Eaux d'artifice (1953)

A man dressed in an elegant period dress wanders through the water gardens at the Villa d'Este.

Director:

Kenneth Anger (as Anger)

Star:

Carmilla Salvatorelli

1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Carmilla Salvatorelli	...	Lady (uncredited)

Storyline

A woman dressed elegantly walks purposely through the water gardens at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, as the music of Vivaldi's "Winter" movement of "The Four Seasons" plays. Heavy red filters give a blue cast to the light; water plays across stone, and fountains send it into the air. No words are spoken. Baroque statuary and the sensuous flow of water are back lit. Anger calls it "water games."

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | water | garden | fountain | 

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Genres:

Short

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kenneth Anger carefully lined up each shot so that the light would set off the water sprays. He also changed camera speeds and shutter angles to make the droplets of water seem more alive.

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Crazy Credits

UN FILM D'ANGER

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Connections

Featured in Magick Lantern Cycle (2009)

User Reviews

Meditation on the beauty of moving water.

A stunning water garden is the empyrean setting for this short film, one of the director's strongest works. The ceaseless motion of liquid in an elaborate fountain-system is given close study in high-contrast black and white...jets, streams and droplets dance madly to classical music as the water becomes seemingly enlivened with a zoetic personality. The mood shifts with the music's dramatic rise-and-fall, being somber and wintry one moment, majestic and powerful the next. Intermittently, a shadowy figure in period costume moves hurriedly through the scenery, adding even further mystique to the proceedings.

Mesmerizing in its organic beauty...a small masterwork. 9/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 1970 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Veden leikkiä

Filming Locations:

Tivoli, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

12 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1