THE DIRECTOR IS THE COMMANDER OF THE CREATIVE GROUP

If cinematic art is to be developed to meet the requirements of the Juche age, a fundamental change is required in methods of film-making. From the time of cinema art's first emergence to the present, changes in customs and social institutions have resulted in many changes and advances in artistic and technical matters, but the vestiges of the old system and its methods have not yet been overcome in creative work. There still remain significant remnants of capitalist and dogmatic ideas particularly in the system and the methods of direction, which constitutes the nucleus of film-making. Unless the old pattern is broken completely and a new system and

new methods of creative work are established in direction, the tasks facing the cinema in its new stage of development will prove impossible to accomplish.

The task set before the cinema today is one of contributing to people's development into true communists and assisting in the revolutionizing and remodelling of the whole of society on the working-class pattern. The successful accomplishment of this historic task requires, above all, a revolutionary transformation of the practice of directing, which is the guiding and controlling activity of film-making.

To revolutionize directing means to completely eradicate from it all capitalist elements and all remaining dogmatism and to establish a new Juche-inspired system and methods of directing.

In establishing the new system and methods of directing it is particularly important to define the duties of the director clearly and continually enhance his role, in keeping with the intrinsic nature of socialist society and the character of revolutionary cinema.

The director is the commander of the creative group. He should carry overall responsibility for creative work, organization of production and ideological education and he should guide all the members of the creative team in the making of films.

The director's role in the socialist system of film-making is fundamentally different from that of the "director" in capitalist society. In the capitalist system of film-making the "director" carries that title, but in fact the right of supervision and control over

film production is entirely in the hands of the tycoons of the film-making industry who have the money, whereas the directors are nothing but their agents.

In capitalist society the director is shackled by the reactionary governmental policy of commercializing the cinema and by the capitalists' money, so that he is a mere worker who obeys the will of the film-making industrialists whether he likes it or not. In socialist society, by contrast, the director is an independent and creative artist who is responsible for the quality of the cinema to the Party and the people. Therefore, in the socialist system of film-making, the director is not a mere worker who makes films but the commander, the chief who assumes full responsibility for everything, ranging from the film itself to the political and ideological life of those who take part in film-making.

The distinctive features of directing require that the director should be the commander of the creative group. In the cinema, which is a group form of art, directing is the art of harmonizing the creative efforts of all the artists to produce an integral representation of the theme.

Just as victory in battle depends on the commander's leadership ability, the fate of a film depends on the director's skill in the art of guidance. All the director's efforts to make a good film will prove unavailing unless he has the ability to direct the creative team in a coordinated way towards the realization of his creative plan. The film is conceived and completed by the director, but it cannot be created

without the collective efforts and wisdom of the creative team. Success in film-making therefore depends on how well the director works with all the artists, technicians and production and supply personnel in the creative group.

If the director is to unify the ideology and purpose of the creative group and produce an excellent film of high ideological and artistic value, he must free himself once and for all from the shackles of the old domineering, bureaucratic system and methods of direction. Under this system the policy is one of director first and the relationship established within the creative group is that between a boss and his gang of workers: arbitrary decisions are made and creative workers are ordered about and commanded to produce results. If the director resorts to bureaucratic methods and suppresses or ignores the creative team, their ideological unity and cohesion of purpose—the very basis of collective creation—will be destroyed, and he will be deprived of the potential to create films and find himself bound hand and foot. Not only do the old system and methods of directing not conform to the intrinsic nature of our socialist system, in which the basis of social relations is the unity and cohesion of the popular masses, they also conflict with the collective nature of film-making and the intrinsic nature of directing itself.

In film-directing, the most important thing is to work well with the artists, technicians and production and supply personnel, who are directly involved in the process of film-making. This is the essential requirement of the system of directing inspired by the principle of

Juche. This is our system of directing, under which the director becomes the commander of the creative group and pushes forward the creative work as a whole in a coordinated fashion, giving precedence to political work and laying major emphasis on working with the people who make films. This system embodies the fundamental features of the socialist system and the basic principle of the concept of Juche that man is the master of everything and his decisions govern everything. This system, therefore, is in full conformity with the collective nature of film-making and the distinctive features of directing.

