Signal A Running Record of Findings from the Internet / October 24, 2026

Why Cinema Was John Berger's Medium, From Ways of Seeing to His Films With Alain Tanner

Timed to the centenary of John Berger's birth, Carlos Valladares argues that cinema was 'the Berger medium par excellence,' because it makes the spectator a collaborator in the telling. He traces the critic from a 1936 diary entry recording a solo viewing of Modern Times, through his 1965 Picasso monograph and 'The Moment of Cubism,' which he links to montage, to the novel G. and Ways of Seeing. The essay's heart is Berger's trilogy with Alain Tanner: La salamandre, Middle of the World and Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000, read through Miou-Miou's cashier Marie, arrested and deported for giving groceries away.

Read the story By Carlos Valladares · The Brooklyn Rail
Why Cinema Was John Berger's Medium, From Ways of Seeing to His Films With Alain Tanner
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