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Dokumentärfilmen som tidsresa - Modstrilogin

Esping, Ingrid LU (2007)
Abstract
Stefan Jarl (1941-) is perhaps most well known for his trilogy of films about a group of outcast mods in the Swedish welfare state. The trilogy covers three decades: the first film, They Call Us Misfits, was made in 1968; the second, A Respectable Life, in 1979, and the third, Misfits to Yuppies, in 1993. In this dissertation, the mods trilogy is studied against a background of film history and film theory. The films, and their different production contexts, are used to illustrate a social history and a history of changing film policies. Furthermore, the films offer an opportunity to reflect upon a number of film theoretical issues, while simultaneously showing how Jarl himself has developed as a film-maker within the genre of... (More)
Stefan Jarl (1941-) is perhaps most well known for his trilogy of films about a group of outcast mods in the Swedish welfare state. The trilogy covers three decades: the first film, They Call Us Misfits, was made in 1968; the second, A Respectable Life, in 1979, and the third, Misfits to Yuppies, in 1993. In this dissertation, the mods trilogy is studied against a background of film history and film theory. The films, and their different production contexts, are used to illustrate a social history and a history of changing film policies. Furthermore, the films offer an opportunity to reflect upon a number of film theoretical issues, while simultaneously showing how Jarl himself has developed as a film-maker within the genre of documentary.



The two film-makers Arne Sucksdorff and Peter Weiss have influenced Jarl in different ways. At the film school, a result of the Swedish film reform of 1963, Stefan Jarl met and became friends with Jan Lindqvist, which led to a long time of cinematic collaboration and a vigilant struggle against the film establishment and the founder of the Swedish Film Institute, Harry Schein. Jarl started an organisation called FilmCentrum in 1968, together with many other young film-makers. The governing principles of FilmCentrum were to give people the opportunity to express themselves through the medium of film, to reach new audiences, and to initiate a dialogue between the film-makers and the audience. Its journal Rapport från FilmCentrum ? which later, in 1973, changed its name to Film & TV ? also provided an important forum for the work of the film unions from the late 1960s and onwards. In the hope of generating money for non-commercial film production, Jarl and others with him began to build a theatre chain called Folkets Bio in 1973. Although FilmCentrum did not lead to a radical change in Swedish film production, it created, through small means, a space for other, more diverse definitions of the medium of film and a forum for discussion on documentary film.



Jarl's films have been influenced by John Grierson's definition ? ?the creative treatment of reality? ? although they have expressed a more subversive political stance than those made by the British documentarists. When, in the 1970s, poststructuralist theories gained a foothold within academia, the documentary film went into a crisis. However, the Rodney King incident in 1991 and its aftermath, restored the status of the documentary film. What I have tried to highlight in the analysis of the mods trilogy is that the documentary is anchored in reality and that the spectator's understanding of documentaries takes its point of departure in that same reality, where the spectator's experiences, memories, emotions and thoughts contribute to create empathy, recognition, understanding as well as credibility. In a short film, Epilog (2006), Jarl made room for the memories and the sense of loss of the people who had participated in his films, and finished the time journey. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Stefan Jarl (1941-) är kanske mest känd för sin trilogi om modsen i den svenska välfärdsstaten. Modstrilogin som består av Dom kallar oss mods (1968), Ett anständigt liv (1979) samt Det sociala arvet (1993) spänner över tre decennier. I denna avhandling studeras Modstrilogin utifrån filmhistoriska och filmteoretiska perspektiv. Filmerna och dess olika produktionskontexter används för att illustrera både en samhällsutveckling och en filmpolitisk utveckling. Filmerna erbjuder dessutom möjligheter att reflektera kring olika filmteoretiska spörsmål samtidigt som det går att ser hur Stefan Jarl utvecklas som filmare inom den dokumentära genren.



De två filmarna Arne Sucksdorff och... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Stefan Jarl (1941-) är kanske mest känd för sin trilogi om modsen i den svenska välfärdsstaten. Modstrilogin som består av Dom kallar oss mods (1968), Ett anständigt liv (1979) samt Det sociala arvet (1993) spänner över tre decennier. I denna avhandling studeras Modstrilogin utifrån filmhistoriska och filmteoretiska perspektiv. Filmerna och dess olika produktionskontexter används för att illustrera både en samhällsutveckling och en filmpolitisk utveckling. Filmerna erbjuder dessutom möjligheter att reflektera kring olika filmteoretiska spörsmål samtidigt som det går att ser hur Stefan Jarl utvecklas som filmare inom den dokumentära genren.



De två filmarna Arne Sucksdorff och Peter Weiss influerade Jarl på olika sätt. På filmskolan, som var ett resultat av den svenska filmreformen från 1963, mötte Stefan Jarl Jan Lindqvist vilket ledde till ett långvarigt filmiskt samarbete och en aggressiv kamp mot det svenska filmetablissemanget och grundaren av Svenska filminstitutet, Harry Schein. Stefan Jarl startade år 1968, tillsammans med många andra unga filmare, en organisation kallad FilmCentrum. Organisationens ledande principer var att ge människor möjligheter att uttrycka sig via filmmediet, att nå nya filmpubliker samt att initiera en dialog mellan filmare och publik. Dess tidskrift Rapport från FilmCentrum ? som år 1973 ändrade namn till Film & TV ? blev också en viktig kanal för de filmfackliga strävanden som tog fart i slutet av 1960-talet. Med förhoppning om att kunna generera pengar för en ickekommersiell filmproduktion började Stefan Jarl med flera att år 1973 bygga upp biografkedjan Folkets Bio. Även om FilmCentrum inte ledde till någon radikal förändring av svensk filmproduktion skapades det med små medel ett utrymme för andra definitioner av filmmediet samt för diskussioner kring dokumentärfilm.



