Ballet mecanique (1924) Fernand Leger - Part 1

[Yastreblyansky]

I don't think you want to "explain" it in that way. Of course he is showing the romance of machines, and the other shots help to bring it out, so there is an implied comparison. But look in the film for its musical structure: repetition and contrast, things turning upside down, themes that vanish and return.

[Reflectinglight18]

Can someone please explain this to me? Is he making some sort of comparison between the natural world and machines?

[MsLifesize]

I can't stop watching this. It is so close to reality, in some way, that you can't fight disliking it at first. But if you watch it more often, you'll start liking it. Just like you started liking reality after you got used to living in it.

[austinxl3000]

this. is. creepy

[smbyrm]

19 dislike people.. why do you watch, if you dont understand ?

[yesdaletv]

@smbyrm To understand.

[pippasghost]

@smbyrm

"Not liking" isn't the same as "not understanding".

[catchersmitt0]

I saw Ballet pour Instruments Mecaniques et Percussion performed at the National Gallery of Art in DC a few years ago... it was really great!

[RICEKRISPY8]

Dada, futurism... Screw your definitions. They only set limitations.

[kylemoe1000]

Dadaists weren't "making fun of art". It was a big FU to what society at that time believed to be "art". This film is more or less a showcase of their experimentations within the medium.

[alamodorado]

Mi Dios que tremendo

[bja311]

futurism not dada

[Nanushkia]

Spectacular!!!

[MrJcvtw]

I'm freakin out man! If U like noise and art music, check out Jesus Christ vs the World.

[ACOMaestro]

I guess all I can really say is... well, wow.

[rosaemily]

has anyone heard a version of this with just string instruments underneath playing countermelodies? It is so different to this, except i have no idea who the piece is by...?

[jdelz91]

@rosaemily

this is the original score for the film by fernand leger.

[EvGfilm]

there's a lot of point in avant garde. It's supposed to play with the viewer's perception of films. by the way, the some of the song is from or inspired by The Rite of the Spring by Stravinsky.

[ALoneIdealist]

is it Antheil's music?

[alexmctighe]

@ALoneIdealist Yes

[sejamosmodernos]

ipnotik

[avrilarte]

I don't agree...there's a point...they were fascinated for movement, city sounds, technology, kinethic...there's a sense...Léger experimented with cubism and futurism, not dada.

[dahliafully]

@avrilarte

fascinations are not to be confused with points. movement, sound is absurd. even randomness is not the point.

[sclapione]

@avrilarte definately pre-dada aspects ....

[pawils]

I performed this piece with the film in college. This is a very different version of the score from what we did. Interesting.

[mMeFlora]

@pawils there are 2 different types of this because fernand leger worked on it together with george antheil. the original piano theme is about 30 min and the movie just about 19 min. so there is one movie with the first part of the piano music and the same movie with the last part of the piano music.also there is a shortened version which came out in 1953.

[alexmctighe]

@pawils Antheil had his original score, then revised it because it could not be performed with the technology of the day. He cut back on many instruments, the player pianos and more. However, Paul Lehrman from UMass did the original score. You can find more information on his web page.

[mMeFlora]

2:22 sounds like "cat soup"

[nerdlie]

kind of creepy.

[16NostalgicdreamS]

one can ony imagine the thoughts in their heads

[chinaenkimono]

I FIND IT SO SCARY

[sclapione]

@chinaenkimono are you more into X factor ?

[Egberdien64]

I am making the Ballet Mecanique Reloaded with a performance in garbage bags... this was inspiring!! thanks!

[heyjud313]

where is the original soundtrack??!?!?!?!?!?!

[heyjud313]

where the hell is the original soundtrack?!?!?!?!

[notleonard]

So much of this suggests biological imagery to me, even though a lot of it is taken from images of machines. Sometimes it looks like those sped-up video of flowers blooming, and then of animals in a nature videos, poking around with their noses and their eyes shifting around. and I even once or twice felt like I was looking at an ultrasound or some other medical image of the inside of a body. I wonder to what extent that's a consequence of watching it on YouTube, rather than in a theater.

