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As many people have already said, I feel like last week's screening was our first exposure to truly avant garde cinema. I also enjoyed Richter's Ghosts Before Breakfast the most, initially for its seeming whimsicality. It felt like the most accessible and, for lack of a better word, friendly of the films we viewed. But to reduce it to an amusing short would be doing it a great disservice. Like many of the films that we watched, Ghosts Before Breakfast disturbed me. At first I thought otherwise, given the playfulness of the images (i.e. the man trying, unsuccessfully, to tie his bow tie) and the music; both initially spoke to me of entertainment, not enlightenment. But as the film progresses, and the viewer realizes that, no matter how they try, the people within the film are unable to accomplish anything (i.e. tying a bow tie,climbing a ladder, or crawling on the ground), and the film becomes slightly more disturbing. In fact, the sheen of quirkiness that entertained me at first became the very thing that unnerved me. The juxtaposition of such an unnerving message with such accessible visuals served the make the entire film much more memorable to me.

I also enjoyed Ballet Mecanique for its visual beauty and comforting message. After a night of beautifully disturbing visuals and uncomfortable messages, Ballet Mecanique relaxed me in a way none of the other films were able to with its quiet beauty and endearing optimism.