Jean Painlevé tackles the concept of the fourth dimension, both as a physical dimension and as time itself, in this typically sprightly and entertainingly shot university-lecture-style film.
He begins, as so many discussion of the era did, with discussion of the three spatial dimension in the style of the classic book FLATLAND. Then he uses his camera tricks to make his points in a telling fashion, from simply flipping his film print over, to showing an orange in what looks to be a continuous series of slices -- since he was working at the time on his claymation movie BARBEBEUE, it's possible he did it that way, or it's possible he or an assistant patiently sliced a millimeter from an orange, shot a frame, then sliced another millimeter....
As always, a treat for students of film, and for Painlevé's dark and mordant sense of humor.
He begins, as so many discussion of the era did, with discussion of the three spatial dimension in the style of the classic book FLATLAND. Then he uses his camera tricks to make his points in a telling fashion, from simply flipping his film print over, to showing an orange in what looks to be a continuous series of slices -- since he was working at the time on his claymation movie BARBEBEUE, it's possible he did it that way, or it's possible he or an assistant patiently sliced a millimeter from an orange, shot a frame, then sliced another millimeter....
As always, a treat for students of film, and for Painlevé's dark and mordant sense of humor.
