"Mesh of The Afternoon" by Natasha Jenkins

Title/Year

Meshes of the Afternoon/ 1943

Director/Birth Country/Year Born

Maya Deren/ NY, USA/ 1917

Budget

$275

Gross

Unknown

Synopsis

A young woman follows a hooded figure down a path before entering a nearby house.  When she gets inside she goes to sleep, and dreams about what just happened.  As the action continues to repeat like fragments of a dream, we get more information each time.  Symbolic objects are revealed, like keys that turn into a knife or the hooded figure with a mirror for a face.  Each version of the dream escalates into something more surrealistic and violent, making the daydream more like a nightmare. 

Narrative and Visual Keywords

Surrealism, feminism, symbolism, repetition, dream imagery, death wish

Characterization/ Dialogue

The piece contains no dialogue.  The music, which was added 16 years later by Deren’s third husband, creates a sense of rising paranoia and dread.  The characterization of the young woman explores different versions of herself within her subconscious and how they manifest.  The hooded figure is fascinating and mysterious, and is assumed to represent symbolic meaning. 

Camera/lighting/editing technique

The film was shot on 16mm film and uses reoccurring images to create continuity.  It was shot using fast pans, oblique angles, close ups and pov to establish surrealism within the scene, and even utilizes props for more interesting shots.  The editing is clearly influenced by Melies, using fast cuts, camera tricks, and clip sequencing to build confusion and uncertainty.  The rhythm of the film in regards to editing the repetition helps to creates cohesion in the experimental narrative.  The lighting is mostly available. 

Political/ Social Commentary 

Meshes of the Afternoon is recognized as a seminal American avant-garde film.  The film was produced during the end of the Second World War, and adopting surrealism, like many other great artists during that time, was Deren’s reaction the world around her. 

Historical Relevance/ Recognition

Deren’s writing remains relatively obscure in film theory and her films are rarely screened outside of experimental or feminist film courses.

Notable Collaboration 

Maya Deren shot the film while she and her husband and collaborator, Alexander Hamid, lived in Hollywood in 1943.

Random fact, Etc.

Meshes Of The Afternoon Meshes, according to Deren, is "concerned with the inner realities of an individual and the way in which the subconscious will develop, interpret and elaborate an apparently simple and casual occurrence into a critical emotional experience."

How would you classify the visual aspects of this film in relationship to theme or mood?
Because the narrative is driven solely on the visual aspects of the film, disregarding action and dialogue, it focuses on the emotional reactions from the symbolic meaning of certain objects and the repetition of a disassociated identity.  The lover that turns into a killer, suicidal gestures, and the replication of the main character creates an uneasy mood and adds to the postwar/ feminist feel. 

Does sound play an important role in the piece? If so, what?
When the film was first released, it was silent.  The music was added years later, and helps add a greater sense of tension and anxiety.

What is your subjective take on the piece as a whole?

I really enjoyed this film.  Maya Deren’s innovative style invoked emotions through ambiguity and transitory images, transcending film into a new medium for experimentation.  For me, the most interesting aspects of the piece dealt with the execution of the editing.  It feels so introverted, like watching a stranger’s dream and trying to understand their motives.  But her unique style is so captivating; the broken structure seems to work.