Meditation on Violence (1948)

Director:

Maya Deren

Writers:

Chao Li Chi (writer)
Maya Deren (writer)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

The setting with the low walls and river views is located in a private area of The Cloisters museum.

Plot Keywords:

Avant Garde | Experimental Film | Violence | Surrealism | Martial Art

Cast

Chao Li Chi

...

Himself

Runtime:

12 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Movie Connections:

Featured in Im Spiegel der Maya Deren (2002)

Maya Deren's best film?

Meditation on Violence is IMO Maya Deren's best film. The idea for this film belonged to Chao Li Chi who met Maya Deren just after she returned to NY from Haiti where she had become a voodoo believer. Chao Li Chi who was a martial arts expert and had also just finished his studies disagreed with Maya who believed in the possesion of human beings by supernatural forces (gods or spirits) something she was taught in Haiti at the voodoo rituals something she was infatuated with until her death at a rather young age. Chao Li Chi believed the wise man should be in position to possess natural forces and not the other way round.

Chao Li Chi in an excellent performance attempts to display the ideals of the Wu Tang philosophy which is a philosophy of constant motion according to which the perfect form is that of no form (which is achieved when you're in a state of constant motion). At least that's what I understood after listening to an interview by Chao Li Chi himself where he spoke about this film.

Maya's lack of money (a problem Maya always had with her projects) made them film in Maya's small apartment and since there wasn't enough room for Chao Li Chi to perform they had to move all the furniture to the kitchen. Despite all the difficulties this film is excellent and much better than other films where millions of dollars were spent.