Anémic cinéma

I am sort of a fan of the Dada artists, their kind of work, but after seeing 'Anémic Cinéma' I have come to the conclusion that me being a fan does not apply when it comes to the visual art forms. When it comes to visuals, paintings or films, I am able to like strange things before my eyes but not the Dada kind. I mean, I enjoy surrealism a lot including Buñuel's 'Un Chien Andalou' and paintings from Salvador Dalí.

In a way I enjoyed this piece of cinema from famous Dada artist Marcel Duschamp, but only because I knew what kind of man was behind it. What we get to see is a spiral design spinning before our eyes and a disc with French phrases on it, also spinning. Duschamp cuts between these two images although the kind of spiral design and the French text changes after every cut. Interesting? Yes, but that's about it.

Well, what can one say about this? Seven minutes of spirals and circles and nonsensical sentences or sentence-fragments in French, an experiment in revolution I suppose you could say. Duchamp's only known film as director, obviously a conjunction of formalist exercise and dadaist nonsense. I won't say it wore out its welcome, but I'm also glad it wasn't any longer. Watched on YouTube in an OK copy but most with a real interest in the avant-garde will want to catch it on Kino's excellent "Avant-Garde #1 with other experimental works from the silent and early sound periods including works from Man Ray, Joris Ivens, etc.

Not really "rateable" I think, though I'm doing it anyway...

Well, it's only four or five minutes, so if you can see it do so. Any fan of Duchamp or anyone interested in the experimental films made during the Dada movement in the 1920s would find this fascinating. Others will find it pointless. Non-sensical French phrases are placed on a spinning wheel and inter-cut with neat spiral visual effects. The epitome of Dada and Duchamp's only experience with directing film (to my knowledge.)

And what to think of it I am not sure. Basically it is made up of interchanging rotating spirals and rotating discs with text written on them in French. The text is short and in doesn't add up to much. Except for various kinds of dizziness there is nothing else here than what you can theorize around it.

It is a piece of dada-art where things were put out of context and therefore gains a new meaning or get incomprehensible. One example is Duchamps signed urinal and like that it almost requires to be put in a gallery to get meaning from it.

It is photographed by the great visualist Man Ray, but you cant notice as it is fixed in the same position for the whole duration of the movie (6 minutes).

This is just one of many strange films from the DVD collection "Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941" and it's from Disc 3. "Anemic Cinema" is a short film from Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp was a Surrealist and Dadaist and loved provocation--such as proclaiming a urinal to be a piece of art.

The film consists of rotating spirals and inscriptions that are VERY hypnotic. The inscriptions are in French and I have no idea what they say, but considering it's a Dadaist film, it probably doesn't matter. It's a black & white film made during the 1920s and must have confused the life out of audiences back then, as even today with our more 'modern' sensibilities, it would be a tough-sell trying to get audiences to watch and appreciate this art film. Not terrible but certain a film that defies your ability to give it any sort of numerical rating.