Jump to content

Heaven and Earth Magic: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Removing from Category:1960s American films in subcat using Cat-a-lot
→Plot: Adding section on the soundtrack
Line 19: Line 19:
==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>

==Music==
The film is accompanied by a [[musique concrète]] score featuring the noises of water, clocks and [[sound effect|sound effects]] 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==
==Reception==

Revision as of 21:13, 9 October 2022

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, The Magic Feature, or Heaven and Earth Magic Feature) is a 1962 American avant-garde 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

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."[2]

Music

The film is accompanied by a musique concrète score featuring the noises of water, clocks and sound effects albums.[3] 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."[3]

Reception

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."[4] Time Out Magazine offered the film similar praise, comparing it to the works of Max Ernst and Georges Méliès.[5]

Legacy

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."[6]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Marcus 2011, p. 106.
  2. ^ "No. 12: Heaven and Earth Magic | Film Studies Center | University of Chicago". Archived from the original on 12 June 2010.
  3. ^ a b Walters, John L. (30 June 1999). "Now that's what I call folk music!". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  4. ^ Camper 2020.
  5. ^ TimeOut 2014.
  6. ^ Schneider 2013, p. 392.

Sources

Books

Websites

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heaven_and_Earth_Magic&oldid=1115106693"