MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES

by Ralph STEINER
1930 / 35mm / b&w / sound / 1S / 10' 48

"Round and round go the gears in this extraordinary study. Ralph Steiner’s second film is mesmerizing in its attention to concentric, repetitive mechanized motions. Far from being pedantic or boring, the movements fascinate and titillate. The comedic is equally central to Steiner’s fascination with human-like interactions between the differentials." — Bruce Posner

"The film presents a deceptively 'open' series of images of gears and pistons that transfer movement from vertical to rotary directions. Musical in its repetitive visual form, it now seems akin to Charles Sheeler’s paintings and photographs of railroad locomotive gears and wheels, a tribute to the machine age.” —Robert A. Haller

Music by Colin McPhee composed and performed in1931, now considered lost

New music by Eric Beheim

Courtesy: Masterworks of American Avant-garde Experimental Film 1920-1970

1 PRINT IN DISTRIBUTION


distribution format Digital file on server
sound silent
rental fee 42,00 €