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Howlings in favour of Sadeby Guy DebordPublished in Film 1952

This is a translation of the 1952

French film Howlings in favour of Sadeby Guy-Ernest Debord. Howlings wasDebord's first film, produced when hewas 23 years old.

Translators note >>> This filminvolves several periods of silenceduring which the screen remains dark.In this version, 30 carriage returnshave been inserted for each minute ofsilence. This will not consume theintended time for the viewer, but it

will present some sense of scale.

--Gregor Markowitz (December, 1994)

Voice 1 The film by Guy-ErnestDebord, Howlings in favour ofSade...

Voice 2 Howlings in favour of Sade isdedicated to Gil J Wolman

Voice 3 Article 115. When a personshall have ceased to appear athis place of abode or homeaddress for four years, andabout whom there has been nonews whatsoever, theinterested parties shall be ableto petition the lower court inorder that his or her absencebe declared.

Voice 1 Love is only worthwhile in apre-revolutionary period.

Voice 2 None of them love you, youliar! Art begins, grows anddisappears because frustratedmen bypass the world ofofficial expression and thefestivals of its poverty.

Voice 4 (young girl) Say, did yousleep with Francoise?

Voice 1 What a time! Memorandumfor a history of the cinima:

1902 - Journey to the Moon.

1920 - The Cabinet of DoctorCaligari. 1924 - Entr'acte. 1926- Battleship Potemkin. 1928 -Un Chien Andalou. 1931 - CityLights 1951 - Birth of Guy-

Ernest Debord. 1952 - TheAnti-concept.--Howlings infavour of Sade.

Voice 5 "Just as the film was about tostart, Guy-Ernest Debord wouldclimb on stage to say a fewwords by way of introduction.He'd say simply: 'There's nofilm. Cinema is dead. Therecan't be film any more. If youwant, let's have a discussion'."

Voice 3 Article 516. All property iseither movable or immovable.

Voice 2 In order never to be aloneagain.

Voice 1 She is ugliness and beauty.She is like everything that welove today.

Voice 2 The art of the future will bethe overturning of situations or

nothing.

Voice 3 In the cafes of Saint-Germain-des-Pres!

Voice 1 You know, I like you verymuch.

Voice 3 An important Lettristcommando made up of somethirty members, all donningthe filthy uniform that is theironly really origional trademark,

turned up at the Croisette withthe firm desire of indulging insome scandal capable ofdrawing attention tothemselves.

Voice 1 Happiness is a new idea inEurope.

Voice 5 "I only know about theactions of men, but in my eyesmen are transposed, one forthe other. In the final analysis,

works alone differentiate us."

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Voice 1 And their revolts becameconformisms.

Voice 3 Article 488. The age of

majority is fixed at twenty-oneyears; at that age one iscapable of all acts of civil life.

Voice 4 (young girl) His memoryalways rediscovered it, in aflash, as if burnished byfireworks on contact withwater.

Voice 1 He knew quite well thatnothing of his exploitsremained in a town thatrotated with the Earth, as theEarth rotated in the Galaxy,which is itself only a tiny partof a little island which recedesaway from us to infinity.

Voice 2 All black, eyes closed to theexcess of disaster.

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Voice 1 A science of situations is to

be created, which will borrowelements from psychology,statistics, urbanism and ethics.

These elements have to runtogether to an absolutely newconclusion: the conciouscreation of situations.

Voice 1 A few lines from a newspaperfrom 1950: "A leading youngradio actress threw herself intothe River Isere, Grenoble.Young Madeleine Reineri aged

twelve and a half, who, underthe psuedonym of Pirouette,used to liven up the radioprogram 'Happy Thursdays' onthe Alpes-Grenoble station,threw herself into the Isere onFriday afternoon having placedher satchel on the river bank."

Voice 2 My little sister, we arenothing to look at. The Isereand la misere continue. We arepowerless.

Voice 4 (young girl) But no-one'stalking about Sade in this film.

Voice 1 The cold interstellar space,thousands of degrees belowfreezing point or absolute zeroFahrenheit or Centigrade; thefirst indicators of dawnapproaching. The hurriedpassage of Jaques Vachethrough the clouds of war, thatcatastrophic haste whichdestroyed him; the rudelashing of Arthur Craven,

himself swallowed up at thattime in the Bay of Mexico...

Voice 3 Article 1793. When anarchitect or a businessman isgiven a contract for theconstruction of a buildingaccording to a plan agreed toby the landowner, he cannotdemand a higher price eitheron account of an increase inthe workforce or materials, ordue to any changes or

additions made to the plan,unless such changes, additionsor increases have beenauthorised in writing, and theprice agreed with thelandowner.

