REVISIONING EUROPE 14 (1969( ), Vent d 'est (1970)), Lotte in Italia (1970, and Vladmir et Rosa (1971).Until recently they had been basically impossible to see, although they are now available as part of DVD set called "Godard: El Grupo Dziga Vertov," issued by the invaluable Barcelona-based company Intermedio (they have Spanish subtitles only).None of these films have been released on DVD in France or North America, and despite Intermedio's good efforts they still strike me as excellent examples of Tanner's sardonic remark in Cinémélanges that "All the militant films of that period have become invisible today." 16They are invisible today in large part because so many of them are so intensely dated, wedded inseparably to the fleeting moment of revolutionary idealism that produced them.Tanner argues that something similar is true of the films that he made with Berger, as I will discuss in due time.But I think that Tanner is being too hard on himself with that assessment because I agree with Jim Leach's sense that "Tanner's response to cinematic and political difficulties foregrounded by the failure of the May revolution was neither to break completely with the existing cinematic models nor to adapt the 'popular' genres to new political ends" (21).The three feature films that Berger and Tanner made together are excellent examples of this sort of "middle course" between combative obscurantism and bland commercialism, between the Groupe Dziga Vertov and a commercial film about politics such as Costa Gavras' Z, 17 which is exactly the way that Dimitriu formulates his cinema: "Tanner, lui, se situe quelque part entre les deux" (32).This hanging on to popular forms is, of course, the heart of an actual Brechtian practice -that is to say that it follows the writings and plays of Bertolt Brecht himself.It's easy to lose sight of this if you read some of the writings or see some of the films of his more diehard advocates.Trying to explain the self-awareness of Jonas in her New Yorker review of the film, Pauline Kael wrote that "I hesitate to invoke the word 'Brechtian' because, except for a few sixties films by Godard, that has generally meant a didactic pain" (76).I cannot help but chuckle with some recognition at that assessment, but I think it is important to pay closer attention to critics like the late Robin Wood, who writes that: Brecht's plays (at least those which I am familiar with), never cleanly dissociate themselves from the basics of "Realist" theatre: