MARIO GAUCI This is yet another film devoted to endless repetition of evolving shapes (like the recently-viewed OPUS 1 {1921} by Walther Ruttmann, RHYTMUS 21 {1921} by Hans Richter and ANEMIC CINEMA {1926} by Man Ray); bafflingly, it has found a place (albeit a deservedly lowly one) on a poll I have been checking out ranking the all-time top 3000 movies! There is little to say about such 'trivial' efforts, except that one is thankful for their brevity – while assuming that they were conceived in order to push the boundaries of film when the medium was still essentially in its infancy. As was the case with a few of the titles included on Kino's 2-Disc "Avant-Garde" collection, this is available online in several prints boasting a variety of lengths – often supported by newly-composed (and wildly inappropriate) electronic scores; needless to say, I opted to watch a copy of it that featured traditional accompaniment

MartinHafer While this film practically defies description and is practically impossible to review, I decided to take this on simply because the opening made me laugh. There is a blurb that appears on the screen and indicates that this film by Viking Eggeling is simply a work of genius!! The summary above is taken from this self-congratulatory praise!! Never have a seen a film so quick to pat itself on the back!!The entire silent film consists of art deco-style black & white shapes appearing and moving about--all with diagonals or with diagonals superimposed on it. Set to music this might have been mesmerizing, but as a silent it lacks a lot. I won't give it a score but would beg to differ that it is the best abstract yet conceived (at least by 1924)--something better must surely exist--something worth seeing to the average Joe.

mrdonleone Diagonale Symphonie, what to expect? some strange movie, and indeed, it turned out to be a very strange light effects movie, where you keep wondering what you are looking at. is it a piano? is it a glass? is it a chicken? is it a wig? it's really hard to say, because the little differences with each picture of light you get to see, really change the global frame you get to see. is it the sun? is it a knife? actually, it's not quite that funny, because as a viewer, I want to know what I'm looking at. maybe the title means something... yes, it could be instruments. that would explain a lot. instruments, shown by light, maybe it means standing in the spotlights, to be famous, perhaps this movie is about being famous.

Polaris_DiB This animation could arguably be held as a consummate creation of modern art expression. Viking Eggeling's short was created as an experiment in design, time, and rhythm, not too far removed from Hans Ricther's Rhythmus 21, but several times better and more interesting. What particularly appeals about this film is that, despite the fact that the forms and shapes are entirely abstract, this film is still rather fascinating to watch. It sort of pre-dates trance cinema in that sense, and could possibly considered a forerunner of such things as even Maya Deren's work in the 50s.--PolarisDiB