I liked almost every film we saw last week. Didn't see much in "A Choreography for the Camera", although I admire the technical aspects of getting those shots.


But you know what? I think Maya Deren might be my new hero. I could say that was because her films really "spoke" to me, but it was more like they showed me something new. They explored identity, whether it was her own or something that was just a fictional identity explored. I got that it was personal and important to her. While Meshes of the Afternoon seemed to provide more of a narrative, At Land was more of an exploration of identity through different sides of her personality. My favorite scene was crawling on the table to the man playing chess by himself-- and no one looked up or thought it was unusual! But did it really happen at all?

For Kenneth Anger, I really liked Eaux D'Artifice. Of course, I'm also a sucker for Rococo outfits... I think he captured the romanticism of that era and its love of decadence. The fact that he explored it through the foutains and the fall of water was really beautiful, though shots of the water wore on a bit. At the end, the character is never unmasked, her motivations never known to the audience. I felt a bit cheated at that, but maybe there's a necessary element of mystery to the "trick water".