shot / reverse shot

I. SHOT
on the subject of the river, jean renoir has written:
"there are creators who sense things in advance and those who understand things only retrospectively. those who seem to march at the same pace as the great mass of men are obviously the most successful. but the really great ones think ahead, which is not to say that they are always right comercially."
REVERSE SHOT
in reaction to this statement, andre bazin has written:
"renoir is too ingenuous to mean to praise himself by this observation, but he is aware of being one of those who, with skill and felicity, have sought to show their contemporaries what the cinema can teach them about themselves, their era, and their problems."
II. SHOT
on the subject of leaving hollywood for france, jean renoir stated (1951):
"i think we are entering a new middle ages, we should not complain. the middle ages was a great era."
REVERSE SHOT
in reaction to jean renoir, andre bazin has written:
"i have not found a kindness like his in any other director in the world, with the possible exception of orson welles (and i think his is superficial), certainly not in any of the run-of-the-mill directors. a single example: during our conversation at the hotel the telephone rang constantly. after the third or fourth call my wife, who was sitting next to the phone, offered to ask who was calling before passing the phone to renoir. surprised, renoir said, 'what for? i always answer.'"
III. SHOT
jean renoir on the france / america distinction:
"in france, after shaving, one carefully wipes the blade with a little gadget. but in america razor blades are so cheap that men throw them out after each shave. i could never get used to that. throwing out a blade which is still sharp? why, it's inhuman."
REVERSE SHOT
jean renoir on the france / america cinematic distinction:
"i know that the american cinema will collapse because it is no longer american. i know too that we must not spurn the foreigners who come to us with their knowledge and talent; we must absorb them. it is a practice which has served us rather well from leonardo da vinci all the way to picasso. i believe that the cinema is not so much an industry as people would have us believe and that the fat men with their money, their graphs, and green felt tables are going to fall on their faces. film making is a skilled trade and it is craftsmen grouped together for their own protection that will perhaps make french cinema the best in the world. knowing that, i feel that i still have everything to do in a profession which, if it were free, could add so much to our understanding of men and things."