THE MEANS OF THE PHOTOPLAY
either. On the contrary, just as mnsic is sur-
ronnded by more technical rnles than litera¬
ture, the photoplay must be held together by
the esthetic demands still more firmly than is
the drama. The arts which are subordinated
to the conditions of space, time, and causality
find a certain firmness of structure in these
material forms which contain an element of
outer connectedness. But where these forms
are given up and where the freedom of mental
play replaces their outer necessity, every¬
thing would fall asunder if the esthetic unity
were disregarded.
This unity is, first of all, the unity of action.
The demand for it is the same which we know
from the drama. The temptation to neglect
it is nowhere greater than in the photoplay
where outside matter can so easily be in¬
troduced or independent interests devel¬
oped. It is certainly true for the photo¬
play, as for every work of art, that nothing
has the right to existence in its midst which
is not internally needed for the unfolding of
the unified action. Wherever two plots are
given to us, we receive less by far than if we
had only one plot. We leave the sphere of
valuable art entirely when a unified action
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