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{{Short description|1962 film by Harry Everett Smith}}
{{Short description|1962 film by Harry Everett Smith}}
{{missing information|the film's production, analysis, and theatrical/home media releases|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Heaven and Earth Magic
| name = Heaven and Earth Magic
Line 15: Line 14:
| language = English
| language = English
}}
}}
'''''Heaven and Earth Magic''''' (also known as ''Number 12'', ''The Magic Feature'', or ''Heaven and Earth Magic Feature'') is a 1962 American [[avant-garde]] [[cutout animation]] film directed by visual artist, [[Filmmaking|filmmaker]] and [[Mysticism|mystic]] [[Harry Everett Smith]]. [[Jonas Mekas]] gave the film its title ''Heaven and Earth Magic'' in 1964/65.
'''''Heaven and Earth Magic''''' (also known as ''Number 12'',<ref name="alchemicaltransformations">[https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/experimental-cinema/harry_smith/ Alchemical Transformations: The Abstract Films of Harry Smith – Senses of Cinema]</ref> ''The Magic Feature'', or ''Heaven and Earth Magic Feature'') is a 1962 American [[avant-garde]] [[Independent film|independent]]<ref>[https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film541638.html FilmAffinity]</ref> [[cutout animation]] film directed by visual artist, filmmaker and [[Mysticism|mystic]] [[Harry Everett Smith]]. [[Jonas Mekas]] gave the film its title ''Heaven and Earth Magic'' in 1964/65.


==Plot==
==Plot==
[[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]] stated of ''Heaven and Earth Magic'': "The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land in terms of Israel, Montreal and the second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by [[Max Müller]] on the day [[Edward VII|Edward the Seventh]] dedicated the Great Sewer of London."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu/events/2007/no-12-heaven-and-earth-magic |title=No. 12: Heaven and Earth Magic &#124; Film Studies Center &#124; University of Chicago |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612225037/https://filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu/events/2007/no-12-heaven-and-earth-magic |archive-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]] stated of ''Heaven and Earth Magic'': "The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land in terms of Israel, Montreal and the second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by [[Max Müller]] on the day [[Edward VII|Edward the Seventh]] dedicated the Great Sewer of London."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu/events/2007/no-12-heaven-and-earth-magic |title=No. 12: Heaven and Earth Magic &#124; Film Studies Center &#124; University of Chicago |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612225037/https://filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu/events/2007/no-12-heaven-and-earth-magic |archive-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Reception==
==Production==
The film used [[Cutout animation|cut-outs]] created from 19th-century catalogues.<ref>[https://harrysmitharchives.com/product/heaven-and-earth-magic/ Harry Smith Archives]</ref><ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1211787 Mind, Medium and Metaphor in Harry Smith's Heaven and Earth Magic on JSTOR]</ref>
{{expand section|date=February 2020}}

===Music===
The film is accompanied by a [[musique concrète]] score featuring the noises of water, clocks and [[sound effect]]s albums.<ref name="Waters">{{cite web |last1=Walters |first1=John L. |title=Now that's what I call folk music! |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/now-that-s-what-i-call-folk-music-1103335.html |website=The Independent |access-date=9 October 2022 |date=30 June 1999}}</ref> [[John Waters (columnist)|John Waters]] of ''[[The Independent]]'' described it as "the sort of soundtrack you could put together in a hotel room", noting that "Smith lived at the [[Hotel Chelsea|Chelsea Hotel]], rent unpaid, for much of that time."<ref name="Waters" />

==Reception and legacy==
Fred Camper from ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' praised the film's artistic style, calling it "a mysterious world of alchemical transformations in which objects suggest a multitude of possibilities."{{sfn|Camper|2020}} ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out Magazine]]'' offered the film similar praise, comparing it to the works of [[Max Ernst]] and [[Georges Méliès]].{{sfn|TimeOut 2014}}
Fred Camper from ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' praised the film's artistic style, calling it "a mysterious world of alchemical transformations in which objects suggest a multitude of possibilities."{{sfn|Camper|2020}} ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out Magazine]]'' offered the film similar praise, comparing it to the works of [[Max Ernst]] and [[Georges Méliès]].{{sfn|TimeOut 2014}}


⚫
It is listed in the film reference book ''[[1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die]]'', noting the film as director [[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]]'s magnum opus, and saying "Incomplete, deeply idiosyncratic, rearranged from materials taken largely from an earlier period —a Victorian-era catalogue— it is explicitly "folk" in nature."{{sfn|Schneider|2013|p=392}} Writing in 1999 for ''The Independent'', Waters noted that "Smith's stop-frame animations look remarkably similar to [[Terry Gilliam]]'s [[Monty Python]] animations made a few years later".<ref name="Waters" />
==Legacy==

{{expand section|date=February 2020}}
A still from the movie was used as the album art for [[Slowdive]]’s 2017 [[Slowdive (album)|self-titled album]].
⚫
It is listed in the film reference book ''[[1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die]]'', noting the film as director [[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]]'s magnum opus, and saying "Incomplete, deeply idiosyncratic, rearranged from materials taken largely from an earlier period —a Victorian-era catalogue— it is explicitly "folk" in nature."{{sfn|Schneider|2013|p=392}}


