This is just one of many strange films from the DVD collection "Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941" and it's from Disc 3. "Anemic Cinema" is a short film from Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp was a Surrealist and Dadaist and loved provocation--such as proclaiming a urinal to be a piece of art.
The film consists of rotating spirals and inscriptions that are VERY hypnotic. The inscriptions are in French and I have no idea what they say, but considering it's a Dadaist film, it probably doesn't matter. It's a black & white film made during the 1920s and must have confused the life out of audiences back then, as even today with our more 'modern' sensibilities, it would be a tough-sell trying to get audiences to watch and appreciate this art film. Not terrible but certain a film that defies your ability to give it any sort of numerical rating.
The film consists of rotating spirals and inscriptions that are VERY hypnotic. The inscriptions are in French and I have no idea what they say, but considering it's a Dadaist film, it probably doesn't matter. It's a black & white film made during the 1920s and must have confused the life out of audiences back then, as even today with our more 'modern' sensibilities, it would be a tough-sell trying to get audiences to watch and appreciate this art film. Not terrible but certain a film that defies your ability to give it any sort of numerical rating.