UNSERE AFRIKAREISE FILMS. 4 EDITIoN elsewhere. These combinations, which he calls"sync events, are toward their surroundings. Kubelka's cuts often suggest that a Euro- often matched quite precisely in timing and rhythm, as when a gun- pean has just""shot"an African, or the forest itself. The Africans, by shot appears to shoot a hat off a mans head; or when white and black contrast, appear as part of nature, rather than separate from it. nen shake hands to the sound of thunder. By combining disparate It would be a serious mistake, however, to limit ones perception elements, Kubelka makesarticulations"(his words), which fuse of the film to such themes. What is most extraordinary about separate pieces both rhythmically and thematically in a manner Kubelka s achievement is not the specific connections he establishes possible only in film. between elements, but rather the system that the entire network of Kubelka's juxtaposition of images in Unsere Afrikareise follows connections form. Repeated viewings of the film reveal it as too similar lines. Images taken at different times and places are cut multiple in its implications to be resolvable into a single interpreta- together, often on matched movements, to create momentary illusions tion. Thematic results of specific articulations are merely a few of continuity. The images are disparate enough, however, so that the aspects of many in the film. Kubelka's almost musical form estab- viewer is never fooled. A hunter shakes an Africans hand and we cut lishes a grand relation between virtually every image and sound and to a zebra's leg, shaking similarly, as if the hunter were shaking it, but every other across the entire film. The resulting multitude of connec- the hunter is nowhere in the shot. when the next shot reveals that the ions is expressive of many, rather than a few, possibilities. The zebra is being skinned, we understand that while the hunter viewer is ultimately led out of time, to contemplate these connections literally causing the zebras leg to move, there was a deeper causal in memory, and to regard the film as if it were a monument erected connection between the two shakes. Kubelka's juxtapositions are a record of civilization. not as a statement on it but as a kind anything but arbitrary: they reveal truths inherent in his material totem for it The intensely concentrated quality of Unsere Afrikareise stems in part from the multitude of connections between image and image, sound and sound and image and sound that kubelka orchestrated into a unified whole. There is often a temptation to read direct thematic statements in many of the films articulations. Editing connections are continually made on the white hunters'gazes, hand gestures, and gun- THE UNVANQUISHED pointing, linking those actions to suggest the Europeans'aggression See THE APU TRILOGYUNSERE AFRIKAREISE FILMS, 4th EDITION 1264 elsewhere. These combinations, which he calls ‘‘sync events,’’ are often matched quite precisely in timing and rhythm, as when a gun￾shot appears to shoot a hat off a man’s head; or when white and black men shake hands to the sound of thunder. By combining disparate elements, Kubelka makes ‘‘articulations’’ (his words), which fuse separate pieces both rhythmically and thematically in a manner possible only in film. Kubelka’s juxtaposition of images in Unsere Afrikareise follows similar lines. Images taken at different times and places are cut together, often on matched movements, to create momentary illusions of continuity. The images are disparate enough, however, so that the viewer is never fooled. A hunter shakes an African’s hand and we cut to a zebra’s leg, shaking similarly, as if the hunter were shaking it, but the hunter is nowhere in the shot. When the next shot reveals that the zebra is being skinned, we understand that while the hunter was not literally causing the zebra’s leg to move, there was a deeper causal connection between the two shakes. Kubelka’s juxtapositions are anything but arbitrary; they reveal truths inherent in his material. The intensely concentrated quality of Unsere Afrikareise stems in part from the multitude of connections between image and image, sound and sound, and image and sound that Kubelka orchestrated into a unified whole. There is often a temptation to read direct thematic statements in many of the film’s articulations. Editing connections are continually made on the white hunters’ gazes, hand gestures, and gun￾pointing, linking those actions to suggest the Europeans’ aggression toward their surroundings. Kubelka’s cuts often suggest that a Euro￾pean has just ‘‘shot’’ an African, or the forest itself. The Africans, by contrast, appear as part of nature, rather than separate from it. It would be a serious mistake, however, to limit one’s perception of the film to such themes. What is most extraordinary about Kubelka’s achievement is not the specific connections he establishes between elements, but rather the system that the entire network of connections form. Repeated viewings of the film reveal it as too multiple in its implications to be resolvable into a single interpreta￾tion. Thematic results of specific articulations are merely a few aspects of many in the film. Kubelka’s almost musical form estab￾lishes a grand relation between virtually every image and sound and every other across the entire film. The resulting multitude of connec￾tions is expressive of many, rather than a few, possibilities. The viewer is ultimately led out of time, to contemplate these connections in memory, and to regard the film as if it were a monument erected as a record of civilization, not as a statement on it but as a kind of totem for it. —Fred Camper THE UNVANQUISHED See THE APU TRILOGY