Since a film is made through the joint efforts and shared wisdom of many people, every participant in the production process should play his role and fulfil his responsibilities like the master he is, and in order to achieve its joint creative assignments the collective should become firmly united in its ideology and will. This fundamental requirement deriving from the distinctive features of film-making can never be met by the old system of directing; it can only be properly met by the system which attaches fundamental importance to working with people, to working with the creative team.

Under the new system of directing, film-making becomes the work of the director himself as well as the joint work of the entire creative group, and both director and creative team assume the responsibility for the creative work. Therefore everybody is firmly committed to the work on a voluntary basis. Also, while the films are being made the director assists and guides all the members of the collective, and the

creative staff learn from one another in the course of their work. Full scope is given to the expression of communist ethics in creative work and the revolutionary way of life. Thus everybody is knit closely together by a collectivist spirit and all pool their creative efforts in the attainment of the common objectives.

Under the new system of directing, the director is responsible not only for the creative work of the team but also for their political and ideological life. Therefore, he conducts regular political work and ideological education in close combination with their creative activities and therefore in the process of creative work they undergo revolutionary transformation and are assimilated to the working class. In short, the system of directing based on working with people is not only in harmony with the intrinsic nature of film-making and directing, it also enables the director to extricate himself from the grip of domineering and bureaucratic tendencies and decisively improve his ability to guide creative work; it also enables him to eradicate any tendency towards the deviation of art for art's sake, which accords exclusive precedence to the act of artistic creation, and to advance significantly the creative value of his work and the revolutionary development of the collective.

The strength of the new system lies in the fact that it guarantees the firm unity and cohesion of the creative group on the basis of the concept of Juche, allowing free play to the awareness and creativity of all its members, and the depth at which the director guides the creative work and the life of the group results in an uninterrupted

flow of innovation.

Under the new system the director should lay special emphasis on the artistic guidance of the creative workers.

The basic duty of the creative group is to create revolutionary films of high ideological and artistic value, which are effective contribution in equipping the people with the entire armoury of the Party's monolithic ideology and imbuing the whole of society with the great concept of Juche. Whether this duty is fulfilled in a timely and correct manner depends on the way the director works with the members of the creative team.

The creative workers are the central figures, the immediate executors of the revolutionary tasks devolving on their group. The director's plan is realized through the activity of these workers and every task relating to the creation of artistic images, which arises in the course of the work, is also carried out by them. The director should, therefore, work well with the creative workers and constantly strive to fulfil his role as their guide as best he can. The creative group will then be able to carry out the revolutionary tasks facing it successfully.

The first thing the director has to do with his creative team is to achieve a consensus of opinion concerning the production they are going to deal with. This is the initial guarantee of the success of their creative work, and the first element of the director's job. If each creative worker retains his own separate views on the production, the director will be unable to coordinate them in achieving the creation of a unified work of art and their creative activities will be

thrown into turmoil from the outset.

The director must carefully analyse the general characteristics of the content and form of the production in hand, so that the creative workers are all able to understand it correctly and come to accept it. The director should not be over-egotistical in his analysis and judgement of a production. Every artist has his own creative individuality and each may have different views of a production. If the director fails to take account of this, and clings to his own views, while ignoring the opinions of other creative workers, the establishment of a firm consensus on any production will be hindered.

The interpretation of a production should be clearly understood and assented to by everybody concerned; when the work has been accepted by everyone as their own, it will be carried out effectively.

The director must always clearly state his own opinions on a production and create an atmosphere of free discussion in which many different constructive opinions may be voiced. He must be sincere in his acceptance of the views of the creative workers. Once agreement has been reached in discussion, the director must act on it promptly, firmly basing the production on it and never deviating from it, no matter what happens. If the director vacillates, so will the whole collective, and if that happens, the production will fail.

When every member of the creative group has correctly grasped the basis of the production, the director must begin working with them individually.

Artistic guidance offered to individual creative workers must always be specific. If the director gives only general outline guidance, it will not be of any significant help to them, or inspire them with the confidence required to achieve his aims.

The director should take into account the distinctive features and requirements of a production in giving the creative workers their assignments in its realization and the ways and means of carrying them out. He should consult with them on any problems which they may encounter in the course of their work, so that his guidance may be appropriate to their situation.

