Basil Wright: An Interview

BASIL WRIGHT: AN INTERVIEW by Paul Mareth and Alan Bloom Ln London In the late '20s and early '30s, a number ofa artists were bnought together by the fallmmaken John Gnlerson to faonm the Empine Marketing Board Film Unit. The fairst person Grierson necrulted faon the pnoj'ect was 22 yean old Basil Wright. While with the EMB Basil Wright directed the classic Song ofa Ceylon, one ofa the most success faul falZms to assimilate Einstein's theony ofa the use ofa sound. Later, when Gnlerson faounded the General Post Ofafalce Film Unit [GPO), Wnlght went along and pnoduced [with Hanry Watt) yet another classic, Night Mall, with music and sound by Benjamin Britten and Alberto Cavalcanti and with nannation by W. H. Auden. Other fallms by Basil Wnlght Include Water ofa Time, The Immortal Land, 'and Housing Pnoblems. During Wonld War II he pnoduced fallms faon the Ministry ofa lnfaonmatlon. He served as pnoducenIn -change ofa the Cnown Film Unit fanom 1945-46. He has served as governon ofa the Bnitish Film institute and Pnesldent ofa the international Association ofa Documentary FlZm Makers. He has taught at the National Film School [England), UCLA, Temple University, and the University ofa Houston. During his Zifaetime he has been associated with fatZmmakers such as Len Lye, Nonman McClanen, Sergel Eisenstein, Robert Flaherty, and Paul Rotha. MAJpTjH: The didactic use of the film as propaganda was a very central thing for Grierson and for the movement in which you were involved; Paul Mareth and Alan Bloom are assistant pnofaessons In tue Department ofa Radlo-Televlslon-FIZm at Temple University In Philadelphia. Mareth has pnoduced fallms under grants fanom The Swedish Film institute and Public Bnoadcasting In America, and has contributed articles to Sight and Sound and The international Film Guide. Bloom Is an experimental video and falZm artist whose wonk has been widely shown at faestivals and museums In America and Europe. The nemarks published here have been edited fanom a series ofa Interviews conducted over a thneemonth period In 197S. 73 Grierson spoke of the cinema as a "pulpit." Do you see a didactic role for the cinema? Do you still see the cinema as a teacher? As something that can change moral attitude? WRIGHT: Yes. It's now automatic that schools have visual education. They have a film projector if they don't have a closed circuit television. And that's what it is all about. Next to all the big films, you know, there is a hard core of educationals. I think we made an educational· film out of the bits and pieces left over from Night Mail . MARETH: What I meant though, was not so much strictly educational films, but rather didactic in a broad sense as when so many films were being made in the Soviet Union, when Dziga Vertov was at his creative peak, and when your Unit was working in England, there were films like Shanghai , Soviet! in Russia and films like Housing Problems in Britain which were designed not only to expose social ills, but also to create a climate of opinion so that those social ills could then be attacked and solved. And that's not being done on any large scale today. WRIGHT: We had a unique opportunity. Grierson had a genius for seeing where the money could be got for forms of social purpose. I mean, Housing Problems, Children at School , The Smoke Menace } Enough to Eat, these were all about social problems. They were all financed by the Cooking Gas Corporation and for a very good reason. Pull down the slums and the gas people get a contract to put in the cooking and central heating. And at the time they made the only pollution-free fuel in the world. So we said to them, "All right, you're going to get yourself a very good reputation for tackling social subjects which the government ought to be doing, and if it works, you'll make a profit too." I think you can go on for all the monopoly capital, Imperial Chemical Industries, Shell Oil, and that sort of thing. This was done by persuading public relations offices to use soft sell...