==See also==
==See also==
Line 45: Line 49:


===Websites===
===Websites===
*{{cite web|last1=Camper|first1=Fred|title=Heaven and Earth Magic|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/heaven-and-earth-magic/Film?oid=1051545|website=ChicagoReader.com|publisher=The Chicago Reader|access-date=February 10, 2020|ref={{sfnref|Camper 2020}}}}
*{{cite web|last1=Camper|first1=Fred|title=Heaven and Earth Magic|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/heaven-and-earth-magic/Film?oid=1051545|website=ChicagoReader.com|date=26 October 1985 |publisher=The Chicago Reader|access-date=February 10, 2020|ref={{sfnref|Camper|2020}}}}
*{{cite web|title=Heaven and Earth Magic 1962, directed by Harry Smith|url=https://www.timeout.com/us/film/heaven-and-earth-magic|website=TimeOut.com|publisher=Time Out Magazine|access-date=February 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417173725/https://www.timeout.com/us/film/heaven-and-earth-magic|archive-date=April 17, 2014|ref={{sfnref|TimeOut 2014}}}}
*{{cite web|title=Heaven and Earth Magic 1962, directed by Harry Smith|url=https://www.timeout.com/us/film/heaven-and-earth-magic|website=TimeOut.com|date=13 March 2014 |publisher=Time Out Magazine|access-date=February 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417173725/https://www.timeout.com/us/film/heaven-and-earth-magic|archive-date=April 17, 2014|ref={{sfnref|TimeOut 2014}}}}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{Allmovie|76277}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0056060}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0056060}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes|heaven_and_earth_magic}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes|heaven_and_earth_magic}}
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[[Category:Collage film]]
[[Category:Collage film]]
[[Category:Cutout animation films]]
[[Category:Cutout animation films]]
[[Category:Animated films with original screenplays]]
[[Category:Animated films without speech]]
[[Category:Animated films without speech]]
[[Category:1960s stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:1960s stop-motion animated films]]
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[[Category:Hermetic Qabalah]]
[[Category:Hermetic Qabalah]]
[[Category:American adult animated films]]
[[Category:American adult animated films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Musique concrète]]
[[Category:1962 independent films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language fantasy films]]

Latest revision as of 22:55, 21 December 2024

Heaven and Earth Magic
Film still from Heaven and Earth Magic
Directed byHarry Everett Smith
Produced byHarry Everett Smith
Edited byHarry Everett Smith
Production
company
Mystic Fire Video
Distributed byMystic Fire Video
Release date
  • January 1, 1962 (1962-01-01) (United States)
Running time
66 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Heaven and Earth Magic (also known as Number 12,[2] The Magic Feature, or Heaven and Earth Magic Feature) is a 1962 American avant-garde independent[3] cutout animation film directed by visual artist, filmmaker and mystic Harry Everett Smith. Jonas Mekas gave the film its title Heaven and Earth Magic in 1964/65.

Plot

[edit]

Harry Smith stated of Heaven and Earth Magic: "The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land in terms of Israel, Montreal and the second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by Max Müller on the day Edward the Seventh dedicated the Great Sewer of London."[4]

Production

[edit]

The film used cut-outs created from 19th-century catalogues.[5][6]

Music

[edit]

The film is accompanied by a musique concrète score featuring the noises of water, clocks and sound effects albums.[7] John Waters of The Independent described it as "the sort of soundtrack you could put together in a hotel room", noting that "Smith lived at the Chelsea Hotel, rent unpaid, for much of that time."[7]

Reception and legacy

[edit]

Fred Camper from Chicago Reader praised the film's artistic style, calling it "a mysterious world of alchemical transformations in which objects suggest a multitude of possibilities."[8] Time Out Magazine offered the film similar praise, comparing it to the works of Max Ernst and Georges Méliès.[9]

It is listed in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, noting the film as director Harry Smith's magnum opus, and saying "Incomplete, deeply idiosyncratic, rearranged from materials taken largely from an earlier period —a Victorian-era catalogue— it is explicitly "folk" in nature."[10] Writing in 1999 for The Independent, Waters noted that "Smith's stop-frame animations look remarkably similar to Terry Gilliam's Monty Python animations made a few years later".[7]

A still from the movie was used as the album art for Slowdive’s 2017 self-titled album.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ Marcus 2011, p. 106.
  2. ^ Alchemical Transformations: The Abstract Films of Harry Smith – Senses of Cinema
  3. ^ FilmAffinity
  4. ^ "No. 12: Heaven and Earth Magic | Film Studies Center | University of Chicago". Archived from the original on 12 June 2010.
  5. ^ Harry Smith Archives
  6. ^ Mind, Medium and Metaphor in Harry Smith's Heaven and Earth Magic on JSTOR
  7. ^ a b c Walters, John L. (30 June 1999). "Now that's what I call folk music!". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ Camper 2020.
  9. ^ TimeOut 2014.
  10. ^ Schneider 2013, p. 392.

Sources

[edit]

Books

[edit]

Websites

[edit]
[edit]
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