Essential, integral experimental work from the late 1950s is an incredible dance of montage and super-imposition starring none other than New York City’s various bridges, transforming them into an urban jungle (jazz version) or an alien landscape.
This film is not currently playing on MUBI but 30 other great films are. See what’s now showing
16mm, rewatched. The "Skyscraper"'s abstract, syncretic and free-form ancestor, a film without restraint or compromise. Rewatcht it it on screen, after the computer, is an immense pleasure.
2 and a half stars. Not really experimental, not really breaking new ground (in '58), not really personal, not really searching into profound subject matter or creating very interesting double-exposure imagery. It's above my head.
In version one, the images seem a reaction to the jazz, but the electronic music reacts and is synchronized to the images in the second version. It's an interesting juxtaposition between a tortured eloquence and an alienating mechanization. 3.5 stars