wundermild
07-27-2006, 06:02 AM
I had a beautiful cinematic experience on last week's Wednesday: A screening of early avantgarde animated short films that was shown in Berlin, Germany. The matinee was shown as a supplement to a Hilla von Rebay retrospective (the first director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York and promoter of abstract animation [she was an abstract painter herself]); it included 35mm (some 16mm) prints of:
- Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, Germany 1921, b/w silent)
- Filmstudie (Richter, Germany 1926, b/w silent)
- Diagonal-Symphonie (Viking Eggeling, Germany 1924, b/w silent)
- Studie Nr. 5 (Oskar Fischinger, Germany 1930, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 6 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1930, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 7 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 8 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 9 (Oskar und Hans Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 10 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 11 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 12 (H. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Komposition in Blau (O. Fischinger, Germany 1935)
- An Optical Poem (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1937 )
- An American March (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1941)
- Allegretto (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1937/41)
- Motion Painting No. 1 (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1947)
- Free Radicals (Len Lye, U.K. 1958)
[Also announced but unfortunately withdrawn before the screening for reasons unclear, were the following shorts by Norman McLaren (Canada): Stars and Stripes (1939), Dots (1940), Loops (1940), Fiddle De Dee (1947), Blinkety Blanks (1955), Begone Dull Care (1949).]
Very impressive vista on the development of abstract animation, although the McLaren omission left a painful gap (rendering the final Len Lye film somehow isolated). The first three shorts were shown without sound, although there was a piano present in the theater. I suffered a bit during the Studies No. 10-12 or so (the later Studies are quite repetitive), but the early Studies (especially the Brahms-illustrating No. 7 and 9) and his color work (except for the rather pointless American March) were a balm for eyes and ears, especially for a Fischinger enthusiast like me. Note: For one of the finest interpretations of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, the Optical Poem is highly recommended.
For anyone on this board who will be in Berlin next week :D : The matinee will be shown again on August 2, Kino Arsenal (Potsdamer Platz), 21:30 h.
WW
- Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, Germany 1921, b/w silent)
- Filmstudie (Richter, Germany 1926, b/w silent)
- Diagonal-Symphonie (Viking Eggeling, Germany 1924, b/w silent)
- Studie Nr. 5 (Oskar Fischinger, Germany 1930, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 6 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1930, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 7 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 8 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 9 (Oskar und Hans Fischinger, Germany 1931, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 10 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 11 (O. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Studie Nr. 12 (H. Fischinger, Germany 1932, b/w)
- Komposition in Blau (O. Fischinger, Germany 1935)
- An Optical Poem (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1937 )
- An American March (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1941)
- Allegretto (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1937/41)
- Motion Painting No. 1 (O. Fischinger, U.S. 1947)
- Free Radicals (Len Lye, U.K. 1958)
[Also announced but unfortunately withdrawn before the screening for reasons unclear, were the following shorts by Norman McLaren (Canada): Stars and Stripes (1939), Dots (1940), Loops (1940), Fiddle De Dee (1947), Blinkety Blanks (1955), Begone Dull Care (1949).]
Very impressive vista on the development of abstract animation, although the McLaren omission left a painful gap (rendering the final Len Lye film somehow isolated). The first three shorts were shown without sound, although there was a piano present in the theater. I suffered a bit during the Studies No. 10-12 or so (the later Studies are quite repetitive), but the early Studies (especially the Brahms-illustrating No. 7 and 9) and his color work (except for the rather pointless American March) were a balm for eyes and ears, especially for a Fischinger enthusiast like me. Note: For one of the finest interpretations of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, the Optical Poem is highly recommended.
For anyone on this board who will be in Berlin next week :D : The matinee will be shown again on August 2, Kino Arsenal (Potsdamer Platz), 21:30 h.
WW