Castro Street (1966)

Inspired by a lesson from Erik Satie; a film in the form of a street - Castro Street running by the Standard Oil Refinery in Richmond, California ... switch engines on one side and refinery... See full summary »

Director:

Bruce Baillie

1 win.

Storyline

Inspired by a lesson from Erik Satie; a film in the form of a street - Castro Street running by the Standard Oil Refinery in Richmond, California ... switch engines on one side and refinery tanks, stacks and buildings on the other - the street and film, ending at a red lumber company. All visual and sound elements from the street, progressing from the beginning to the end of the street, one side is black-and-white (secondary), and one side is colour - like male and female elements. The emergence of a long switch-engine shot (black-and-white solo) is to the filmmaker the essential of consciousness.

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Plot Keywords:

oil refinery | noise | train | abstract film | locomotive | 

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Genres:

Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1992.

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Soundtracks

"Good Lovin'"
The Rascals

User Reviews

City sights and sounds collected in a landscape format.

Dizzifyingly in movement, Baillie's Castro Street is a look at the cluttered landscape of a city block of the same name. The only dialogue comes from the sounds of the city. The only characters are traffic, a train station, and a handful of signs. This unique cast leads the viewer along the street. Overlapping pictures, blurred and confusing, convey the business of city life. Following the train down the track, Baillie briefly juxtaposes the urban jungle with a scenic country field--where color is clear and no overlapping of images clutters the view. Compositionally, interesting edits and cuts are used to present a mountain of commonplace objects to the audience: there is always something new to look at. This ten-minute piece features a unique perspective on the changing sights of a city landscape.