At Land

Like Maya Deren's first short Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land is a narrative story infused with surrealism. It flows more smoothly comparing to Meshes, but lacks the energy that her first film has. Also, the structure of several fragmented episodes lacks coherency; some parts may reflect the director's personal experiences and/or mindscapes so that the audience may get confused. For example, the scene of the female protagonist walking with a young man and then meeting an old man in a bed seems barely related to the main story and unnecessary.

After the claustrophobic feminist nightmare of her first film 'Meshes of the Afternoon' Ukrainian/American experimental film-maker Maya Deren made this mesmerising, bewildering, and strangely reassuring short which continues to expand upon her interest in the rhythmic potentialities of the camera as well as the representation of dream-like states that challenge traditional narrative conventions. Indeed, despite being largely stripped of the Freudian symbology which figured so prominently (some may say conspicuously) in 'Meshes…', 'At Land' is arguably more dream-like than its illustrious predecessor through its use of clever editing which matches physical movements of the lead character (Deren) from shot to shot but against different physical backdrops to create a vivid, authentic representation of a subjective inner realm.

In addition to this technique, which she would also use beautifully in her next film 'A study in Choreography for Camera', the theme of the multiple-Mayas used in 'Meshes…' reoccurs. However, while in 'Meshes…' it was created using multiple exposures of the camera film to allow the different aspects of Maya to share the same space around the kitchen table, in 'At Land' the effect is achieved through a series of eye-line matches from each of the freshly manifested Mayas as she runs along the beach triumphantly.

The film also differs from 'Meshes…' in that it is almost completely set outside and begins with Deren washing up / being born on a beach, the waves of which then roll backwards into the sea. It is a characteristic feature of Deren's films to use simple camera effects to reveal hidden worlds of motion and latent artistic possibilities in things which our everyday eye often misses. Indeed, the composition of shots in 'At Land' is incredibly aesthetic and, even though she was avowedly not a surrealist, as she wanders the dunes and stony caverns the film certainly recalls a Dali painting to the point that the inclusion of a melting clock would not feel out of place.

Deren herself stated that the film is meant to represent a form of spiritual odyssey and an individuals struggle to maintain personal identity, however I must confess my shortcomings and admit that I didn't get that from the film…if anything, for me the film was the very opposite: a reappraisal of splintered selfhood as curiously liberating. This difference of interpretation doesn't bother me though as I've always agreed with Oscar Wilde's opinion that "diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital", and certainly, while being made in 1944 disqualifies it from being labelled "new", Deren's work in general, and 'At Land' in particular, is definitely complex, and undeniably vital.

There's less of the symbolic to grapple with in AT LAND compared to Maya Deren's MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON, although there's probably a good deal to analyze, if you're so inclined, about a woman looking for a chess pawn, then clutching it to her chest and running on a beach as her other selves look curiously at her. Less jarring (although Maya Deren does walk in on her own POV shot at one point!), more linear and sure of itself, this is almost the Lucifer Rising to Meshes' Invocation of my Demon Brother (to bring Kenneth Anger into the fold). Whereas Meshes had a syncopated, almost nervous quality about it, AT LAND is more lyrical, still dreamlike in atmosphere, but exchanging cramped apartments, hooded figures and knives for open beach spaces, giant scaffolds, and games of chess. I won't presume to know what it all means, and like Meshes, I suspect I would find the answer infinitely less satisfying or intriguing than the question itself but lovers of the avant-guard will find a lot to like.

Maya Deren's second film is closest in spirit to her first, the brilliant Meshes of the Afternoon, although it has a less ingenious structure and didn't strike me as deeply. Deren plays a woman washed to shore who goes on an Odyssey through space and time - I guess, it's hard to really know. It has some very striking and curious moments and is worth seeing.

I'll say two things about my reaction to the film. First, I came across a version on Youtube that had been rescored. That score is to me less evocative than the original, which I found later on the Internet Archive, where someone has uploaded all her works. Had my first experience been with this score it might have affected my overall impression.

Also, I saw Meshes when I was a twenty-something film student and I saw At Land as a sixty-something guy. I might have had a stronger reaction in film school, but this film just never crossed my path.

My point being that a younger me might have liked this better, but still not as well as Meshes.

Maya Deren certainly does capture her dreams. Even through a silent soundtrack, she creates a gripping linear story line out of symbols, scattered situations, and moods. Through it all, she displays a sensuous love for cinematography by eliminating all but one dischordant splice. It flows together as an answer to all the movie-lovers who wished movies would cut between shots with a little more flow. Not to mention, that she's a fricking lovely actress! To me, it's even more accomplished than her "Meshes of the Afternoon" from the year before, since it's less frenzied, and takes its time to build a mood that draws the viewer in and ends up accelerating with unexpected twists.