User:Kentzo/Kenneth Macpherson

Kenneth Macpherson (1902-1971)

Introduction
Kenneth Macpherson was born in Scotland, March 27th 1902, the son of Scottish painter, John ‘Pop’ Macpherson and Clara. Descended from 6 generations of artists, Macpherson was a novelist, photographer and critic, who developed a passionate interest in filmmaking. It is only in recent years that Macpherson’s film-making skills, using avant-garde experimental film-making techniques to represent emotional and psychological states of the human mind, have come to be appreciated. Similar innovation was being used in Soviet "montage cinema" and film-makers, across the globe, were being greatly influenced by the critical theories and philosophy of the Frankfurt School. “Macpherson’s brilliance lies in his ability to photograph small movements as nuanced, meaning-producing gestures. The transformative sense of abstraction ... anticipates the work of flim-makers such as Nathaniel Dorsky and Robert Beavers ...”.

Personal Life
In 1927, Macpherson married English writer, Bryher, Annie Winifred Ellerman, the daughter of a British shipping magnate. The marriage lasted till 1947, but for much of the marriage, he was having affairs. One affair was with the American poet, Hilda Doolittle (better known as just HD), whom he met in 1926; he was 24 and she was 40. Before and during the marriage, Bryher also had affairs with HD. Macpherson and Bryher moved to Burier, Switzerland, building a house there, which overlooked Lake Geneva, and doubled as a film studio and home, not only for themselves, but also for an assortment of dogs, cats, and monkeys. The house came to be known as Kenwin, derived from the names, Kenneth and Winifred. They were joined there by HD and HD's daughter, Perdita, whom Macpherson and Bryher later formally adopted in 1928, officially registering her name as Frances Perdita Macpherson.

The 'Pool' Group
It was at Kenwin, that Macpherson, Bryher and HD launched themselves as the “Pool” group, and began to produce publications challenging the Hollywood model of film production and its commercial treatment of the art form. "Their principal loyalties however were to German cinema, and particularly G.W.Pabst, and to Soviet cinema, outstandingly Eisenstein."

The 'Close Up' Film Journal
Macpherson founded the influential film journal, Close Up, dedicated to independent cinema and cinema from around the world. The first issue of Close Up, describing itself as an "international magazine devoted to film art", appeared in July, 1927. Macpherson was editor, Bryher assistant editor, and HD a regular contributor. "Macpherson dictated the tone and direction of the publication, contributing articles that defined the role of the director and defended the integrity of cinema and its right to be considered as art". Macpherson continued as the main editor until the magazine’s demise in 1933.

Films - Shorts
In Switzerland, Macpherson began to make his own, small-scale avant-garde films, three short films and one main film. His first short film, Wing Beat (1927) was an investigation into telepathy and featured himself and HD. The film survives only in fragments and, according to Anne Friedberg, used techniques such as triple superimpositions in order to represent thought processes. Macpherson described the film as ' A study in thought... a free verse poem'. No footage currently exists of his second short, Foothills (1928), which concerns a city-woman visiting the countryside, with ‘added psychoanalytic ingredients’. Nine minutes and ten seconds of footage, in 16mm black and white, exist of his third short film, Monkeys’ Moon (1929), which is about Macpherson's 2 pet douracoulis monkeys. This film was thought to be lost until the Beinecke Library of Yale University acquired a copy in 2008, where it was fully restored and digitized.

Films - Borderline
Macpherson's sole feature, Borderline (1930), originally believed to have been lost, was re-discovered by chance in Switzerland in 1983. The film dissected race and gender relations and was centred on a love triangle, starring Paul Robeson and HD. It again attempted to delve into the mental states of its characters, but was a film that confused and bewildered critics. Deeply upset by its hostile reception, Macpherson withdrew from film directing. "Judged on its own merits Borderline is a ground-breaking work, dealing as it does with issues of race and sexuality at a time when such subject matter was still largely taboo and had only been previously tackled cinematically through oblique inference". In 2006, the British Film Institute sponsored the restoration and eventual DVD release of Borderline, revitalizing interest in Macpherson. Interest in the film was further stimulated in 2007 with a release of the film with a soundtrack provided by British composer and saxophonist Courtney Pine.

Films - Dreams That Money Can Buy
In 1937, Macpherson moved to the United States to focus on writing, photography and his art collection. It was here that he met Peggy Guggenheim, a wealthy American art collector, who instantly fell in love with him. In 1944, in New York, he co-produced Hans Richter's avant-garde compendium, Dreams That Money Can Buy, the project being financed by Macpherson amd Guggenheim.

Later Life
In 1947, Macpherson retired, spending most of his time in Switzerland and on the Island of Capri, Italy. He bought a home on Capri, “Villa Tuoro”, which he shared with his good friends, the Scottish novelist, Norman Douglas and photographer, Islay de Courcy Lyons. He remained on Capri until Douglas’s death in 1952. Macpherson then lived in Rome until 1965, when he ‘retired’ to Tuscany to write a book on Douglas’s Austrian doctor, Doloressa Moor. In 1964, Macpherson published his third novel, “Rome 12 Noon”. He died in Cetona, Italy, on 14 June 1971.

Filmography
WING BEAT (Territet, Switzerland 1927) Collection: Museum of Modern Art, New York (18 minutes of fragments)

MONKEY’S MOON (Switzerland, 1929)

BORDERLINE (Switzerland, 1928) 72min (BFI retail)

Dreams That Money Can Buy (USA, 1947) Co-producer

Publications
GAUNT ISLAND (Territet, Switzerland 1927) Published by Pool.

POOL REFLECTION (Territet, Switzerland 1927) Published by Pool.

OUT OF THE AIR (1935) (Life And Letters Today; Editors,Robert Herring and Petrie Townshend)

ROME 12 NOON (1964) New York, Coward-McCann

SELECTED REVIEWS - Parker Tyler’s View