The Gold Rush

In Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush,” de Certeau recalls, “the swirling winds of a blizzard push the cabin in which the tramp is spending the night to the edge of a cliff . After waking up, he walks across the room to go out the door. With his footsteps, the cabin starts dangerously to lean, with the doorway opening onto thin air. If he opens the door he will fall to an instant death. When he backs up, he brings to cabin back to rest, but he is enclosed in a desperate state of affairs. Now and again his feet go forward, then retreat, gingerly touching the floor that pivots on its invisible axis.”

armstrong/ reticulations 322