This video reminds me of dadaism and futurism. As we mentioned in class, the dadaist wanted to show society that what people “understood” actually has no meaning. There must be a rejection to previous understandings. I believe this video is rejecting traditional cinematography. There lacks a true beginning, middle or end. I could not identify the director’s purpose. Then I thought that maybe the director created this without a story to tell and just wanted to share an artistic piece to be appreciated. The director may be trying to show how it is okay to not understand something but still appreciate its beauty. The change scenes and the movement of the objects within the film matches the rhythm of the song. This combination of abstract clips created an unusual satisfaction. Something about the movements of the objects like the gears turning in synchronization with the music kind of forms a weak pattern. I guess the fact that there lacks a strong pattern is to keep the viewer’s attention active.
In addition, the film has many scenes of the young woman’s lips, eyes and profile. This might have been done to show how complicated people are. From different angles, we look different. There is no true understanding of self or of others because appearances change depending on angles and makeup. Even up close to someone’s eyes or lips, small movements may create a big change in appearance. People are not simple creatures. I connect this with post Great War reactions as many people questioned previous thinking because it led Western Europe to war. By rejecting those accepted thoughts, people may have lost their self-identity. Things that they use to subconsciously accept were being questioned. They lose a part of themselves. The post-war period was a time for people to discover their new identity. I think the film is trying to show how people are constantly changing and trying to find their true self even though it is difficult to do so.
In relation to futurism, the quick change of scene reminds me of the emphasis on speed and technology. The constant movement within the film parallels to the desired accelerated lifestyle in society by futurists. Futurists admired the technological domination over nature. This is shown by the gears turning, the light bulbs, the amusement ride and many more scenes. The effect that this has on society is enormous. People can move faster. This is shown in the scene where there are multiple legs walking quickly to somewhere.
Great reading of these two films: the rejection of traditional cinematography and the instability of identity are two particularly interesting points you make. It is around this time (maybe slightly prior to) that we begin to see the complications or problems in thinking about the Self as one, stable entity. We begin to see the subject as being in-flux, as constantly changing, as constantly becoming something or someone else, always in motion, always reacting to the environment around itself. Dadaism and Surrealism are two excellent manifestations of this kind of thinking. The self-contained Self is disrupted and with that a shattering and fragmentation. 5/5