Film is a 1965 short film written by Samuel Beckett, his only screenplay. It was commissioned by Barney Rosset of Grove Press. Writing began on 5 April 1963 with a first draft completed within four days. A second draft was produced by 22 May and a 40-leaf shooting script followed thereafter. It was filmed in New York City in July 1964. Beckett and Alan Schneider originally wanted Charlie Chaplin, Zero Mostel and Jack MacGowran; however, they eventually did not get involved.Cited in Alan Schneider's essay, "On Directing Film" in Film by Samuel Beckett (New York: Grove Press, 1969), 66. Beckett then suggested Buster Keaton.Schneider, A., On Directing Samuel Beckett's Film Explains Schneider: "During a transatlantic call one day (as I remember) he shattered our desperation over the sudden casting crisis by calmly suggesting Buster Keaton." In print: Schneider, "On Directing Film" (Grove, 1969), 67. James Karen, who was to have a small part in the film, also supported having Keaton.According to Karen, he had urged Schneider to consider the 68-year-old Keaton when MacGowran's schedule changed, making him unavailable. Brownlow, K., 'Brownlow on Beckett (on Keaton)' in FilmWest 22 The filmed version differs from Beckett's original script but with his approval since he was on set all the time, this being his only visit to the United States, as stated in the script printed in Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (Faber and Faber, 1984).Beckett, S., Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 162
It was remade by the British Film Institute (1979, 16 mm, 26 minutes) without Beckett's supervision, as Film: a screenplay by Samuel Beckett. David Rayner Clark directed Max Wall.Beckett did not approve of the finished product: "It was awful. I was there when they were setting it all up and then I had to go with the director – what was his name? – and I was very embarrassed. It was supposed to be silent with just the sound of feet and the one word "ssh" and he had every kind of noise going on." – Brownlow, K., 'Brownlow on Beckett (on Keaton)' in FilmWest 22 . A full review can be read at Journal of Beckett Studies Vol. 7
It first appeared in print in Eh Joe and Other Writings (Faber and Faber, 1967).
Synopsis Throughout the first two parts, almost everything is seen through the eye of the camera (designated in the script as E), although there are occasional moments when O's perception is seen. In the third part, much more of O's perception of the room and its contents is given. In order to distinguish between the two perceptions, objects seen by O were shot through a lens-gauze, blurring his perception while E's perception was shot without gauze or filters, keeping the images sharp.
The street The film opens onto a rippled image that fills the entire screen. Without colour, it is difficult to discern what is being shown, but it is alive. As it moves, it is shown to be an extreme close-up of an eyelid; it fills the entire screen. The eye opens, slowly, closes, opens again, blinks and then fades into a different rippled image, still somewhat organic but changed, still."When the rushes of the first frenetic day's outdoor filming were viewed, it was clear that it had been an almost total disaster … Yet the budget did not allow for the scene to be reshot … Hours were spent getting the exact close-up that they required of Buster Keaton's 'creased, reptilian' eye to replace the abandoned outdoor scene with the extras." – Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp 523,524 As the camera begins to pan right and up, it is discernable as a wall; we are outside a building (an old factory situated in Lower Manhattan). It is summer, though it is hard to tell. The camera's movement is not smooth. It is as if it is looking for something. Eventually, it loses interest and pans left and down back to the wall.
Suddenly, the camera (E) shifts violently to the left. A man (O) is hurrying along the wall from left to right. He pauses, hugging the wall, and E gets a chance to focus on him. He has on a long dark overcoat, the collar of which is turned up and his hat is pulled down over his face. (Keaton had asked Beckett what O was wearing underneath. "I hadn't thought of that," the author admitted and then proposed, "the same coat", which appealed to both men.) He is hanging onto a briefcase with his left hand whilst trying to shield the exposed side of his face with the other. He realises he's been seen and cowers against the wall; E quickly shifts behind him.
No longer conscious of being observed, O starts off again, knocking over a trestle and stumbling over a railway sleeper—anything to stay as close as possible to the wall. He charges into a man and woman, knocking the man's hat off. E looks from the man's face to the woman's and back again. The man has a moustache and is wearing a pince-nez. They have been consulting a newspaper, which the woman keeps hold of. They both look appalled at what has happened.
E moves back to a long shot and watches O barge through and on his way. The man replaces his hat, takes off his pince-nez. and looks after the fleeing figure. The couple look at each other and the man "opens his mouth to vituperate"Beckett, S., Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 165 but the woman shushes him, uttering the only sound in the whole play. Together they turn to stare directly at E as an open-mouthed expression takes over their faces; they can not bear to look at what they have seen and turn their faces away. But what had they seen? The action shifts back to O just as he reaches and turns a corner. He heads off down the street until he realises he is at the right doorway. He enters.
