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poster
71
53
6.8
/1288/
53
/44/
63
/57/
3.9
/5195/
95
/141/

The Dante Quartet (1987)
A visual representation, in four parts, of one man's internalization of "The Divine Comedy." Hell is a series of multicolored brush strokes against a white background; the speed of the changing images varies. "Hell Spit Flexion," or springing out of Hell, is on smaller film stock, taking the center of the frame. Montages of color move rapidly with a star and the edge of a lighted moon briefly visible. Purgation is back to full frame; blurs of color occasionally slow down then freeze. From time to time, an image, such as a window or a face, is distinguishable for a moment. In "existence is song," colors swirl then flash in and out of view. Behind the vivid colors are momentary glimpses of volcanic activity.
poster
61
47
6.2
/3015/
56
/79/
56
/96/
3.6
/11351/

Mothlight (1963)
Seemingly at random, the wings and other bits of moths and insects move rapidly across the screen. Most are brown or sepia; up close, we can see patterns within wings, similar to the veins in a leaf. Sometimes the images look like paper cutouts, like Matisse. Green objects occasionally appear. Most wings are translucent. The technique makes them appear to be stuck directly to the film.
poster
63
41
6.3
/1265/
63
/53/
59
/67/
3.6
/3265/

Free Radicals (1958)
In this powerful abstract film with a soundtrack of African drum music, Lye scratched "white ziggle-zag-splutter scratches" on to black leader, using a variety of tools from saw teeth to arrow heads. The first version of the film won a major award at the International Experimental Film Festival Held in Brussels in 1958 in association with the World's Fair. Stan Brakhage described the film as "an almost unbelievably immense masterpiece".
poster
64
39
6.4
/1120/
59
/40/
60
/45/
3.6
/3626/

Dots (1940)
An experimental film in which both sound and visuals were created entirely by Norman McLaren drawing directly upon the film with ordinary pen and ink. The main title is in eight languages. Rereleased with multilingual titles in 1949.
poster
65
15
6.9
/210/
57
/7/
62
/12/
3.5
/750/

Kaleidoscope (1935)
For Kaleidoscope, which was sponsored by Churchman Cigarettes, Lye animated stenciled cigarette shapes and is said to have experimented by cutting out some of the shapes so that the light of the projector hit the screen directly. As in Colour Box Lye uses music by Don Baretto and his Cuban Orchestra. - Harvard Film Archive
poster
67
14
7.0
/160/
48
/6/
76
/10/
3.8
/627/

… ere erera baleibu izik subua aruaren… (1970)
An experimental film: dozens of pictorial techniques applied directly on celluloid; a work of impressive aesthetics that recovers certain ideas of abstract expressionism: endless chromaticism, constant mutations, the music of the cosmos, mysticism, synesthesia… and an enigmatic title that, although it imitates the phonetics of the Basque language, means nothing.
poster
62
14
6.8
/241/
53
/6/
58
/19/
3.5
/486/

Swinging the Lambeth Walk (1940)
Len Lye’s camera-less film animates “swing” versions of the popular Lambeth Walk—featuring Django Reinhardt on guitar and Stéphane Grappelli on violin—through scratched and painted imagery directly on celluloid. Sponsored by the Tourist and Industrial Development Association after Lye and his family fell into hardship, the film blends vibrant visual rhythms with music, free of advertising slogans, and stands out as one of Lye’s most playful experiments in direct cinema.
poster
?
7.2
/19/
20
/1/
50
/1/

Fear of Blushing (2001)
Fear of Blushing bursts forth with irrepressible hand-painted color, corroded emulsion and a menacing soundscape of looped voices, distorted instrumentals, samples & rhythm. Fleeting visions and voices erupt out of the ominous abstraction in unusual juxtapositions, suggesting a cinematic free-association marked by anxiety, pleasure and shame. Best appreciated in the immediate; the 7200 painted frames fly by at an average of 12 per second.
poster
?
5.9
/18/
45
/2/
50
/1/

Feuerhaus (1998)
Abstract forms and music.
poster
?
7.2
/8/

Intersextion (2022)
Handmade optical sounds and drawing directly to 35mm film. Two abstract energies fall in love, unite as one then disappear into a vanishing point.
poster
57
?
6.5
/90/
37
/4/
62
/5/
3.3
/211/

Tal Farlow (1981)
Lye created a series of scratched images in the 1950s – more regular or geometric than his usual style – to accompany Rock ‘n’ Rye, a track by jazz guitarist Tal Farlow, but he did not get far with the editing. He returned to the material in 1980 but died before it was completed. His assistant Steven Jones finished the film under the supervision of Lye’s widow Ann, who had been closely involved with all of Lye’s American films. - Harvard Film Archive
poster
59
?
6.7
/151/
40
/3/
60
/5/
3.4
/329/

Particles in Space (1980)
Lye completed his last great film a few months before his death at the age of 78. The film returned to the black-and-white techniques of Free Radicals. Lye created what he called “vibrant little images” or “zig-zags” with a sense of “zizz”. The clusters of small scratches gave the film a unique texture – the images looked rough but were in fact extremely subtle. The title Particles in Space referred to flashes of energy of the kind sometimes seen by astronauts in space. The soundtrack combined “Jumping Dance Drums” from the Bahamas with drum music by the Yoruba of Nigeria and the sounds of Lye’s metal kinetic sculptures. The opening titles demonstrated Lye’s mastery of the scratching of letters and words on film, a method imitated by other film-makers such as Stan Brakhage.


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