At Land (1944)

Silently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back.

Director:

Maya Deren

Writer:

Maya Deren

Stars:

John Cage, Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid

Cast

Credited cast:
John Cage
Maya Deren
Alexander Hammid
Hella Heyman
Parker Tyler

Storyline

Silently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back.

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Plot Keywords:

pawn | dinner party | f rated | beach | chess | 

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Genres:

Short

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Details

Official Sites:

DVD

Country:

USA

Release Date:

1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Szárazföldön

Filming Locations:

Amagansett, Long Island, New York, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

15 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Keepers of the Frame (1999)

User Reviews

A truly dream-like odyssey from the High Priestess of experimental cinema

After the claustrophobic feminist nightmare of her first film 'Meshes of the Afternoon' Ukrainian/American experimental film-maker Maya Deren made this mesmerising, bewildering, and strangely reassuring short which continues to expand upon her interest in the rhythmic potentialities of the camera as well as the representation of dream-like states that challenge traditional narrative conventions. Indeed, despite being largely stripped of the Freudian symbology which figured so prominently (some may say conspicuously) in 'Meshes…', 'At Land' is arguably more dream-like than its illustrious predecessor through its use of clever editing which matches physical movements of the lead character (Deren) from shot to shot but against different physical backdrops to create a vivid, authentic representation of a subjective inner realm.

In addition to this technique, which she would also use beautifully in her next film 'A study in Choreography for Camera', the theme of the multiple-Mayas used in 'Meshes…' reoccurs. However, while in 'Meshes…' it was created using multiple exposures of the camera film to allow the different aspects of Maya to share the same space around the kitchen table, in 'At Land' the effect is achieved through a series of eye-line matches from each of the freshly manifested Mayas as she runs along the beach triumphantly.

The film also differs from 'Meshes…' in that it is almost completely set outside and begins with Deren washing up / being born on a beach, the waves of which then roll backwards into the sea. It is a characteristic feature of Deren's films to use simple camera effects to reveal hidden worlds of motion and latent artistic possibilities in things which our everyday eye often misses. Indeed, the composition of shots in 'At Land' is incredibly aesthetic and, even though she was avowedly not a surrealist, as she wanders the dunes and stony caverns the film certainly recalls a Dali painting to the point that the inclusion of a melting clock would not feel out of place.

Deren herself stated that the film is meant to represent a form of spiritual odyssey and an individuals struggle to maintain personal identity, however I must confess my shortcomings and admit that I didn't get that from the film…if anything, for me the film was the very opposite: a reappraisal of splintered selfhood as curiously liberating. This difference of interpretation doesn't bother me though as I've always agreed with Oscar Wilde's opinion that "diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital", and certainly, while being made in 1944 disqualifies it from being labelled "new", Deren's work in general, and 'At Land' in particular, is definitely complex, and undeniably vital.