"This film is concerned with the inner realities of an individual and with the way in which the sub-conscious will develop, interpret and elaborate an apparently casual occurrence into a critical emotional experience." --Maya Deren from Essential Deren
Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon is a 14 minute long experimental film. Sticking to the Deren quote above, the "apparently casual occurrence," can be seen as the opening sequence of the film: Deren picks up a flower of the way home and as she arrives at her doorstep, watches someone turn around a bend in the road. She goes inside, surveys the house, and falls asleep. The rest of the film involves the opening sequence being played out in a nightmare. Nonetheless, the dream sequences are variations on the opening sequence.
The opening sequence provides only a modicum of experience. The sheer fact that the dream sequences make up a majority of the film reveals how the components of ordinary waking experience take so much emotional content for granted. The overall beauty and contribution of this film could be as simple as taking a mundane event and expanding its emotional content into a visual medium.
Here's an example of what is taken for granted in ordinary experience: in the opening sequence, as the Deren character arrives home, someone is walking away. In a flash, one might imagine that the person is an intruder. But the thought comes and goes without being processed. Still, Deren checks out the apartment and the objects lying around take on new meaning. Were they there before? Is it a good idea to leave a knife on a table when one leaves? &c. There are a series of red flags that get recognized, but they need to be sorted out. And here, strictly speaking, they are sorted experimentally, through film.
Meshes feels less about a story than a moment, and the objects we see throughout the film are less symbols than emotional possibilities. As a story, there is but the opening sequence. The sequence is a moment. As far as symbols go, the knife, the mirrors, the flower, and the telephone are dynamic. There is no symbolic status, no appeal to fixed meanings; only one emotion triggering another. In a lump sum, the film explores emotional contingencies as forms. It is a movie for someone who enjoys watching objects change meaning when juxtaposed with something else and can be satisfied by a film without climaxes, resolutions, or a punchline.
Meshes feels less about a story than a moment, and the objects we see throughout the film are less symbols than emotional possibilities. As a story, there is but the opening sequence. The sequence is a moment. As far as symbols go, the knife, the mirrors, the flower, and the telephone are dynamic. There is no symbolic status, no appeal to fixed meanings; only one emotion triggering another. In a lump sum, the film explores emotional contingencies as forms. It is a movie for someone who enjoys watching objects change meaning when juxtaposed with something else and can be satisfied by a film without climaxes, resolutions, or a punchline.
IMDb rates this film 7.9 stars out of 10
Film 101 rates this film 4 stars out of 5
