Hall of mirrors

Duration: 8

Year Published: 1966

Creator: W. Sonbert

Format: 16mm

Color: Color & B&W

Sound: sound

Credits: Sonbert, Warren.; Ricard, Rene, 1946-2014; Malanga, Gerard.; An act of murder--excerpts.

Copyright: Registered 4Nov72 · LP44428 (Jan-Jun 1975) Copyright holder: QM Productions Production company: Warner Brothers Television

Description: In this experimental film, Sonbert's vision is refracted through a personal hall of mirrors. In the first vignette, the mirror as a mode of entrapment is illustrated by a clip from a 1948 movie melodrama in which Frederic March and Florence Eldridge are seen at an amusement park with the latter frantically struggling to escape a mirrored fun house. The mirror as a narcissistic vehicle is indicated by a young man contemplating his visage in a New York apartment. The film's final sequence considers the mirror as an optical instrument expanding space and time into infinity. Sonbert's visuals are complemented by accompanying musical selections: What becomes of the broken hearted, Walk away, Renee, and George Delerue's Contempt.

Complete Record: In this experimental film, Sonbert's vision is refracted through a personal hall of mirrors. In the first vignette, the mirror as a mode of entrapment is illustrated by a clip from a 1948 movie melodrama in which Frederic March and Florence Eldridge are seen at an amusement park with the latter frantically struggling to escape a mirrored fun house. The mirror as a narcissistic vehicle is indicated by a young man contemplating his visage in a New York apartment. The film's final sequence considers the mirror as an optical instrument expanding space and time into infinity. Sonbert's visuals are complemented by accompanying musical selections: What becomes of the broken hearted, Walk away, Renee, and George Delerue's Contempt.

Metadata Source:BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE