Lichtspiel opus 1

Ruttman's Lichtspiel Opus I was most resonate with me than the other movies. With all of these films, there was no distinct idea or thought process that i could clearly discern. But with this first film, I had a base feeling, an immediate contact with something that I can't really explain but remains grasping my mind.
First of all, the texture of the drawings and the color and the animation was very reminiscent to me of the Disney film Fantasia (one of my favorites). I read later that this film inspired the workings of Fantasia.
As for the nature of the work itself, there was something very sensational and sensual about the piece. One thing to note was the repetition of movement, hammering these shapes into the memory. Another was the way in which the light curved. At one point it curved as though outlining the curves of a woman's back. But at the last "movement" (I think), there was a glorious beam of light that protruded in the screen. From this, I got a sense for Ruttman's idea of forming musical ideas with visual ones. Symphonies often end with something invigorating and glorious.
The shapes that were projected on the screen were fascinating. Rhythmus 21 consisted of squares and rectangles, completely mechanical and geometric shapes with sharp edges. Everything in Lichtspiel opus was fluid and human. The strokes felt created by human hands. They weren't completely solid. They faded in and out and changed colors. They illuminated. They weren't just shapes of themselves, they revealed the environment they inhabited. There was a blur between determining whether a background was being illuminated or whether the "illuminations" were inhabiting the background. I assume there was some marriage between the two ideas.
I wish I had gotten to see these films without the music. I know that with the world that I live in, movie without music instills boredom in me. But I still feel as though the music was completely against the intentions of many of the films, especially Lichtspiel Opus. Lichtspiel Opus was a work in creating music through images, so a conceived soundtrack pairing takes away from the artist's purpose.