[frostare]

Behold YTPers! One of the first formes of Youtube poop.

[jumboshrimp42]

Has Tim Burton seen this?

[spKenny14]

it's just like that tape in that horror (The Ring). I'm scared XD

[xenialarouge]

post con't... aesthetically, it is easy to file this short under dadism, and i'm no expert, but i bet the strictness of italian futurism was something the dadist were mocking.

[xenialarouge]

@MsAliDragon i hate to be an ass, but i have to disagree with msalidragon. this film isn't part of the dada movement. in leger's early career he did produce a fair bit of abstract and impressionistic work, but during this period he was influenced by the italian futurist movement, a movement founded on rejection of all things old (see marinetti’s ‘futurist manifesto’).

[sclapione]

@xenialarouge there's tons in dada that one sees here ....

[bcmthorpe3]

That was hands-down the most annoying thing I've ever seen

[sclapione]

@bcmthorpe3 stick to watching videos for your homework then

[evayalje]

this is some fucked up shit.

[navedeisogni]

che senso ha???? 

[LatestUFOSightings]

Fucking dadaists! This is no art, this is SHIT! S-H-I-T. How about you go create some real art...oh wait, you don't have any skill, losers, trying too hard to copy Andalusian Dog. Dali would own up this bitch ma'!

[mcornelison]

@LatestUFOSightings This was made 5 years before Andalusian Dog...

[tyknos93]

@mcornelison WHAT?! i think i love this now.

[AmTickProductions]

@LatestUFOSightings art is celebrated, not debated...

[sclapione]

@LatestUFOSightings Dude, your page is FULL of visual and audial S-H-I-T ... what are you on ?  Totally unaware and clueless or what ?

[EricBarbman]

You wonder why we must keep tracks of this crap. Totally useless, soul less, snob and dull experimentation by a bad artist. "My first day with my camera".

It's only the official mythology, the official religion of modernism that declared this of interest.

[jjames9826]

@EricBarbman if nothing else, we must keep tracks of this art so people can like u can enjoy an equally snobbish, dull, and obvious masturbatory corollary by defining what u like without actually creating, rather just criticizing. it's soo easy to be a critic, easier even than being an artist.

[composer333]

@EricBarbman I have always wondered why something as old as this (1924) and those works that are older (Russolo, Schoenberg, Webern etc. ) are still so anger-causing and creative of such animosity. It is time we deal with the horror/humor of the 20th century & its art--or we will never ever really know ourselves and we will remain forever ignorant.

[obscurexdirux]

Dadaism is nihilism in art form

[sclapione]

@obscurexdirux Bollocks

[CandiedJester]

I love this video, only the music scares me a bit, and gives me a slight headache. But I love the visuals. So much movement. <3

[proflob]

please tell me, who's music is it?

[DerangedRanger1]

@proflob George Antheil composed the music. A simple solution would be to do some sort of internet search with the words "ballet mecanique." This would save you the time of waiting for someone to respond.

[elnicodaone]

this is whacko but i definitely get the feeling that its the object that is alive and that the subject doesnt matter anymore...its a pretty interesting concept especially for its epoch....i prefer legers paintings though

[RaySmey]

argggggghhhhhh

[PsychedeliciousMelon]

This movie is normal. On acid.

[sweetscarling]

This and your collection is wonderful ! I am a big fan of Man Ray and have never come across this artists work so this has been a great discovery for me. So good of you to post it !

Thank you much !!

[newwave89]

This film made my head hurt a lot. Cool.

[tahraisuus]

Ah, Kiki!<3

[Randoleful]

wow! real artists

[mynameisfreddy]

What's interesting is that both George Antheil and Ferdinan Leger worked on this seperately. They both had a general idea as to what the other was doing, so that's why when they both met with the finished product, Antheil's musical contribution was 30 minutes longer than the actual video and he had to cut it down for the purpose of the film. The original is still available in rolls but when heard with the film, it will be edited and sections cut out

[mynameisfreddy]

Definetly a typo on the word Ferdinan. hahaha should be Fernand.

