LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

/
 

Footage of a police officer hurling tear gas at protesters in May ’68 appears… an old, hunched woman pulls a cart along the curve of an avenue in black and white, her march rendered Sisyphean by the repetitions of the film; a guillotine drops again and again as the shot repeats; [Clémenti’s son] Balthazar plays endlessly in a field; the shimmering surface of water overlays a cacophony of images. —Julia Curl, Hyperallergic

Half family photo album, half “ciné-tract,” Pierre Clémenti’s LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT follows the actor and filmmaker during the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1968 dramatic feature PARTNER in Italy. In the midst of production, Clémenti traveled extensively between Rome and Paris — where the May ‘68 protests were taking place — thereby leading a double life as both artist and activist.

The film is replete with layered images of family and friends, intercut with footage of student demonstrations and police presence during the May ‘68 protests. Slogans such as “Power to the imagination”, “Theater in the streets,” and “Poetry in the streets” appear throughout.

In LA RÉVOLUTION,  Clémenti experimented extensively with double and partial exposures, lending the film a distinctly avant-garde feel. As noted in Hyperallergic:

Time in these works is not linear, as images loop back on themselves and return from one film to the next. Like a sequence of memories or thoughts coming full circle, the films grow tangents that branch into a continuous fabric of life… The neon-colored, shimmering vignette was a particular favorite of his, while a frenetic tempo and near-constant double exposure is so jarring that viewers may occasionally struggle to keep their eyes on the screen.

After production on LA RÉVOLUTION wrapped, the celluloid film materials were entrusted to fellow filmmaker and activist Frédéric Pardo for safekeeping.

This new digital transfer of Clémenti’s film now features an original music score, recorded in 2021, by Jean-Pierre Kalfon and Hugo Indi.

LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT
(France, 1968)

Director: Pierre Clémenti

  • 22 minutes
  • 16mm
  • Color
  • Silent
Distribution Format/s: DSL/Downloadable 1080p .mp4 file on server

Published By: GME

Institutional Price: $250

To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.