1958 / 42m - USA
Experimental
2.5*/5.0*
Anticipation of the Night poster

Watches

October 21, 2020

2.5*/5.0*

A relatively long Brakhage film, which (somewhat surprisingly) works better for the type of films he makes. This is another madly edited series of almost-abstract images that make little narrative sense, but over a longer period of time do manage to create some sort of trance.

There's a concept here (a young child trying to overthink the events of the day, if I'm not mistaken), but I can't say I really got that from the film (I had to read up about it afterwards). All I get from this film is a visual onslaught that explores what one can accomplish with images and editing.

Which is quite a lot in fact, though I do still miss a soundtrack here. Without music, it's only half the experience for me. That said, I did get into it, though it took me at least 15 minutes (which no doubt explains why I care little about his shorts). One of the better Brakhage films I've seen, but it's a shame he never got to befriend a composer.