St. Jerome called the face the "mirror of the mind." But Lev Kuleshov taught us that the mind being mirrored isn't necessarily the one attached to the face, but rather the one attached to the person observing and interpreting that particular face's expressions. In a short sequence from 1917-18, Kuleshov spliced close-ups of the popular character actor Ivan Mozzhukhin staring intently into the camera with alternating images of a bowl of soup, a child in a coffin, and a beautiful woman. The audience was thrilled by his portrayals of hunger, sadness, and lust: they didn't notice that the same footage of Mozzhukhin was repeated over and over. (The only version of this on the internet includes Spanish subtitles -- gracias to those who made it available!)
a. hungry for a bowl of soup?
b. terrified that he will be beaten by an upstanding blacksmith?
c. craftily plotting to snatch the moon from the sky?
or d. with some careful montage, any of the above?
When I taught my Soviet film class in 2010, one of my students, Amanda Goodman, created her own Kuleshov experiment to successful effect. Rather than alternating between hunger, sadness, and lust, Amanda's protagonist is pictured observing a strip tease with apparently increasing interest. Her films have already screened at in the Sixth College UCSD Film Festival. Keep an eye out for this creative eye.
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