Dadaist conveys a message of breaking the old or formal rules and structures. The film “Ballet Mecanique” demonstrates a similar idea. There is no specific structure or format in this film compared to what I normally watch nowadays. Objects appear randomly with no obvious or observable patterns, and therefore it is difficult to form any reasonable interpretation about the film based on my perceptions. I feel frustrated when I am not able to make proper judgment since there is an intangible force requiring them to give everything a meaning or definition. Surrealist idea of free writing also comes into play. Free writing tries to bring up a person’s deepest internal thinking which may have no meaning according to his or her daily normal understanding. In this case, the broken pieces in this film can be understood as the director’s real way of understanding the world.

Another film “Le Chien Andalous” is also related to Dadaist and Surrealist ideas. At the beginning of the film, it seems to have a storyline which is constructed by how the writer wants the story flows. Nevertheless, I realize that I can no longer use my logic to interpret the film because people and events appear with no specific meanings. Sometimes I think I get the message, and then in the next second it breaks my perspective as something new exists that does not connect to the previous objects or events. I have similar feeling when I watch “Ballet Mecanique.” Finally, I just let them go without trying to make judgment or interpretation because it is meaningless. If the object itself originally has no meaning, then why do people need to try hard to create a meaning to it?

After watching two films, I wonder how they were composed. They obviously seem to have no specific meanings. If the writers or directors tends to compose them in this way, there must be something drive them to take things in this random order, so are they really show their unconscious thinking to the audience?