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Walter Ruttmann – Lichtspiel Opus III (1924)

Lichtspiel: Opus III (1924) is composed from squares, rectangles and other straight-edged forms animated in overlapping, kinetic compositions. The shapes in this film are not solid colors, but graduated tones, and the development of each sequence is built around asymmetrical compositions that break the frame into harmonious sections. The result is dynamic, active: the moving…


Lichtspiel: Opus III (1924) is composed from squares, rectangles and other straight-edged forms animated in overlapping, kinetic compositions. The shapes in this film are not solid colors, but graduated tones, and the development of each sequence is built around asymmetrical compositions that break the frame into harmonious sections. The result is dynamic, active: the moving shapes suggest the rapid movement of machinery, pistons. Then in the middle of the film there is a shift towards a bifurcation of the frame and oscillating patterns that rotate around this central axis, before a return to the asymmetry of the machine-like motions. The compositions employed in this film are unique in the 1920s, resembling the later work of Joseph Albers, or, the more contemporary work of Peter Halley in the 1980s.

Color serves a dramatic purpose in this film. Short sections of red and blue alternate towards the end, creating a contrast, but as in Opus II, the whole frame is tinted, and there is no hand-painting. The alternation of monochromatic, colored compositions at the conclusion enables the end to achieve a dramatic resolution that was missing in his earlier films.

This use of color for emphasis will be repeated in his last abstract film, Lichtspiel: Opus IIII (1925).

Michael Bentacourt – http://www.cinegraphic.net/article.php/20110220082757118