Science Friction

Portions of "Science Friction" were shown during the documentary on art films, "Free Radicals". So, when I say that this film by Stan Vanderbeek looks like a Terry Gilliam film, I am not being original--the folks in the documentary described it this way--and it's a very appropriate description. I am awfully sure that this film led Gilliam to use the art style he used in the "Monty Python" animations, though Gilliam's animations seemed much less random and were meant to make us laugh. As for Vanderbeek, you might chuckle lightly but the film isn't meant as a comedy exactly--as, at times, it seems to be commentary about science and the bomb.

The film consists of hundreds and hundreds of different cut out images being animated in addition to some drawing on these images. It's all set to music and is kind of hypnotic and watchable because it is pure whimsy--making it different from many art films. Worth a look and certainly NOT a film for the average viewer.