Repetitions, dichotomies and transference in European cinema of the 20s: the case of Douro, Faina Fluvial

Abstract

Warning Regarding the films under analysis, only words by their authors are used as references. There is, therefore, a deliberate 'disinterest' in other people's opinions. Authors do not always tell everything, sometimes they distort the order of things and facts themselves (not always to their own advantage), but even their 'lies' offer us clues, if not to the final significance, at least for their intentions and wishes - for the project. I think that one's own work and words are (almost) always the best point of departure for personal reflection, even if it results in already explored or proposed paths. This warning is justified because there are countless analyses, particularly of Eisenstein's Potemkin, openly ignored here. This is, evidently, a contradiction in terms, given that I know some of these analyses and it would be impossible to forget them completely. I believe, however, that this exercise of purification, of return to the initial object, of trying to experience a first glance at these films is necessary. I did everything I could not to value these reflections and I myself hope to be ignored.