Stairs The camera cuts to the vestibule. The viewer is directly behind O. Stairs lead up on the left, but O veers right and pauses, pulling himself together. He takes his pulse and E moves in. As soon as he becomes aware of E's presence he rushes down a couple of steps and cowers beside the wall until the camera retreats a little. When it does he reverses back up to street-level and then begins up the stairs.
A frail old woman is coming down. The camera gives us a brief close-up. "She carries a tray of flowers slung from her neck by a strap. She descends slowly and with fumbling feet."Beckett, S., Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 166 O backs up and hurries down the steps to the right again where he sits down on a step and presses his face against the balusters. He glances up briefly to see where she is, then hides his head from view.
As the woman reaches the bottom of the stairs, she looks straight into the lens. The expression on her face changes to the one of wide-eyed horror that was displayed on the faces of the man and woman outside. She closes her eyes and collapses. E checks on where the man had been, but O has made his escape. His coat tails are seen flying up the stairs.
E chases after him and finds him at the top of the first flight. He looks around to see if there is anyone about. Satisfied, he turns left and, not without some difficulty, opens the door to a room and enters. E slips in unnoticed as O locks the door behind him and then takes his pulse once more.
The room We find ourselves in a "small barely furnished room."Beckett's notes identify this as the man's mother's room. This recalls Molloy's return to his mother's room/womb/tomb to die. – Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett, (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), pp 195,383 The man—and the camera following him from behind—survey its contents: a dog and a cat share a basket, a caged parrot and a goldfish in its bowl sit atop a small table. The walls are bare, apart from a mirror and an unframed picture pinned to the wall: a Sumerian Tell Asmar figurine with big eyes (described in the screenplay as "the face of God the Father"Beckett, S., Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 167. The actual photograph was "suggested to him by Avigdor Arikha [and] was a reproduction of a Sumerian head of God Abu in the Museum in Baghdad". – Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 523). There is also a couch with a filthy pillow, some blankets and a rug on it, a rocking chairThe rocking-chair is a common Beckettian prop, appearing in the opening chapter of Murphy, Rockaby, Molloy (Trilogy p 108) and the abandoned Mime de rêveur, A. with a "curiously carved headrest"Beckett, S., Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 167 and there is a window with a tattered roller blind with full-length net curtains to either side.
Preparation of room Systematically, O takes each object or creature in the room and disables its ability to 'see' him: he closes the blind and pulls the net curtains across, he covers the mirror with the rug, the cat and dog (“a shy and uncooperative, little Chihuahua”Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 523) are – with some difficulty – ejected from the room and the picture is torn up. Although stated simply, the mechanics needed to execute these tasks are laborious (e.g., as he passes the window, he hides behind the blanket which he holds in front of himself to cover the mirror and he carries the cat and dog facing away from him as he tries to put them out the door).
After all the above, he goes to sit in the chair. There are two holes in the headrest that suggest eyes.In his manuscript notes Beckett had not envisioned these 'eye' holes but had written "Make chair back memorable" and foresaw an “upright back, intersecting wooden bars or lozenges”. – Notes for Film (Reading University Library MS 1227/7/6/1 p 15), quoted in Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 802 n 54 He ignores them and sits. O takes the folder from his case and goes to open it, but there are "two eyelets, well proportioned";Knowlson, J., Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 524 he turns the folder through 90° but he's disturbed by the parrot's eye and has to get up and cover the cage with his coat. He sits again, repeats the same process with his folder and then has to get up and cover the goldfish bowl, too.
"Beckett initially contemplated setting Film in the evening, but had to decide against it for a practical reason: 'to remove all possibility of his putting off light in room.'"Pountney, R., Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett's Drama 1956-1976 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988), p 127
Period in rocking chair Finally O sits down opposite the denuded wall, opens the folder, and takes out seven photographs of himself, which he examines in sequence:
6 months old – in his mother's arms 4 years old – kneeling in an attitude of prayerThe photograph in question is also referenced in How It Is (London: Calder, 1964), pp 16,17 and refers to a posed photograph of Beckett when he was four kneeling at his mother's knee. It was taken so that Beatrice Evelyn's sister, Dorothy could paint a subject called 'Bedtime' since it was impractical to have the young child pose for any length of time. – Cronin, A., Samuel Beckett The Last Modernist (London: Flamingo, 1997), p 20 15 years old – in his school blazer, teaching a dog to beg 20 years old – in his graduation gown, receiving his scroll from the Rector 21 years old – with his arm around his fiancée 25 years old – a newly enlisted man, with a little girl in his arms 30 years old – looking over forty, wearing a patch over one eye and looking grim