Renaissance

Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Release date: December 1963
Rating: ★★★★★ ♕
Review:

‘Renaissance’ must be counted among Walerian Borowczyk’s best and most powerful works. Instead of the silliness of ‘Les Astronautes‘ and ‘Encyclopédie de Grand-Maman‘, ‘Renaissance’ is a powerful stop-motion film on destruction.

The short starts bleak enough with the scene of a completely destroyed chamber. But then the objects in the room start to reassemble themselves…

Borowczyk’s command of stop-motion and reverse film making is astonishing, and although the tricks used are as old as cinema itself, these are used to an impressive effect, greatly enhanced by the soundtrack with all its crystal clear sounds. The whole surreal atmosphere looks forward to Jan Švankmajer’s stop-motion works, as does the morbid atmosphere.

Watch ‘Renaissance’ yourself and tell me what you think:

‘Renaissance’ is available on the Blu-Ray/DVD set ‘Walerian Borowczyk: Short Films and Animation’