Anticipation of the Night
1958 · 42m · USA
Directed by Stan Brakhage
Genres: experimental
Tones: contemplative, surreal, tense
A wordless, non-narrative experimental film that captures the play of light and shadow through domestic spaces, amusement parks, gardens, and nightscapes, evoking a subjective journey from daylight into darkness as seen through the filmmaker's restless, hand-held camera.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Brakhage takes the people out of the frame and lets light have the role — a manifesto disguised as a forty-minute mood. Foundational, sure, but I'd rather watch most of his shorter ones.
Brakhage's elimination of the human figure in favor of pure subjective camera-movement essentially founded the lyrical film, and Sitney's commentary still applies. Vimeo gates it for rental.
Brakhage's bet to remove human figures entirely and let camera movement and light carry the subjective interior - 40 minutes of lyrical-film foundation. Vimeo On Demand confirms the runtime, $7.99 to rent.
Reviews
Brakhage had forged the new form for which he had been searching: the lyrical film.
The material appropriate for a delightful song has been pumped up into nearly an hour of meandering repetitions with no real sense of pace…and no precision of impact or emotion.
Festivals
- Knokke-Le-Zoute Experimental Film Festival 1958