FILMS. 4 EDITIoN UNSERE AFRIKAREISE The film is replete with unexpected reversals and new takes on old back at the past speaks eloquently to our present and future In doin cliches, beginning with the feminist/activist roles of the prostitutes in so, Eastwood has given this old genre potential new life for the next revenging the injury to one of their own: they are not simple pawns or century victims By standing against the powerful and devious Little Bill, they create their own justice. Harris's English Bob is introduced as -Andrew and Gina macdonald a fearsome shooter and a dominating personality, only to be humili- ated and pummelled fatally in front of his newspaperman-cum- promoter(Saul Rubinek), by Little Bill, who has banned guns in his UNSERE AFRIKAREISE own. The deflation of English Bob is completed when we learn that his victims have been unarmed Chinese, and that his hagiography as (Our Trip to Africa) a gunfighter, enhanced by pulp fiction, conceals cowardly and ncompetent behaviour. Austria 1966 The distance between myth and reality is best exemplified by Eastwoods Bill Munny. The director portrays himself unshaven an Director: Peter Kubelka dissolute, wrestling with pigs in a muddy sty and losing-no dialogue is needed to comment on this iconography of western hero passed his Production: Color, 16mm; running time: 12 minutes.Released prime and tragically domesticated. The scene is all the more affecting 1966. Filmed 1961 in Africa given the opening long shot of Eastwood burying his wife on the loneliest prairie imaginable. The decision to pursue the bounty is Photography: Peter Kubelka; editor: Peter Kubelka; sound recordist wonderfully fuzzy and vague, that of a man who has battled with the and editor: Peter Kubelka. bottle and is trying hard to be a responsible father. To all appearances Jaimz Woolvett's Schofield Kid is thetrue gunfighter, a brittle, barely controlled youngster bristling with hostile machismo, danger ous, unpredictable, and insecure. However, his physical myopia extends to his inability to recognize Eastwood as what he might become if he survives. Only after ignominiously killing an unarmed man in an outhouse does he give up his desire to be a gunfighter Sitney, P. Adams, Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, New As the film, with an admirably ambling pace, proceeds to show the inevitable working out of the algebra of revenge and violence, we Jutz, Gabriele, and Peter Tscherkassky, Peter Kubelka, Wien, 1995 learn from varying sources and demonstrations that most bullets miss heir mark and that, contrary to what tenderfoot Eastern journalists Articles. and shoot-em-up movies suggest, killing men is not easy, especially Sitney, P. Adams, "Kubelka Concrete(Our Trip to Vienna), "in Film when they are shooting back. Even the battered face of the slimy Culture(New York), Fall 1964 English Bob evokes sympathy. The evidence mounts that a chain of Mekas, Jonas, in Village Voice(New York), 13 October 1966 violence has terrible consequences, from the scarred face of the Bodien, Earl, The Films of Peter Kubelka, ",in Film quarterly prostitute to the illness that affects Eastwood at the prospect of Berkeley), winter 1966-67 resuming his killing career to the beating of Eastwood by Little Bill. Mekas, Jonas, Interview with Kubelka, in Film Culture(New York) There will be no dramatic shootout on Main Street at high noon; rather, violence is messy, bloody, and usually indulged under coverof Sitney, P. Adams, in New Cinema Bulletin(New York), May 1967 night with unfair odds. When Eastwood finally returns to wreak his Telecine(Paris), June 1973 own revenge for Ned,s murder, the action is brutal and the characters Wide Angle(Athens, Ohio), vol 2, no 3, 1978 forgiving: wounded, helpless men are killed where they lie on th Masi. Stefano. *Peter Kubelka. scultore del tem Bianco floor, and being a successful gunfighter is shown as a terrible and e Nero(Rome), January-March 1984 inhuman instinct for effective violence. not as a romantic and he Sterritt. david. ' Kubelka makes Music for r,vol.81,no.115,10May1989 a box office success, winner of five Academy Awards and the Cahiers du Cinema best film of the year, Unforgiven returns the estern to its moral and thematic roots, but with a late 20th-century In 1961 Peter Kubelka was asked to make a documentary about ensibility of cynicism, irony, and worldweariness. The cliche that a group of Europeans on an African hunting trip. He accompanied violence begets violence is confirmed, as is its appeal: violence them, recorded many hours of film and sound, and then spent five actually does resolve problems, though at an enormous cost even to its years editing this material into a most unconventional film. The result, survivors. Not an easy tool, violence can turn unpredictably against its Unsere Afrikareise, is one of the most densely packed 12 minutes in long-term practitioners. Revenge and honour prove complex ques film history, and makes truly extraordinary use of the creative tions, and apparently simple situations have a logic of their own that possibilities of sound complicates and entraps. Reputation, a commodity often created and Kubelka bases his use of sound on the notion that accompanying abused, leads to unwelcome pressures to conform to the expectations an image with its own synchronous sound adds little, and merely of others This sometimes sad. sometimes comic. melancholic look imitates nature: rather, he weds an image to a sound recordedFILMS, 4 UNSERE AFRIKAREISE th EDITION 1263 The film is replete with unexpected reversals