author of the first American avant-garde film Meshes of the Afternoon . Her experimental short films have been ongoing since a 12-to 15-minutes and provide a surreal and imaginative paintings, mostly showing a woman experiencing some vision. These visions, full of symbols and metaphors are creative commentary on the reality. Can be interpreted in different ways, the films are ideal for discussion and analysis, dreamlike films, and not devoid of artistic provocation. There is no plots, dialogue or sound (although the music plays a big role) - closer to those films, photography and painting than a real cinema.
Network afternoons / Snares afternoon (Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943)
ambitious attempt to penetrate into the mind of an unhappy woman in the last moments of her life. Often it is operated key theme here, which may symbolize the subjugation of women. The key could mean the closure of such women in the home, where he is assigned specific tasks, or lock themselves in a world of dreams. This image comes from this film - very eloquent gesture (hands kept on the glass), indicating a desire to escape to freedom. In this etude there is also a hooded, figure dressed in black face instead of having ... mirror, as well as the inclusion of the phone with the handset on-hook to the side - the two themes represent the closing in upon itself, the tendency to silence and unwillingness to talk to some more sensitive topics. There is also a knife, which means a dominance and submission to the iron rules. Attempts to break out of any of these rules can end tragically. The ending is ambiguous - perhaps it meant that for some ideas, wyłamujących with accepted standards, should bear the greatest sacrifice to future generations to live better.
cradle witch (Witch's Cradle, 1944)
Here, too, can be seen on slavery. Appears rope motif - the subject that does not look scary, but you can use it to tie or hang someone. Because you can do rope lasso, which grabs the victim, or a spider's web in which people fall into careless and naive. And if someone is creative to the cord can make a cradle. In the end, a woman is marked by a symbol which is probably be assigned to specific tasks, not giving her the right choice. This symbol is a pentacle, a five-pointed star, regarded as a symbol of magic, which suggests that the woman was a witch, probably because they proved to be extremely creative and courageous. At a time when this film was made there was war, and during this war, everyone (not just women) are able to feel compelled (the compulsory military service, concentration camps, anti-Semitism, genocide, filling the orders of commanders, risking the lives for the homeland). Association with the war are not obvious in this film, but it worked on the film by Marcel Duchamp, French artist who fled to the United States from the Nazis. It is possible that some deeply hidden anti-war message. The film was not completed, probably due to the disagreement of two ambitious artists, Mai Deren and Marcel Duchamp.
On land (At Land, 1944)
Another example of what can result when you do not respect the rules of logic of cause and effect. A woman is thrown to the shore by the rough waves and trying to figure out a new land, knows herself, is seeking his own identity. The entire film consists of seemingly unrelated scenes. This lack of consistency and logic suggests that this is a dream. Unusual effect could assemble together clips women breaking through the 'jungle' and crawling on the table in the direction of the board. Quite intriguing look it looks like a chess piece that fell into the abyss. A perfect combination of realism with fantasy, but do not know what is real and what is a dream. Maya Deren, as in the afternoons Networks, in a very imaginative dream-like atmosphere created by using many symbolic characters, having to force viewers to think about, such as chess, checkers, jungle, ocean waves or such traces in the sand and sea in an escape finale. Because of the problems it is best to escape into the realm of imagination (eg, cinema), but it leaves traces, after which our problems, and so will we.
Trilogy ballet
never heard that anyone identified three more films Mai Deren as a 'trilogy of ballet', but after watching these films I immediately imposed such an association. transformation during the ritual (Ritual in Transfigured Time, 1946), Meditation on Violence ( Meditation on Violence , 1948) and Penetrating eye night ( The Very Eye of Night , 1958) is Movies for me are difficult to interpret. I noticed they just dance, which may (but need not) mean the joy of life, and the choreography, which is (or not) a metaphor for submission to certain rules. In each of these films, dance and choreography are shown in different ways: in converted into time ritual dance is shown in slow motion and using stop-frame, and Meditation on Violence shows the Chinese warrior, performing exercises with or without a sword. There are the last study Mai Deren, Penetrating eye night, in which the penetrating eye of the camera shows the dancers, performing a series of movements against the night sky, looking like the photographic negatives (in inverted colors). Although these films are different because of problems with the interpretation of each of them threw them together - as a 'trilogy of ballet. "
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