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The Light Penetrates the Dark
Zdenek Pešánek created the first public kinetic sculpture, for the power station in Prague. This short experimental film focuses on a kinetic sculpture by Zdenek Pešánek. For a period of eight years it issued beams of light from the outside wall of a transformer station at Prague’s power utility before its destruction in 1939. Though genuine, these shots seem abstract to us. They are a rhythmically assembled ode to the light-creating devices and phenomena of electricity. Light arcs, coils, bulbs and various luminous elements support the alternation of positive and negative film images, creating an impressive universe of light and shade. In the 1920s, Pešánek had obtained financial support for his work with electric kinetic light art. In the 1930s, he was the first sculptor to use neon lights. He built several kinetic light pianos, and published a book titled “Kinetismus” in 1941. —http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org
| Release : | 1930 |
| Rating : | 6.1 |
| Studio : | Legiafilm, |
| Crew : | Art Designer, Director of Photography, |
| Cast : | |
| Genre : | Documentary |
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Rating: 6.8
Reviews
Sorry, this movie sucks
Load of rubbish!!
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
'The Light Penetrates the Dark (1931)' was apparently the first work of Czech experimental filmmaker Otakar Vávra, released when he was twenty years old. His career would continue for at least seventy years more, and, at age 97, Vávra is admirably still with us. A brief film of only 5 minutes, this short is, as far as I could tell, a tribute to the harnessing of electricity, and its ability to illuminate the darkness of the night. It plays out like a feverish Soviet montage, certainly inspired by the styles of Eisenstein and Vertov, as we are shown a series of hurried images light bulbs, lightning bolts, Tesla coils and all sorts of bizarre contraptions that presumably aid the electricity-producing process. All this is set to an intense piano score by Joachin Bärenz, which perfectly aligns itself with the editing, giving the film an invigorating rhythm that makes it impossible to look away.I'm not typically a huge fan of experimental cinema, but what I like about 'The Light Penetrates the Dark' is its incredible energy. This is one of those films that doesn't make all that much sense, but you're compelled to watch it, anyway. Vávra occasionally does crazy things with the camera, using extreme zooms and out-of-focus photography to keep up the rhythm. However, the most striking thing about the photography (shot by Frantiek Pilát) is the contrast between the pitch-black background and the vivid lighting in the foreground. There's a certain intimacy to be found in the claustrophobic closeness of the darkness, and the single haven of security to be found in the warm glow of a light globe. In a way, the film can perhaps be interpreted as symbolising the manner in which human civilisation is becoming, or has become, God. "Let there be light," said Man, and there was light.
