Miradas sobre la ciudad. La sinfonía como representación de la urbe

Abstract

The musical metaphor evoked by Lewis Mumford in The Culture of the Cities cautions of the fact that "by means of a complex orchestration of time and space, by means of the social division of work, life in a city acquires the character of a symphony". Time, space and subject constitute the core subjects of film scripting and it is therefore not surprising that the first experiments in expression in cinema are carried out in connection with a gender that has been designated "urban symphony". It is in this gender where experimental research by directors like Alberto Cavalcanti, Walter Ruttman, Jean Vigo or Dziga Vertov stands out. During the period between the world wars, these directors simultaneously approached the theme of the city and the aesthetic potential of cinema starting from similar concepts and concerns.