From July 13-15, the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque showed newly remastered and restored versions of four films by 1920s avant-garde filmmaker Man Ray.
Ray – or Emmanuel Radnitzky – was a Dadaist-Surrealist filmmaker, painter and photographer, according to manray.net. He was born in Philadelphia but preferred to live and make his art in Paris, where he moved in 1921, according to the website.
Ray was initially best known for his photography. He developed art pieces known as Rayogrammes. Ray created Rayogrammes without a camera by exposing an image that was placed directly on photo paper then exposed to light, according to manray.net.
The restorations and current showings of his films may draw interest to his cinematographic work. The restorations shown at the Guild were led by production companies Womanray and Cinenovo, in partnership with the Library of Congress, various French organizations and an Italian film archive, according to an Instagram post by the Guild.
The four films shown at the Guild were “L’Étoile de mer,” “Emak Bakia,” “Les Mystères du Château du Dé” and “Le Retour à la raison.”
“L’Étoile de mer,” which translates to “The Starfish,” is a surrealist film based on a poem by Robert Desnos. It follows a man and a woman through a story of love, eroticism, loss and betrayal.
The film utilizes two major types of camera shots: one is a standard, relatively clear shot, while the others are wavy and distorted as though the film was wet and smeared. The central images are starfish and flowers. Starfish can regenerate lost and damaged limbs, prolonging their life, while flowers die quickly.
“Emak Bakia,” or “Leave me in peace,” is disorienting yet intriguing — featuring high-contrast spinning shots of nails, clocks and marquee lights. It is occasionally intercut with footage of waves, fish, farm animals and young women dancing to banjo music.
On-screen text reads, “The reason for all this extravagance.” Then, viewers see a man shredding a box full of starched, white shirt collars with his hands.
The film closes with a shot of a woman with eyes painted on her eyelids. She opens her eyes, revealing her real eyes to the camera, before closing them, showing the false eyes again.
“Les Mystères du Château du Dé,” or “The Mysteries of the Castle of the Dice,” opens with a shot of dice being placed in the hand of a wooden mannequin. The film follows two masked men playing a dice game in a bar.
The men briefly argue over whether or not they’re leaving, then eventually decide that they are. They arrive at a large castle which they explore, seeing odd statues and beautiful gardens. They stay the night, and when they wake up, four people are playing dice.
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On-screen text reads, “A throw of the dice will never abolish chance.” The four then frolic around the castle’s garden and pool. Then, two more guests arrive at the castle, apparently looking for the other four.
The two new arrivals also resolve to stay the night. The closing shot is a pair of dice, once again being placed in a wooden hand.
The titular “Le Retour à la raison,” or “Return to Reason,” is another largely dialogue-less and non-narrative film. It features more spinning industrial materials such as nails, clocks, marquee lights and a page covered in redacted text.
The film concludes with a shot of a fully nude woman’s torso, her face out of the shot, as she turns between the window and the viewer.
Ray’s work has long been described as surreal, dark and sensual, and “Return to Reason” embodies every adjective.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
