Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

 Maya Deren & Alexandr Hackenschmied's "Meshes of the Afternoon"


There is a clear inspiration from Luis Bunuel and his seminal works, 1929's "Un Chien Andalou" and 1930's "L'age d'Or," in Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied's 1943 surrealist short film "Meshes of the Afternoon." Continuity, temporality, time and space, and meaning are all fuzzy in "Meshes in the Afternoon," as they are meant to resemble an inscrutable dream state. 

The longer you watch "Meshes of the Afternoon," the more impossible it seems to grasp on to reality. There are repeating patterns, physical congruency layouts that don't make sense, and camera works that make the visual images appear free from any visual constraints. Watching the film makes you feel like you're floating through a dream, unable to land on anything solid to comfort your sense of reality. Despite this, there is still a thread of congruency that you can follow, but your interpretation of that thread is subject to the viewer. This thread provides the basis for your understanding and interpretation of the rest of the events that occur. 

Although the film is a short film (14 minutes in length), the pure freeform experimentation that occurs is perhaps some of the most forward-thinking experimentation with camerawork, surrealist ideas, and thematic expression during the World War II years.



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