Voice 2 The perfection of suicide isambiguity.

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Voice 2 What is a love that's unique?

Voice 3 I will only answer in thepresence of my lawyer.

Voice 1 Order reigns, it doesn'tgovern.

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Voice 2 The first marvel is to comebefore her without knowinghow to talk to her. The handsof the female prisoners moveno faster than race horsesfilmed in slow-motion, as theytouch her mouth and herbreast. In all innocence theropes become water and weflow together towards the day.

Voice 4 (young girl) I believe we'llnever see each other again.

Voice 2 Near a kiss, the llights of thewinter street will end.

Voice 4 (young girl) Paris was verynice thanks to the transportstrike.

Voice 2 Jack the Ripper was nevercaught.

Voice 4 (young girl) It's funny, thetelephone.

Voice 2 What defiant love, asMadame de Segur used to say.

Voice 4 (young girl) I will tell yousome stories from my countrywhich are very frightening, butthey have to be told at night inorder to be frightening.

Voice 2 My dear Ivich, the Chineseneighborhoods areunfortunately less populousthan you think. You are 15years old. One day the mostfashionable colours will nolonger be worn.

Voice 4 (young girl) I knew youalready.

Voice 2 The drift of the continentspushes you further apart every

day. The virgin forest hasmoved less than you.

Voice 4 (young girl) Guy, anotherminute and it'll be tommorrow.

Voice 2 The Demon of Arms. Youremember. That's it. Nobodysatisfies us. All the same... Thehail on the banners of glass.We will remember it, thatplanet.

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Voice 2 You will see that they will befamous later! I will neveraccept the scandalous andscarcely credible fact if theexistence of a police force.Several cathedrals have beenerected to the memory of

Serge Berna. Love is onlyworthwhile in a pre-revolutionary period. I madethis film while there was stillenough time left to talk aboutit. Jean-Isidore, in order to getout of that transient crowd. OnGabriel-Pomerand Squarewhen we've grown old. Thelittle skivers all had gloriousfutures in the school andcollege systems.

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Voice 2 There are still many peoplethat morality makes neitherlaugh nor cry.

Voice 3 Article 489. The adult who isin a constant state ofimbecility, dementia, or madrage must be detained eventhough his state allows forintervals of lucidity.

Voice 2 So close, so gently, I lose

myself in the meaninglessnessof language. I push into you,you're wide open, it's easy. It'slike a hot stream. It's assmooth as a sea of oil. It's likea forest fire.

Voice 1 It's cinema!

Voice 3 The Parisian police force isthirty thousand truncheonsstrong.

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Voice 2 "The poetic worlds close upand forget by themselves." In acorner ofthe night sailors aremaking war, and the ships inbottles are for you who lovedthem. You lay yourself down onthe beach as hands moreloving than the rain, the wind

and the thunder play under

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your dress every evening. Lifeis great in Cannes in thesummer. Rape, which isforbidden, becomes banale inour memories. "When we were

on the Shenandoah." Yes. Ofcourse.

Voice 1 And these resigned faces,which once bore flashes ofdesire like ink splattered on awall, were like shooting stars.Let gin, rum and brandy flowlike the Great Armada. This forthe funeral oration. But allthose people were socommonplace.

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Voice 1 We've had a narrow escape.

Voice 2 The most beautiful is still tocome, otherwise death wouldtaste like a raw steak. And wethair on the beach which is toohot and which is our silence.

Voice 1 But he's a Jew!

Voice 2 We were ready to blow up allthe bridges, but the bridges letus down.

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Voice 1 Young Madeleine Reineri,

aged twelve and a half, whounder the psuedonym ofPirouette used to liven up theradio programme 'HappyThursday's' on the Alpes-Grenoble station, threw herselfinto the Isere.

Voice 2 Mademoiselle Reineri, in thatquater of Europe, you willalways have your surprisedface and that body, the best ofpromised lands. Like neon

light, words repeat their banaltruths.

Voice 1 I love you.

Voice 4 (young girl) It must beterrible to die.

Voice 1 See you.

Voice 4 (young girl) You drink far toomuch.

Voice 1 What are childish loveaffairs?

Voice 4 (young girl) I don't know whatyou're talking about.

Voice 1 I knew it. And there was atime when I regretted it verymuch.

Voice 4 (young girl) Do you want aorange?

Voice 1 The beautiful tearing apart ofthe volcanic islands.

Voice 4 (young girl) In the past.

Voice 1 I've nothing more to say toyou.

Voice 2 After all the answers at thewrong time, and youth gettingolder, night falls again from onhigh.

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Voice 2 We live like lost children, ouradventures incomplete.

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The end.

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http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display_printable/90