''À propos de Nice'' is a 1930 silent short documentary film directed by

Jean Vigo Jean Vigo (; 26 April 1905 – 5 October 1934) was a French film director who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s. His work influenced French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Vigo was born to Emi ...

and photographed by Boris Kaufman. The film depicts life in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

and social inequalities. Vigo described the film in an address to the Groupement des Spectateurs d'Avant-Garde: "In this film, by showing certain basic aspects of a city, a way of life is put on trial... the last gasps of a society so lost in its escapism that it sickens you and makes you sympathetic to a revolutionary solution." ''À propos de Nice'' was Vigo's first film. It was followed by '' Taris, roi de l'eau'' (1931), '' Zéro de conduite'' (1933) and ''

L'Atalante ''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon. After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...

'' in 1934, the year Vigo died.

Background

Vigo, suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, worked as an assistant cameraman for a small company in Nice. After his father-in-law gave him and his wife $250, Vigo bought his own Debrie camera. In the summer of 1929 in Paris, Vigo met Boris and

Mikhail Kaufman Mikhail Abelevich Kaufman (; 1897 – March 11, 1980) was a Soviet and Russian cinematographer and photographer. He was the younger brother of filmmaker Dziga Vertov (Denis Kaufman) and the older brother of cinematographer Boris Kaufman.Petric, ...

, the brothers of

Dziga Vertov Dziga Vertov (born David Abelevich Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet pioneer documentary film and newsreel director, as well as a cinema theorist. His filming practices and theories influenced the cinéma vérité style of documentary ...

. Boris Kaufman was interested in Vigo's idea about making a film on the city of Nice, and the two, together with their wives, created a script. Vigo saved ends of film from his work and the filming was underway by year's end. In the film, Vigo wanted to avoid a travelogue approach and show the boredom of the upper class in the

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

s and at the shore, and the struggle of the poor inhabitants in the

slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

. As Vigo and Kaufman were unable to shoot inside casinos, they decided to concentrate on the strength of their images and rely on the editing phase.

Plot

The film begins with

aerial shot This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described. Basic definitions of terms ;180-degree rule :A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within ...

s and soon shows closer footage of

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s and

waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

crashing ashore. The camera concentrates on people; workers performing their daily chores and wealthy persons walking in the boulevards, sailing, playing games and relaxing at the

Promenade des Anglais The ''Promenade des Anglais'' (; Niçard: ''Camin dei Anglés''; meaning "Walkway of the English") is a promenade along the Mediterranean coast of Nice, France. It extends from the airport on the west to the ("United States Quay") on the eas ...

, as well as race car drivers competing in

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and ...

. After that, the film shows the poorer neighbourhood and poverty; women doing laundry and children playing their simple games in the streets. This is followed by a carnival; processions, masks and tourists dancing and celebrating. The film ends with images of

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

s and men working in a factory.

Music

The film premiered with a new score by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

at the

Barbican Theatre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings an ...

on 21 October 2005. The score was regarded as thematically fitting but not successful at capturing the film's humor.Ben Hogwood. Review of Michael Nyman @ Barbican, London, 21 October 200

/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links