[cesarfreak]

I hate this film. Sacrificing story for the sake of being "avant-garde" and "artistic" is pretentious. It's ambiguity for the sake of ambiguity. If you want avant-garde executed the right way, go see a film by Lars Von Trier or David Lynch's Mulholand Dr.

[MsAliDragon]

The whole point is that there is no point. This is during the Dada movement when artists we're making fun of art by creating things that went against all the pre-existing "rules" of art. Dada means nothing. Oh and avant-garde means being the first wave, it's being the first to push the boundaries, you can't choose to be avant-garde because it's a term historians use to identify a time in art history.

[marcelombra]

@MsAliDragon I disagree. There is clearly a point here.

This is a film about mouvement, the 1st experiment of non-narrative cinema ever.

Since there is no story, it's all about the images.

The geometric forms and dynamic objects are a way to convey esthetical value to the frame, as in photography or painting.

The images are not chosen randomly, they're very rich in sense: the girl, the toys, the soldier boots etc

So sorry but this is not just pure nonsense.. There is plenty of ideas here!

[eoinpuddles]

@MsAliDragon In all fairness, the idea that this film 'has no point' is complete nonsense. This film is quite obviously celebrating modernity (shots of city; cars crowds of people as well as the repetitive shots of moving machinery), among many other things that we should attempt to decipher. Saying that it doesn't have a point only puts you in an apparently superior position, while actually freeing you from the bother of really engaging with the film. Don't insult the creators like that.

[dotervacalabrams]

@eoinpuddles I don't really think that he/she was "insulting" the creators as you think.

I quit agree with the way he/she was writing "the whole point is that there is no point".

And, i think he/she didn't feel in a superior position writing the text about the video, but more like the person finished to watch the video and then with a half smile, thought : "fuck, this video is so unreal, and you watch it (for the first time maybe) and you just think, it doesn't make sense, but i like it anyway"

[eoinpuddles]

@dotervacalabrams I think it's unfair to the filmmakers to dismiss their work as pointless, whether you mean it in a good way or bad way.

[dotervacalabrams]

@eoinpuddles I get what you said.

But, what i mean is that The Dada, had an idea, had a certain feeling with Art, a new idea about how to feel it and how to make it. I don't say that everything was just meaningless and pointless..What they were looking for was this "pointless", it was what i meant.

Hope you understood what i meant...

[eoinpuddles]

@dotervacalabrams I understand that they were looking for something new, but it's far from pointless. It's supposed to be figurative, metaphorical and difficult to decipher, but it is most definitely not pointless. If it were pointless we would not be having this conversation.

[dotervacalabrams]

@eoinpuddles Right, i definitly agree with you, i was just confused in my way to explain what i wanted to say...

[mesamonster91]

@MsAliDragon Except that this isn't Dada... and Leger was not a Dadaist at all. The Dadaists were a tightly knit, self conscious group that named themselves and were indeed exclusive, and although Leger may have drawn influence from them, he was by no means an active member of the Dada movement.

Also, the term "avant-garde" is not used to identify a time in history at all. It is used to identify what is ahead of the times. Thus, avant'-gardism is ever growing and changing

[dotervacalabrams]

@mesamonster91 It is, definitly.

Fernand Leger was a member of the Dada.

[neonenour89]

@MsAliDragon

don't forget that many dadaists were futurists before founding it. So in this video there are cubist and futurist elements.

[almanacofsleep]

@neonenour89 " many dadaists were futurists before founding it" No they weren't, in fact the Futurism and Dada were completely different ideologies, Futurism were Proto-Fascists were as Dadaists were mostly either some kind of Individualist anarchist or in the case of the Berlin Dadaists (who were the most politically active group in Dada) favored Council Communism.

[neonenour89]

@almanacofsleep

i didn't mean politics but i was just referring to culture...

