The Flicker Film

Director: Norman McLaren
Production date: ca. 1961
Rating: ★
Review:

This unfinished film from ca. 1961 must be the most extreme Norman McLaren ever made. In fact this is one of the most extreme films in the entire history of cinema. The film consists of a black and a white image only that are altered in different rhythms to cause a flickering effect. The electronic soundtrack matches the flickering.

It’s a testimony of McLaren’s genius that even such an extreme film contains some rhythm and variation, and even a sense of a build-up, but the idea remains too extreme to be entertaining, and the continuous stroboscope effect quickly wears done the viewer.

‘The Flicker Film’ is available on the DVD-box ‘Norman McLaren – The Master’s Edition’