British and American Avant-Garde

I thought it was interesting how different the films from the United States and Britian were from their European counterparts. The English film, as someone else mentioned, just seemed like a drab, boring version of "Man with a Movie Camera." It seemed like they were trying to explain their own industrial revolution and its implications on daily life, but with out the premise of "universal language," it just felt like a boring documentary. And it was a shallow kind of boredom, unfortunately. I am very glad that we were not forced to watch the longer film on fisherman.

That being said, I was really perplexed by the American film "Rose Hobart." It seemed like there was some story-line in the film that I couldn't find, like the narrative was just beyond the tips of my fingers. I understand that this film was composed of different clips from the actress Rose Hobart's films, and I think its interesting that it stands on its own. Sometimes collaborative efforts like that fall apart, and you need an understanding of the original pieces to appreciate the end result. The vague story and interesting imagery of "Rose Hobart" was enough to keep me interested with out being invested in the actress herself. In this way, the film maker created a cine-thing with a montage of images and clips from other films.

Oh, and I really liked the animation that we watched. It was fun as well as thought provoking.