[almanacofsleep]

@MsAliDragon Dada wasn't just a negation of art, it was an attempt to reorganize culture, (attempting) removing the hierarchies that divide low and high culture, I don't know if that has "meaning" but it is something to admire. Also I would take issue with your idea that you can't chose to be avent-garde, I mean read the Futurist manifesto, or any art movement manifesto, weather they use the term or not they clearly set themselves as a vanguard movement.

[enehrgeiz]

@cesarfreak

You're speaking with extraordinary drivel. Lars Von Trier created Dogme 95 as marketing ploy in order to only elevate the danish film industry. It is full of red herrings. I adore David Lynch, but his recent films take the avant garde and mold it to Hollywood story driven style. You are missing the total point. It sounds like you prefer hollywood style rather than experimental.

[hilaritytank]

@enehrgeiz He likes hollywood! Burn him!

[enehrgeiz]

@ cesarfreak

If you have seen David Lynch's early art school films, like The Alphabet and The Grandmother, you should know that he has a grasp on true avant garde already, and films like Mulholland Dr have evolved from hollywood. Did you know that Mulholland Drive started as a pilot for a prime time television show? I'm sure David was definitely thinking about marketing to mass audiences since broadcast is involved. Do not get Avant Garde mixed up with the mainstream.

[Brixhousedotde]

you so didnt get it at all, did ya?

[quagapp]

Fascinating. Leger was a great artist.

[gegc001]

Trippy.

[StrifeMarine95]

its scary...

[chem100]

The original musical piece is more than 30 minutes long. I have a set of 3 piano rolls of this piece: Artcraft Music Rolls done by Douglas Henderson.

[VXOGRUNGE]

que se quiere mostara con esta cinta?'?

tiene algun significado??

[fche626]

@VXOGRUNGE Nop, esa es precisamente la idea. En realidad es una especie de análisis, si querés verlo así, de la mecanización de la vida ya patente en esa época. Pero solo si querés. También podés solo sentirla, dejar que te inspire diversas sensaciones, dejarte llevar y no interpretar. Por eso me encanta :)

[funkypandav]

No this is not the original score that goes with the movie. the original is a much silent one.

[orange8129]

Yes, this is the original score. Many silent movies had music designed to play live at the same time as the film, Metropolis probably being the most famous example.

[m00tc0w86]

is this the original score that went along with it?

[Awesomesauces]

Cubism gives me a headache.

[tamaslehoczky]

take a pill then

[sclapione]

@Awesomesauces Anything outside of formulaic would probably give a Radiohead fan a headache

[Jackhamma07]

wild. I love it.

[Bolenderable]

Chaotic music? To me, the music sounds highly structured. In fact, the music might be a little too structured and not spontaneous enough. But given that this is supposed to be "mecanique," I suppose it is as it should be.

[musemeduse]

incredible

incredible

[agriorphanedays]

drogadicto de mierda :S

[quagapp]

Fascinating - by the great surrealist-modernist artist!

[boogster123321]

the music some points almost sound like dixieland and old ragtime music, beautiful score. absolutely incredible visually and musically

[who444]

Thank you very much for uploading this! 80 years old, and yet, 100 years ahead!

[EnjoiFilmsProduction]

Great experimental film. Just thought I would add that this film did NOT have any sound when it was released. Ant music sound track coupled with it can easily distort its intentions. This particular sound piece makes the film appear chaotic. Others have coupled this film with a more tranquil sound. So mute the speakers if you want to enjoy this piece for what it really is. Cheers!

[muu639]

Actually the music (by George Antheil) was intended to be performed live alongside the film, although it never was.

[tryedson]

I believe that the music WAS inteded for this film, but wasn't actually put with it until decades later.

[hellskitchennews]

I thought that George Anthiel composed music for the film--his short piece from 1924 by the same name scored for percussion instruments.. Silent films usually had live accompaniment in the 1920s.

[agingmodernist]

This chaotic music was written by George Antheil, an American expatriate to France in the 1920s, to be performed with the film. So there's no distortion here. This is what Leger would have wanted. You can hear the sound of an airplane propeller at times, and it's said that when the score was performed that it created quite a problem to synch up with the orchestra. See the book "Four Lives in Paris" for more on Antheil and this piece.

