Maya deren at land. At Land (Short 1944) 2022-10-22
Maya deren at land Rating:
9,6/10
1312
reviews
Maya Deren's film "At Land" is a surrealist masterpiece that explores the boundaries between reality and dream. The film follows the journey of a woman, played by Deren herself, as she navigates a series of strange and disorienting landscapes.
One of the most striking aspects of "At Land" is its use of non-linear storytelling. The film jumps back and forth in time and space, creating a sense of disjointedness and confusion. This serves to heighten the dreamlike quality of the film, as the viewer is left to piece together the events of the narrative on their own.
Another key element of "At Land" is its use of symbolism. The film is filled with imagery that is open to interpretation, such as the recurring image of a chessboard and the use of masks and puppets. These symbols add layers of meaning to the film, encouraging the viewer to think critically about what they are seeing on screen.
Despite its surrealist style, "At Land" is not simply a random collection of images. Deren's film is highly personal, drawing on her own experiences and philosophies. As a result, the film can be seen as an exploration of the human psyche, and the ways in which our dreams and reality intersect.
In conclusion, Maya Deren's "At Land" is a thought-provoking and visually stunning film that challenges the viewer to think deeply about the nature of reality and the power of the human mind. It is a must-see for anyone interested in surrealist cinema or the work of Maya Deren.
Maya Deren
Of course, this implies the alienation of most viewers who may be in need of closure. Retro Review by Dylan Moore At Land finds a woman who was thrown to land by the sea navigating her way through a dreamscape of dinner parties, chess on the beach, and intensely staring mustachioed man who is under some blankets. None of the guests acknowledge her presence as she drags herself along the top of the table toward a man played by graphic designer The woman walks down a dirt road. Silently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. It flows more smoothly comparing to Meshes, but lacks the energy that her first film has.
I would recommend particularly watching At Land for the opening shot of how Deren makes the sea thrown the character to shore and recede really good use of playing film in reverse and the closing sequence of the woman manically running across the desert. It is one of Deren's earlier works and probably her second most famous. Links: Dedicated to news of women in the media by Moira Sullivan. . Those who are looking at this short more for dream-like visuals won't be disappointed, but on the whole this third effort of Deren's is largely recommended for fans of avant-garde cinema, particularly fanatics of Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou" and Clair's "Entr'acte". And I kind of missed having music in At Land , but probably because of just how effective and eerie it was in Meshes. This web page is designed to be a public forum of the work of Deren and will include film analyses and events that celebrate her achievements in film, philosophy, ethnography and dance.
Comercially, Kubrick tried and achieved to some extend the share dream with Wide Eyes Shut, but it's only last year's blockbuster Inception the one which has nailed it. Retrieved 19 June 2011. 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. Divine Horsemen is an ethnographic documentary that shows the culture Vodoun in Haiti through their rituals of dance and possession. Meshes , set in one location of a house and the surrounding area, has a woman chase after silhouettes to find out what happened to her disheveled home, while At Land has a women jerked around in possibility and motivation as the landscapes she occupies keep morphing around her; though both show how Deren creates those dreams by connecting disparate times and locations through motion of the characters. When she reaches the other side of the table, her transition to the adult world is complete. They chat and go to a big house - at his suggestion - where the furniture is covered with white shrouds, as if no-one lives there.
Things she continued to strive for and lecture on until the end of her tragically short life. At first I wanted to compare Deren's Meshes and At Land to Bunuel's surreal short film Un Chien Andalou for their dreamy construction and social jabbing. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back. I don't think that most of Lynch or Buñuel's films are really onirical, maybe they are surrealistic on an absourdist level or rich on Jungian symbolism, but in the end, they have a basic narrative structure and usually bring a closure to whatever the film is about. It represents a moment of doubt, where she wonders if it would be better to come back to the childhood.
Even the way Deren portrays the woman crawling across the dining table, through the dinner party scene, is an extension of this technique. Another effective editing device she uses in both Meshes and At Land is the eyeline match where one character will stare off frame and the next shot will generally be of what they are staring at. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PHOTOS ON THIS SITE : All photos are copyright Boston University Mugar Library Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and may not be reproduced without permission. Is it something in the specific way she frames them, or the particular motion and shape of the waves she caught, or the speed in which she runs the film stock? 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. Two women are playing a relaxed chess and having a good time. Her work has contributed to a renaissance of intertextual references in popular culture.
At Land is first and foremost a dream projection. The bottom two photos are positive images of the original negative used in Ritual in Transfigured Time 1946. Maybe a better comparison would be with David Lynch and his work in Inland Empire , particularly how the main character can be transported to different locations and times, e. Meaning that, while if it's either surreal or not, what we see is a not the narration of a dream or even the interpretation of a dream; it's the shared experience of a dream. Below are stills from Meshes of the Afternoon 1943 by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid and At Land 1944 , with photography by Deren, Hammid, and Hella Heyman which feature innovating editing technique and cinematography: jump cuts, double exposure, and creative uses of temporarality through duration. The viewer is forced to form their own 'story' or 'meaning' according to her or his own ingenium. I have to say I did not find these 15 minutes particularly exciting.
The moment she starts walking with the man, who changes 4 times, it represents the love life. This is a remarkable short experimental film by the great Maya Deren. It has also been seen as one first films addressing feminine subjectivity, although an anti-materialist reading would be equally possible Deren had also been a left-wing political activist in the thirties. Deren used to say that her films cost what Hollywood spends on lipstick. Watching some of Maya Deren's works made me think that directors like David Lynch owe a lot to this brilliant woman. The best source of information on Deren's life with many of her articles and writing reprinted is See also h as several sources available on Maya Deren. She caresses their hair seductively.
Like Maya Deren's first short Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land is a narrative story infused with surrealism. Just like in 'Meshes of the afternoon', there's lots of wonderful imagery and terrific ideas that Deren puts to good use for an intriguing, metaphysical study of her own? A big 8 out of 10. She reaches up across tree roots and makes a difficult climb. How is it that her cinematography works on things that others do not? I watched At Land on Fandor; they have a bit of her other stuff too like Meshes of the Afternoon , Rituals of Transfigured Time , and Meditation on Violence , which is a more abstract work of hers, specifically focusing on hypnotic, circular movements of a martial artist through space, but you can probably also find a lot of her work on YouTube. Not to mention, that she's a fricking lovely actress! It is entirely silent and has a remarkable fractured narrative connected by story fragments that have a perfect dreamlike logic. Deren is best remembered for the powerful short "Meshes in the Afternoon" and her dance and films about Haiti. Clearly, this avant-garde piece is relating to a feeling everyone has at some point, possibly showing a problem Deren herself had to deal with.
. When she wakes up in the beach again, she has the opportunity of starting all over again, as the water represents a new start. The man who was controlling the chess game at first is a representation of the paternal figure. As she climbs the rocks on the beach, the transition of the wild to the table means a transition in our own life: when we stop being children and get in the social world. Senses of Cinema 23.