Stefan Jarls filmer har varit influerade av John Griersons definition ? ?den kreativa behandlingen av verkligheten? ? men även uttryckt mer subversiva politiska teorier än de brittiska dokumentaristernas. När poststrukturalistiska teorier under 1970-talet vann gehör inom filmakademin hamnade dokumentärfilmen i kris. Rodney King-incidenten och dess efterspel bidrog till att återupprätta dokumentärfilmens status. Vad jag sökt betona i min analys av Modstrilogin är att dokumentärfilmen är förankrad i en historisk verklighet där åskådarens förväntningar, minnen, känslor och tankar bidrar till att skapa empati, igenkänning och förståelse likaväl som trovärdighet. I kortfilmen Epilog (2006) gav Jarl rum åt de minnen och känslor av saknad efter de människor som deltagit i hans Modstrilogi, och avslutade därmed en resa i tiden. (Less)
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author
supervisor
opponent
  • Fil. Dr. Wahlberg, Malin, Stockholms universitet
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arne Sucksdorff, Peter Weiss, Harry Schein, FilmCentrum, Folkets Bio, 1960-tal, 1970-tal, 1980-tal, John Grierson, dokumentärfilm och etik, dokumentära metoder, Filmvetenskap, Cinema theory and history, Dokumentärfilm, Stefan Jarl
pages
316 pages
defense location
Hörsalen, Språk- och litteraturcentrum, Helgonabacken 12, Lund
defense date
2007-06-02 10:15:00
ISBN
978-91-628-7154-3
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
ee639ad3-fe38-43b2-8f06-a41f810a49e8 (old id 26833)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 13:07:37
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:12:20
@phdthesis{ee639ad3-fe38-43b2-8f06-a41f810a49e8,
  abstract     = {{Stefan Jarl (1941-) is perhaps most well known for his trilogy of films about a group of outcast mods in the Swedish welfare state. The trilogy covers three decades: the first film, They Call Us Misfits, was made in 1968; the second, A Respectable Life, in 1979, and the third, Misfits to Yuppies, in 1993. In this dissertation, the mods trilogy is studied against a background of film history and film theory. The films, and their different production contexts, are used to illustrate a social history and a history of changing film policies. Furthermore, the films offer an opportunity to reflect upon a number of film theoretical issues, while simultaneously showing how Jarl himself has developed as a film-maker within the genre of documentary.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The two film-makers Arne Sucksdorff and Peter Weiss have influenced Jarl in different ways. At the film school, a result of the Swedish film reform of 1963, Stefan Jarl met and became friends with Jan Lindqvist, which led to a long time of cinematic collaboration and a vigilant struggle against the film establishment and the founder of the Swedish Film Institute, Harry Schein. Jarl started an organisation called FilmCentrum in 1968, together with many other young film-makers. The governing principles of FilmCentrum were to give people the opportunity to express themselves through the medium of film, to reach new audiences, and to initiate a dialogue between the film-makers and the audience. Its journal Rapport från FilmCentrum ? which later, in 1973, changed its name to Film &amp; TV ? also provided an important forum for the work of the film unions from the late 1960s and onwards. In the hope of generating money for non-commercial film production, Jarl and others with him began to build a theatre chain called Folkets Bio in 1973. Although FilmCentrum did not lead to a radical change in Swedish film production, it created, through small means, a space for other, more diverse definitions of the medium of film and a forum for discussion on documentary film.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Jarl's films have been influenced by John Grierson's definition ? ?the creative treatment of reality? ? although they have expressed a more subversive political stance than those made by the British documentarists. When, in the 1970s, poststructuralist theories gained a foothold within academia, the documentary film went into a crisis. However, the Rodney King incident in 1991 and its aftermath, restored the status of the documentary film. What I have tried to highlight in the analysis of the mods trilogy is that the documentary is anchored in reality and that the spectator's understanding of documentaries takes its point of departure in that same reality, where the spectator's experiences, memories, emotions and thoughts contribute to create empathy, recognition, understanding as well as credibility. In a short film, Epilog (2006), Jarl made room for the memories and the sense of loss of the people who had participated in his films, and finished the time journey.}},
  author       = {{Esping, Ingrid}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-628-7154-3}},
  keywords     = {{Arne Sucksdorff; Peter Weiss; Harry Schein; FilmCentrum; Folkets Bio; 1960-tal; 1970-tal; 1980-tal; John Grierson; dokumentärfilm och etik; dokumentära metoder; Filmvetenskap; Cinema theory and history; Dokumentärfilm; Stefan Jarl}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Dokumentärfilmen som tidsresa - Modstrilogin}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}