"Celestinos filmó la cinta en una vieja casa de Chimalistac, al sur de la Ciudad de México. Según la historia en ella habitan dos hermanas que viven un encierro real y metafórico a causa de su sexualidad reprimida. Las primeras imágenes de la película muestran a una de ellas vestida de novia, mientras que otra lleva la cola del vestido. La escena da pie a un erotismo doloroso: una de ellas se acaricia para que la cámara muestre en close up sus lágrimas. Un flash back nos muestra la causa: el momento de su infancia en que una monja de visita en la casa le dio manotazos por haberle mostrado una imagen de una mujer desnuda que encontró por casualidad. El personaje busca liberación. (...) La otra hermana también busca salir de la casa (emblema del ámbito doméstico familiar), y encontrar su libertad sexual" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012)
"Celestinos filmed the tape in an old house in Chimalistac, south of Mexico City. According to the story, the house is inhabited by two sisters that live in a real and metaphorical confinement because of their repressed sexuality. The first images of the film show one of them dressed as a bride, while the other carries the tail of the dress. The scene is followed by a painful erotism: one of the caresses herself to make the camera show her tears in close up. A flash back shows the cause: the moment of her childhood when a nun hits her hands because she showed her a picture of a naked woman that she found by chance. The character seeks liberation. (...) The other sister is also looking forward to leave the house (emblem of the familial domestic scope), and to find her sexual freedom" (Vázquez Mantecón, 2012)
'In Fancy Free' is a fantasy, imaginatively planned, photographed, and edited, which pictures the day-dreams of a young woman as she sits by the window looking out on her garden. Nearby objects, such as a Buddah, a porcelain figure of a dancer, a flower, and the passing of friends by her house set her to reflecting on her greatest wish -to be a dancer. She becomes absorbed in these dreams as a participant and the dances she imagines are laid against colorful and symbolic backgrounds. As the picture unfolds, narration by a young woman with a remarkable appealing voice tells the story of the young girl's desires, and then in the closing sequence, we learn in a brief heart-tugging climax that the girl, a cripple, can never take part in the activities of her dreams. The production is replete with effect lighting and special photographic effects -a forte which Turner ably established in his earlier productions. The dance numbers demanded skill, both in direction and execution; and the musical score, especially prepared by members of the student orchestra of the college where Turner is an instructor, is a vital and moving contribution to the picture." American Cinematographer, May 1952, 222.
"Save for a few opening and closing scenes, In Fancy Free is creative film fantasy of the highest order. For in it Glen H. Turner, beginning only with an idea, has evoked from his own mind and heart and spirit a superb and moving visual drama. As with all truly great art, the theme of In Fancy Free is essentially simple. At the film's opening a grave and tranquil girl is seen seated by a sunny window overlooking a rose garden. Laying aside her book amid these halcyon surroundings, she daydreams to herself of that which in all her life means most — the joys of dancing. There follow then four sequences of modern ballet, their themes suggested by objects or activities around her — an Oriental figurine, a string of paper dolls, a tennis game and the sunny, nodding roses. As these ballets end, we learn — in a brief, throat-tightening climax — that never, in her lifetime, can the girl take part in them. Although thematically quite different, In Fancy Free is a direct descendant of One Summer Day, with which (on 8mm. film) Mr. Turner won the Maxim Memorial Award in 1949. For in both fantasies the producer has, with sound dramatic instinct, related his world of pulsing wonder directly with the world of poignant reality. Thus it is that Mr. Turner's brilliant creative imageries take on a meaning above and beyond their mere technical virtuosity. The story development, dance themes, abstract settings and, needless to say, the camera work of In Fancy Free are all original creations by the producer. Mr. Turner enjoyed, however, a wealth of heart-warming collaboration in bringing this picture to its full flowering. An assistant professor of art at Brigham Young University, he was able to enlist the enthusiasm of countless other creative spirits. Thus it was that an original and brilliant musical score was written directly into this film dream. Thus, too, that this music was performed for recording by the university orchestra and that the dance themes were developed, almost step by step with the picture's progress, by the college ballet group. There will be those among the carping who are sure to complain that with this cooperation and those resources any amateur could produce a winner. To these few our unequivocal answer is "Non-sense!" Great art is created by the mind and heart of the artist — not by the hands of those who help him. That Mr. Turner could integrate these efforts into his own filmic concept is only another measure of this man as a truly creative cine artist." Movie Makers, Dec. 1951, 392-393, 410.
Kaxarranka dantzaren erreportajea
Reportaje de danza Kaxarranka.
A depiction of the Kaxarranka dance.
Edited film "chronicling travel through the Caribbean including scenic landscapes, cities and villages, dance, local markets and fishing. Wells travelled on the M/s Stella Maris II. Locations filmed include Puerto Rico, Saba St. Kits, Gaudelupe, St. Lucia, Barbados, Paramaribo, Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Martinique, Fortress of San Felikpe Del Morrow (San Juan), For Christianvaern, Fort Fleur depee XVIII siecle, and Sam Lord's Castle," Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Museum.
"The Little Swan is an animated film using paper cut-outs, and is tailored to fit the music of the Swan Lake Ballet. A little girl cuts out the images and watches them dance through the air, only to be trampled under foot when her little brother and his friends get into a scrap over a football" PSA Journal, Sept. 1966, 35.
Travelogue of Rothenburg, Germany.
"Once Upon a Rose is romantic fantasy of a high and handsome order. In it a young gallant on a walking tour comes upon a lovely pleasance leading, at its far end, to a columned Grecian portico and the statue of a goddess. Starting to dance upon the wide stone steps, he soon hears footballs echoing behind him. The goddess has come to life and, in a series of gay modern dances, she and the boy make tender and romantic love. Then, like the princess in the fairy tale, she is again transfigured into stone—and the young man is left with only a rose to mark her memory. Now...except for brief opening and closing sequences, all of this action takes place in the single setting of the Grecian porch. To be sure, the choreography by Jimmy Inman (who also plays the young gallant) is lively and kinetic. And Mary Jo Bishop is graceful as the girl. But the film's real rhythmic flow is due in its major part to the imagination and skill of the producer, William H. Eddy. It is from his fluid camera that there blossoms this rose-scented romance which never was" PSA Journal, Jan. 1955, 49.
"Dancers move in front of a background made up of crystal formations filmed through a microscope. One of Norman McLaren’s first experimental films." Library and Archives Canada.
Edited film "chronicling travel through Tahiti and Mo'orea including scenic landscapes, aerial views, harbor scenes, resorts, local flora, markets, underwater scenes, dance and storytelling," Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Museum.
"Young women at Brockton Point, Stanley Park, put on a display of Pro-Rec activities: massed calisthenics, costumed dancing, drill team (brief shots only), more massed calisthenics. The film concludes with a couple of men's tumbling runs." (BC Archives)
One of the regular displays or demonstrations put on in Vancouver by the Provincial Recreation Program ("Pro-Rec"), a community-oriented physical education program administered by the British Columbia Department of Education. Mrs. Hilda Keatley was the Provincial Supervisor for Women. The program operated in many BC cities and towns during the years 1938-1953. (D.J. Duffy)
The filmmaker has not been identified.
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Amateur Cinema