Love on the Wing (1938)

(Viewers are advised to use the 'watch in high quality' option for this video).

More GPO films are available to buy as part of the BFI 2-disc DVD set 'Addressing the Nation: The GPO Film Unit Collection Volume 1' - http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_9740.html

The 2-disc DVD set 'We Live in Two Worlds: The GPO Film Unit Collection Volume 2' will be released February 23 - http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_11487.html?NOLOGIN=1

This exhilarating animation by Norman McLaren will leave you breathless, as a simple image of a stick figure posting a letter becomes a frenzy of split second images, as the characters morph from man to woman to apple to mouth to bee to butterfly to candle to... well, you'll lose count quickly enough.

This animated advertisement for the GPO rewards - and necessitates - repeated viewings, and some of the imagery proved too Freudian for the Post Office, who banned the film. This short film follows McLaren's ethos that animation was not the art of drawings which move, but of movements which are drawn. The wonderful score by Jacques Ibert adds to the ecstatic effect. (Alex Davidson)

You can watch over 1200 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge in the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank, London and at the new QUAD centre for art and film in Derby -
http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque
http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/bfi-mediatheque

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• BFI
• valentines
• card
• valentine's
• valentine
• GPO
• love
• letter
• post
• office
• Norman
• McLaren
• Jacques
• Ibert
• Divertissement
• animation
• cartoon

[rosieh101]

Amazing film. The title sequence looks like it was inspired by Dali. Was it just me or is it supposed to look like the 2 'letters' are having sex in 1 sequence?

[eggsbenedict01]

Astonishing.

[nigen]

fucking McLaren....

[DevineMike]

@nunovurbisnes it was produced for the nfb I think, it was an advertisement informing audiences of the price increase of postage at the time. McLaren was interested in Surrealist art and made his career with experimental cinema which relied on painting, etching or penning directly onto the film

[DevineMike]

@rosieh101 it wasn't originally released because of the perception that it was to sexually deviant. Also he was inspired by surrealism which is the same art that Dali created.

[DevineMike]

@rosieh101 it wasn't originally released because of the perception that it was to sexually deviant.

[uranrising]

Love the music, too - Ibert's Divertissement.

[uranrising]

@dariomoses It was an advertising film for the British Post Office efore World War 2.

[killakirky]

uv got to love norman mclaren.. amazing animator and film maker

[dariomoses]

didn't get it

[JediMokey]

That was brilliant!

[Pattycakenr2]

Fascinating... seems likely that Gilliam would have seen this. Lovely!!