From "L E A"

STUDIO CINARS.

"Borderline". - Film by K. Macpherson, such as is only presented at these non-commercial functions. Reflections on negroes, conceived and produced in a succession of pictures in the "vanguard" style to the detriment of clarity or ready comprehension; scenes of acute realism, the best part of the work, and beautiful photographic compositions.

From "LA VEU DE CATALUNYA".

CINEMAS.

A GREAT FILM - "BORDERLINE"

This evening STUDIO CINAES will present the film by Macpherson, "BORDERLINE".

"BORDERLINE" is the line which constitutes the frontier or border and separates things and countries in the eyes of men, imaginatively in the first place, and concretely in the second.

This line separates races. In the film the cause of the conflict is a negro: Pete, a barman. This in a provincial atmosphere, in which there are two motifs, the cafe, full of smoke and the smell of drink, and the countryside, clean, splendidly primitive and beautiful, Against this background rises Pete, a creation strong in sane humanity.

Pete is married, but is separated from his wife. One day the latter arrives in the town, not knowing she will meet Pete there.

In the same hotel lives a young couple, troubled by all the restlessness and all the neurotic ailments of the present day. This couple quarrel violently. Pete finds his wife again, but Astrid, the quarrelsome white wife of Thorne, is attracted by the negro. This is noticed by the people and then the scandal begins, and the slow but sure repression of the negro. The conflict breaks out. Astrid is wounded by her husband and the people "en masse" blame Pete.

Then Pete goes away. He leaves the town and leaves, still active, all the prejudice and all the atavism which, in the eyes of the white people, bear down upon the negro.

This is the synthesis of the action of "BORDERLINE". But the film is so strong and so admirably complex that it is not possible to reflect in a few words all the expression and action which go to make up "BORDERLINE", which is an attempt at the

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realisation of a purely psychological film. It is the visuali-
sation at the service of the most opposing passions, the most
difficult to define. It is also a film of ambient. And
finally, it is a work of considerable film technique.

"BORDERLINE" is, then, an eminently intelligent film production, intended for people who think. It must be borne in mind that it is a film produced by artists, not professionals. Macpherson is a painter, which is still the more striking when we consider the work from the purely filming point of view. "BORDERLINE" surpasses, and by much, the average English and Continental film. The filming of this picture show a sensitivity and mastership of the camera which surpass anything made in Elstree and many of the productions on a big scale coming from the German studios. The artist and the intellectual will find a stimulant for their mind, but the cinema fan will be amazed at the perfection of the film, the beauty and originality of the landscapes, the acting of the artistes, all in close-ups; and above all at the continuity and the faces so superbly caught by the camera.

It is possible that the viewing of "BORDERLINE" will become
a little boreing for that gentleman with the cough, whom we all
have to put up with sometimes. Fortunately for us and for the
dignity of the film, the average audience at these functions is
refined, thoughtful and anxious to establish principles, not to
find vulgarisms. "BORDERLINE" is a great film, perhaps the
greatest that has as yet been produced in "pure cinema".

From "LA NAU".

An English Production of Pure-Cinema.

"BORDERLINE"

To fight vulgarity and overcome it is the motto of the producer of "BORDERLINE", which will be shown to the press at a special viewing by "STUDIO CINAES".

It must be admitted that this production is not for everyman; its endless artistic and expressive beauties will not be seized by everybody. And it is not that we think ourselves superior to the majority; but we are more prepared and are therefore able to assimilate the greater part of its beauty at one showing.

It is evident from the start that "BORDERLINE" is not a commercial film, but a production of pure art, and as such would not be understood by the great public, whose taste has been spoilt by the endless number of unbearable stories of ordinary productions. Produced for the pleasure of the subscribers of the English review "CLOSE UP", this production contains innumerable photographic beauties and a sequence of beautiful ideas expressed with sheer cinematic poesy.

Not only has it all this; it has good and interesting actors and sound direction.

"BORDERLINE" is a "Pool Film". It deals of no place in particular, it may be anywhere in Europe. It is more than any thing else, the 'colour line' morally separating the blacks from the whites, a line made rather by society than by man himself.

It condenses an infinity of small details of life, details which make life happy or impossible, and presents to us a negro, good and kindhearted, with no other tragedy than his love and his colour, bravely borne. On the other hand, what are not the vices and mental failings of the civilised race? When these forces are opposed, the injustice of the white man will always triumph, with his lack of comprehension and charity towards the man or woman of a different colour.

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The exposition of these ideas is carried out with great daring. The superficial and lighthearted woman, the insignificant lady who upsets everything with her charitable sermons, and causes strife wherever she goes. Kenneth Macpherson, the realiser of "Borderline", has produced a sheer photographic symphony; the camera-work is simply marvellous, the cast of surprising emotional force. One has to see the amplitude of expression of those tragic hands, of those flashing eyes, the wonderful landscapes, the magnificent effects of light, and all that symphony in black and white; not an accusation against anyone, but just a lash of the whip in the face of understanding humanity.

The death of Astrid, the madness of Thorne, the symbolical movements of the barmaid, the manageress of the cafe and the scandal-mongering old lady are international, and the point of view of the producer of this film, as regards the negro problem, is remarkable.

Altogether, in spite of the harshness of expression of those fantastic eyes and of the intimate tragedies of the mentally infirm whites, the work is carried to an affecting and subtle conclusion. On departing, Pete (the negro) finds that the friendship of the white man and the love and esteem of the few who knew him are not enough to counterbalance the force of the white laws, which childishly declare him an undesirable.

As "BORDERLINE" is an art production, difficult for the unprepared to understand, it is necessary to explain that the rhythm of the expressions is equivalent to the rhythm of words. What other artistes of to-day convey in words, these convey with their eyes, with their hands, with the scarcely perceptible movements of the muscles of the face. And especially the hands of the negro and Astrid, and the stream of harmony in the landscapes and water, in the ostentatious foolishness of the barmaid - filling and drinking, filling and drinking.

However, our mind is too slow to assimilate productions of this nature and it would be as well if "STUDIO CINAES" could give it another showing at one of its periodical functions, and it is to be hoped that the amateurs at