and new takes on old clichés, beginning with the feminist/activist roles of the prostitutes in revenging the injury to one of their own: they are not simple pawns or victims. By standing against the powerful and devious Little Bill, they create their own justice. Harris’s English Bob is introduced as a fearsome shooter and a dominating personality, only to be humili￾ated and pummelled fatally in front of his newspaperman-cum￾promoter (Saul Rubinek), by Little Bill, who has banned guns in his town. The deflation of English Bob is completed when we learn that his victims have been unarmed Chinese, and that his hagiography as a gunfighter, enhanced by pulp fiction, conceals cowardly and incompetent behaviour. The distance between myth and reality is best exemplified by Eastwood’s Bill Munny. The director portrays himself unshaven and dissolute, wrestling with pigs in a muddy sty and losing—no dialogue is needed to comment on this iconography of western hero passed his prime and tragically domesticated. The scene is all the more affecting given the opening long shot of Eastwood burying his wife on the loneliest prairie imaginable. The decision to pursue the bounty is wonderfully fuzzy and vague, that of a man who has battled with the bottle and is trying hard to be a responsible father. To all appearances Jaimz Woolvett’s Schofield Kid is the ‘‘true’’ gunfighter, a brittle, barely controlled youngster bristling with hostile machismo, danger￾ous, unpredictable, and insecure. However, his physical myopia extends to his inability to recognize Eastwood as what he might become if he survives. Only after ignominiously killing an unarmed man in an outhouse does he give up his desire to be a gunfighter. As the film, with an admirably ambling pace, proceeds to show the inevitable working out of the algebra of revenge and violence, we learn from varying sources and demonstrations that most bullets miss their mark and that, contrary to what tenderfoot Eastern journalists and shoot-em-up movies suggest, killing men is not easy, especially when they are shooting back. Even the battered face of the slimy English Bob evokes sympathy. The evidence mounts that a chain of violence has terrible consequences, from the scarred face of the prostitute to the illness that affects Eastwood at the prospect of resuming his killing career to the beating of Eastwood by Little Bill. There will be no dramatic shootout on Main Street at high noon; rather, violence is messy, bloody, and usually indulged under cover of night with unfair odds. When Eastwood finally returns to wreak his own revenge for Ned’s murder, the action is brutal and the characters unforgiving: wounded, helpless men are killed where they lie on the floor, and being a successful gunfighter is shown as a terrible and inhuman instinct for effective violence, not as a romantic and he￾roic figure. A box office success, winner of five Academy Awards and the Cahiers du Cinema best film of the year, Unforgiven returns the Western to its moral and thematic roots, but with a late 20th-century sensibility of cynicism, irony, and worldweariness. The cliché that violence begets violence is confirmed, as is its appeal: violence actually does resolve problems, though at an enormous cost even to its survivors. Not an easy tool, violence can turn unpredictably against its long-term practitioners. Revenge and honour prove complex ques￾tions, and apparently simple situations have a logic of their own that complicates and entraps. Reputation, a commodity often created and abused, leads to unwelcome pressures to conform to the expectations of others. This sometimes sad, sometimes comic, melancholic look back at the past speaks eloquently to our present and future. In doing so, Eastwood has given this old genre potential new life for the next century. —Andrew and Gina Macdonald UNSERE AFRIKAREISE (Our Trip to Africa) Austria, 1966 Director: Peter Kubelka Production: Color, 16mm; running time: 12½ minutes. Released 1966. Filmed 1961 in Africa. Photography: Peter Kubelka; editor: Peter Kubelka; sound recordist and editor: Peter Kubelka. Publications Books: Sitney, P. Adams, Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, New York, 1979. Jutz, Gabriele, and Peter Tscherkassky, Peter Kubelka, Wien, 1995. Articles: Sitney, P. Adams, ‘‘Kubelka Concrete (Our Trip to Vienna),’’ in Film Culture (New York), Fall 1964. Mekas, Jonas, in Village Voice (New York), 13 October 1966. Bodien, Earl, ‘‘The Films of Peter Kubelka,’’ in Film Quarterly (Berkeley), Winter 1966–67. Mekas, Jonas, Interview with Kubelka, in Film Culture (New York), Spring 1967. Sitney, P. Adams, in New Cinema Bulletin (New York), May 1967. Téléciné (Paris), June 1973. Wide Angle (Athens, Ohio), vol. 2, no. 3, 1978. Masi, Stefano, ‘‘Peter Kubelka, scultore del tempo,’’ in Bianco e Nero (Rome), January-March 1984. Sterritt, David, ‘‘Kubelka Makes ‘Music for the Eye,’’’ in The Christian Science Monitor, vol. 81, no. 115, 10 May 1989. *** In 1961 Peter Kubelka was asked to make a documentary about a group of Europeans on an African hunting trip. He accompanied them, recorded many hours of film and sound, and then spent five years editing this material into a most unconventional film. The result, Unsere Afrikareise, is one of the most densely packed 12½ minutes in film history, and makes truly extraordinary use of the creative possibilities of sound. Kubelka bases his use of sound on the notion that accompanying an image with its own synchronous sound adds little, and merely imitates nature; rather, he weds an image to a sound recorded