฀himself฀from฀the฀top฀of฀a฀ devastated฀building. ฀ The฀suicide฀of฀a฀child฀in฀a฀world฀that฀has฀nothing฀to฀offer฀it:฀ it฀is฀difficult฀to฀imagine฀a฀more฀desolate฀culmination.฀After฀it,฀ Rossellini฀moved฀towards฀a฀new฀affirmation฀expressed฀at฀first฀ though฀images฀of฀childbirth฀as฀triumphant฀vindication฀(Anna฀ Magnani฀in฀The฀Miracle)฀and฀pregnancy฀finally฀accepted฀(Ingrid฀ Bergman฀in฀Stromboli),฀and฀later฀manifesting฀itself฀as฀a฀search฀ for฀understanding฀and฀historical฀awareness฀through฀the฀series฀ of฀documentaries฀and฀historical฀reconstructions.฀This฀positive฀ note฀in฀Rossellini—active฀enquiry,฀vigorous฀analysis—sets฀his฀ In฀Germany,฀Year฀Zero฀฀ (Germania...