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Pas de deux

  • 19681968
  • GG
  • 13m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Pas de deux (1968)
  • Animation
  • Short
  • Musical
Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.Two ballet dancers perform a dance enhanced with surreal multi and after-image effect visuals.
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Norman McLaren
  • Stars
    • Margaret Mercier
    • Vincent Warren
Top credits
  • Director
    • Norman McLaren
  • Stars
    • Margaret Mercier
    • Vincent Warren
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 4 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos

    Leonard Maltin in Begone Dull Care (1950)
    Pas de deux (1968)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Margaret Mercier
    • Danceras Dancer
    Vincent Warren
    Vincent Warren
    • Danceras Dancer
    • Director
      • Norman McLaren
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Created using an optical printer to reprint images from one frame onto another.
    • Connections
      Edited into 50 ans (1989)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    Yes, this is one of the great Canadian shorts.
    Yes, this is one of the great Canadian shorts, etc. etc.

    I'm more interested in why someone could find this film boring, insisting that one had to have an interest in the dance and/or music in order to find something to like about it.

    I'm not a "dance person" myself and in fact admittedly rarely have anything to do with dance performance, dance films, etc. This film is not about the dancing, though.

    It's about human movement in particular, with the form of this dance being used as a means to a much more imaginative end. By utilizing dance as a mode of discovering the beauty of human grace and movement, McLaren can explore these movements in fascinating ways, using optical printing to trail print or multiple-expose their movements, using still imagery as well.

    The result is an effect of three-dimensionalizing the movements (not the dancers, who are obviously already 3-D) - giving substance and shape to otherwise intangible, time-sensitive events. This film is just as incredible and breathtaking as the chrono-photographs of Etienne Jules-Marey, and in fact Pas de Deux is very much a brother of Marey's work. McLaren even lit his dancers similarly to Marey's subjects, to get an almost line-drawing effect from his subjects.

    To dwell on the dance itself and whether or not you "like it" is completely missing the point of McLaren's filmmaking and artistry here. He had an incredible sense of the potential for movement and beauty, often to be found in unique and unlikely places.

    See this film at all costs and try to look beyond the dance content/music content (if that bothers you), and you will hopefully find that Norman McLaren created a masterpiece in his exploration of time and motion, mined entirely from the particularly graceful movements of ballet dancers.
    helpful•8
    1
    • fiddybop
    • Aug 19, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1968 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Canada
    • Language
      • None
    • Also known as
      • Ballerina Margaret Mercer
    • Production company
      • National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      13 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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