[bitachar]

Excellent. Love movies begin 20st century

[Dasha387]

just interested to know what ppl make of this?glorification of modernity or irony? I see the human images as quite menacing (like the smile) esp. when taken out of context - sirens going off like humanity has gone haywire, compared to the coy woman on the swing at the start - but I don't see it as putting an entirely negative view of the machine - it seems like somehing potentially beautiful&weird when taken to absurdity like this... oh and the symbol things at 3.16 look like boobs. :P

[Dasha387]

excellent, thanks

[Slopain]

Awesome, thank you for letting us see and hear it.

[mart2045]

I knew I heard similarities between this score and Rite of Spring! This is wierd

[maninwhitedress]

unusual shape and design and montage puts my mind in a experimental film school fury of enlightenment. Someday I will make something like this.

[LittleCatBead]

i bet that half of the 30,000 views are from me.

[Chiloom]

what's the tytle of the song taht pays over?

[alexcortot]

This is the original composition, the american modernist composer George Antheil, at the time living in Paris, made for the movie's purpose. You can notice at 0:25 typical quotes from Igor Stravinski's Rite of Spring.

[omisaras]

I remember our art teacher showed us this film in the hall using a projector. It was far more effective.

[kugelschreiber09]

Very COOOOL!! thanx!

[UncleMacJug]

Man, this just makes me want to start a riot. Where's my dead cat?

[wheatonna]

Leger was considered a fellow-traveller of the Cubists but this film reminds me more of the surrealists. I'll bet Bunuel and Dali watched it more than once!

[stelderhaiderman]

this remind me of the video for "safety second,body last" video by the locust

[firebreathertv]

this is how it started

[MutilatedFace]

This really gives you the feeling you are the one moving, not the camera nor the objects...

[safetydept]

I am fairly certain (but not 100%) that this is the original score for the film, written by George Antheil, which actually was not used upon initial release...

[LittleCatBead]

yep

[kugelschreiber09]

yes!

[WeisseBlumen]

Yes. I mean that sometimes it let me think to 3 Movements from Petruchka of Stravinsky.

[WeisseBlumen]

Very obsessive and nice. Sometimes sounds as Strawinsky.

[th3pr0fessional]

i think you mean stravinsky dude.

[ZoltanLazlo]

Actually, the composer spelled his name Стравинский.

[badaouiah]

Please Keep it posted.  My school does not own it and I want to show it in class.

[harrybelafunky]

Is this performance of the music available on CD? Where can I get it? Thanks

[joholso]

A decent public library should have a copy.

Amazon might have it.

[foxthewolfie]

this goes beyond my knowledge.

[Senjhin]

At around 5:35, if you freeze frame it at the right time, you can actually see the reflection of the video camera in the metal pendulum. I think this movie is brilliant.

[jagoda20041985]

I don't know about your feelings, but in my opiniom this film is very sexual. Am I right?

[ozric01]

amazing combination of sound and imagery! thanks for sharing

[littleflorestano]

Really great, thak you fro posting this wonderful video!

[hautxtalons]

Lovely! reminds me of Man Ray's rayographs

[dettedevlin]

how many people were inspired by this since 1924?

[BrucknersAnton]

its really great music! I played it last week in basel, but it was the version from 1954(?), so for four pianos and percussion. its really fun to play!

[Firecolour]

Yeah the music really is amazing! If you like this you should check out the Futurists,also from this time. Antheil wrote this music in 1923-5 but it was never synchronised with the film. Not sure if he worked with Leger on this project,would be nice to know...

[LittleCatBead]

this is the best thing i have ever seen/listened to. i watch it all the time.

[jayraskin]

What is the music?

[LittleCatBead]

20th century composer george antheil. fantastic.

[andwecandance]

I believe he called it "furniture music". The original score was supposed to have 16 player pianos, some airplane propellers, and a bunch of other stuff.

[whizbang47]

Remarkable. A spiritual experience that's applied science.