Meshes of the Afternoon

Plot

A woman returns home to find a flower on the ground before entering her house. As she settles in, she begins to experience increasingly surreal and repetitive events. She sees a mysterious hooded figure with a mirror for a face following her, and encounters symbolic objects like a key, a knife, and a telephone that appear and disappear. The narrative cycles through multiple versions of the same events, with time and space becoming fluid and subjective. In what may be a dream or reality, she confronts the hooded figure, leading to a climactic moment where she breaks the mirror-faced figure's disguise, revealing herself. The film concludes with her husband finding her asleep in a chair, suggesting the entire experience may have been a dream, though the boundary between dream and reality remains deliberately ambiguous.

Historical Background

Created during World War II in 1943, 'Meshes of the Afternoon' emerged during a period of significant upheaval in both global politics and the arts. The film was part of the American avant-garde movement that was developing independently from European modernism, though it drew heavy inspiration from European surrealism and psychoanalytic theory. The early 1940s saw many European artists fleeing to America, bringing with them new artistic ideas that influenced American creators. The film was made at a time when Hollywood was producing escapist entertainment to distract from the war, while independent filmmakers like Deren were exploring the inner psychological landscape. The influence of Freudian and Jungian psychology was at its peak, and these ideas about dreams, the unconscious, and the psyche directly informed the film's structure and imagery. The home setting of the film also reflects the wartime emphasis on domestic space as both sanctuary and prison.

Making Of

The creation of 'Meshes of the Afternoon' was a deeply personal collaboration between Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, who were married at the time. They filmed in their own home on Kings Road in Los Angeles, using everyday objects to create surreal effects. The mirror-faced figure was achieved through clever camera work rather than post-production effects. Deren would hold a mirror while walking toward the camera, creating the illusion of a figure with a mirror for a face. The film's innovative editing techniques, including jump cuts and temporal disjunctions, were groundbreaking for the time. The couple worked without a crew, handling all aspects of production themselves. Deren's background in dance and poetry influenced the film's rhythmic quality and symbolic imagery. The film's title came to Deren in a dream, and she wrote the entire script in one night. The production process was experimental and intuitive, with many scenes improvised during filming.

Visual Style

The cinematography by Alexander Hammid was revolutionary for its time, employing techniques that would later become staples of experimental cinema. The film makes extensive use of slow motion to create a dreamlike quality, particularly in scenes involving the flower and the key. The camera work is highly subjective, often placing the viewer directly in the protagonist's perspective. Hammid employed innovative mirror work to create the iconic mirror-faced figure, using reflections to explore themes of identity and perception. The film features groundbreaking jump cuts that disrupt temporal continuity, creating a sense of psychological dislocation. The use of shadows and lighting creates an eerie, noir-like atmosphere despite the domestic setting. The camera often follows characters in ways that suggest both observation and obsession, reinforcing the film's themes of psychological entrapment.

Innovations

The film pioneered numerous technical innovations that would become standard in experimental cinema. The use of jump cuts to disrupt temporal continuity was groundbreaking in 1943, predating their use in French New Wave cinema by over a decade. The film's manipulation of time through slow motion and accelerated motion created a fluid sense of dream time. The mirror effects were achieved entirely in-camera without post-production manipulation. The film's editing structure, which repeats and varies scenes to create psychological resonance, was revolutionary. The subjective camera work, which places viewers inside the protagonist's psyche, influenced generations of filmmakers. The film demonstrated how personal, low-budget filmmaking could achieve artistic effects comparable to big-budget productions through creativity and innovation rather than resources.

Music

The film was originally created as a silent work, with Deren and Hammid intending it to be viewed without accompaniment. However, over the years, several composers have created scores for it. The most famous version features a score by Teiji Ito, Deren's third husband, composed in 1959. Ito's score uses traditional Japanese instruments and percussion to create a rhythmic, ritualistic atmosphere that complements the film's dreamlike quality. Other composers who have created scores include Larry Jordan (1960) and more recently, experimental musicians who have created electronic scores for modern screenings. The variety of musical interpretations demonstrates the film's flexibility and openness to different readings. Some purists argue that the film works best as originally intended - silent - allowing viewers to project their own psychological soundscape onto the images.

Memorable Scenes

• The opening sequence where Deren follows a cloaked figure with a mirror for a face up the stairs to her home
• The repetitive key-in-the-door motif that appears throughout the film in different contexts
• The climactic scene where the mirror-faced figure is revealed to be Deren herself
• The floating flower sequence that defies gravity and logic
• The multiple versions of Deren entering her house, each slightly different from the last

What Critics Said

Initially, critical reception was mixed, with some mainstream critics dismissing it as incomprehensible or pretentious. However, avant-garde circles immediately recognized its genius. James Card of the George Eastman House called it 'the first really important American avant-garde film.' Over time, critical opinion has shifted overwhelmingly in its favor, with modern critics hailing it as a masterpiece of psychological cinema. The Village Voice named it one of the 100 greatest films of all time, and it consistently appears in lists of the most important experimental films ever made. Critics now praise its innovative editing, psychological depth, and visual poetry. The film is frequently cited as a key influence on the subjective cinema movement and has been the subject of extensive scholarly analysis in film studies journals.

What Audiences Thought

The film found its primary audience in avant-garde film circles, art galleries, and university film departments rather than mainstream theaters. Initial screenings were often accompanied by lectures to help audiences understand the film's symbolic structure. Over time, it developed a cult following among art film enthusiasts and became a staple of film studies courses. Modern audiences, exposed to more experimental cinema through music videos and art films, often find it more accessible than original viewers did. The film has gained new audiences through DVD releases and online platforms, with many viewers discovering it through its influence on later filmmakers like David Lynch. While it remains challenging for some viewers, those who engage with its dream logic often find it deeply rewarding and psychologically resonant.

You Might Also Like