Take, for example, the guidance of acting. An analysis should be made of the roles and relative positions of the characters to be represented by actors and actresses throughout the film, and also of their personalities. The direction of the acting should be founded on this basis, and the particular tasks of characterization and the methods of acting for each situation at every stage of the drama should be specifically taught. When the director's guidance is precise, then his plan will harmonize with the plan of the creative team and their work will proceed smoothly.

The most important aspect of the director's work in guiding the team's interpretation of a work is to assist them in developing a clear understanding of the seed of a production and representing it skilfully.

The ideological kernel of a production is the seed which the director and all the other creative workers must bring into flower

through their collective wisdom and joint efforts. The seed is not only the basis of the artistic images to be created by individual creative workers, it is also the foundation on which they base all their cooperative efforts to produce a single cinematic art work. When all the elements of artistic interpretation are derived from a single seed, they become the components of a unified cinematic image, because they all share a common foundation, although the images created by different artists differ according to their different personalities. Therefore the director should take extreme care to avoid any member of the creative team losing his grasp of the seed or introducing into the production anything which is irrelevant to it.

Another aspect of the director's work which requires particular attention is to ensure effective creative interaction between the individual artists and to guide their teamwork correctly.

A comprehensive artistic representation of a theme cannot, by its very nature, be created effectively through the talents and efforts of individual artists. When every artist establishes a close working relationship with the others and contributes effectively to the work of the team, the various elements which go to make up the comprehensive artistic representation will harmonize well with each other.

The director should always be at the centre of the creative endeavour, providing a close link between the activities of the individual members of the creative team, and taking care to avoid any possible friction between them and any tendencies towards

fragmentation into smaller groups.

The director must guide the artists in such a way that they will manifest a high degree of independence and initiative in the course of their creative work. Allowing free play to their independence and initiative is the most important means of heightening their sense of responsibility, of stimulating their creative energy and imagination. Successful creative collaboration between the director and the creative workers and amongst the workers themselves can only be achieved when each individual plays his own appointed part properly.

The director must be strict yet enlightened in his guidance of the creative workers. For their part, the creative workers have to accept and understand each of the director's plans and realise them in a creative manner. In offering his guidance, the director should therefore work on the principle of getting the creative workers in charge of particular aspects of the production to assume full responsibility for their own creative work. This is effective artistic guidance.

Original ideas created by the members of the film-making team should contribute to the perfection of the overall harmony of the comprehensive interpretation of the theme, while also serving to bring individual characterizations to life. The director must be talented enough to raise the level of artistic interpretation in all areas and allow the artistic originality to contribute to the overall harmony of the whole film. This is creation in the true sense of the word.

originality, the director should not allow the harmony of the overall interpretation to be destroyed, nor should he have to suppress their originality in order to guarantee the harmony of the work.

As the commander of the creative group, the director should also work well with the production and supply personnel.

The director must take responsibility for the production of the film and must ensure that the work proceeds in a coordinated manner.

Film-making is a complex and extensive task in which progress is impossible without the support of flawlessly organized production work. The processes of creation and production are inseparably linked in film-making. If production is not well organized, then the smooth running of the whole process of creation and production is disrupted. Only when production is well organized is it possible to create an excellent film in a short period of time and with the minimum of manpower, funds and materials.

The proper organization of production is essential to the success of film-making. It coordinates and plans the movements of the creative group so that the various units in all areas are properly integrated and observe strict order and discipline, and it also provides for the rational use of materials and equipment by controlling finances and supplies. This is an important task which the director must control in a responsible manner.

The director should not deal with production workers, technicians and supply personnel in an administrative and technical manner, simply because the organization of production is administrative and

technical in content. Administrative and technical methods of guidance are in conflict with the intrinsic nature of the Juche-inspired system of directing, they prevent production workers, technicians and supply personnel from becoming actively involved in the process of film-making. In his guidance of production organization the director should be sincere in working with the people involved.

One of the major responsibilities of the new type of director is that of ideological educator of the creative group. The director should assume responsibility for their political and ideological life and should constantly intensify their political and ideological education, in order