More silent shorts, four in fact, with paragraph reviews and a rating for each. It’s the return of this guy!

Dots (1940)
Norman McLaren, 2 minutes

This very short film consists of bright green/blue dots and splodges making their way across a red background, set to rhythmic electronic music that matches the splattering of the dots. It kind of reminded me of those geometry shorts that they used to show on Sesame Street – the ones with the amazing Philip Glass soundtrack. For some reason, this short film is quite intriguing. Something about the colour combination and the rhythm of the dots and the music just sucks you in. McLaren was a pioneer in the field of animation, and this film was created by drawing directly on to the film. Simple and experimental. It’s only 2 minutes, so it’s well worth a watch.

3/5

Emak-Bakia (1926)
Man Ray, 16 minutes

Emak-Bakia translates as “Leave Me Alone” in Basque. This film consists of a number of disconnected images and sequences, and many of Man Ray’s signature images, coupled with his characteristic use of special effects (Rayograph, soft focus, double exposure) to blend them all together and at times separate them. When watching this film, it felt like Man Ray was just having a lot of fun experimenting with different techniques and subjects, and the title might be referring to people who try and make a meaning out of it. “Leave me alone, this film can mean anything and nothing,” is what Man Ray says to his detractors in my imagination. The film is hypnotic and at times it’s difficult to look away. It’s very ambiguous and it’s actually difficult to say what it’s about, or what its central theme is. Lots of eyes, crystals and reflections. It feels like a longer, more elaborate version of Le Retour à la Raison (1923), except this one is more beautiful.

3.5/5

Ghosts Before Breakfast (1928)
Hans Richter, 9 minutes

Also known as Vormittagsspuk, Ghosts Before Breakfast is an avant-garde film that makes use of special effects such as stop motion to create a world that will surprise and flabberghast the viewer. The film shows everyday objects rebelling against their intended use – bowler hats fly away from the wearer, a man’s bow tie refuses to be tied, windows open and close by themselves, guns appear and disappear in circular patterns. All of these objects do their own thing until the clock strikes 12, and it’s time for them to perform properly. The music takes on several different emotional tones and tends to overlap at some points. The overall effect, for me, was that of stunned silence. The film is equal parts creepy and charming, but also fairly comedic. Loved it. It also must be noted that the film with its original music was destroyed by the Nazis due to being “degenerate art”, which is very interesting when you consider the content – objects rebelling against their powerful owners. When you view the film in that context, it takes on a deeper level of cultural and historical significance.

4.5/5

Anémic Cinéma (1926)
Marcel Duchamp, 6 minutes

Duchamp collaborated with Man Ray for this one. Spirals spinning, the occasional French sentence rotating, for six minutes. Different types of spirals, differently sized segments and speeds. My French is patchy at best so all I could understand was that the French sentences were alliterations and seemed to be nonsensical. What does it mean? Is it about the circle of life and/or purposelessness of existence? Or is it just like any other Dada piece and is meaningless for the sake of it? If I’m honest, I thought this one was kind of tedious. But coupled with the nice guitar music, it was also moving as well. I’m not sure if I find spirals and French that emotionally overwhelming so maybe it was the music that evoked the reaction. It’s only six minutes, so I would still say this one is worth watching.

2.5/5