The lead shoes

I really actually liked The Lead Shoes, by Sidney Peterson, though I must admit I was glad when it ended. The Lead shoes was definitely in the same category as the surrealist un chien andelou, although there are definitely some differences. There are two separate storylines going on. The first a girl plays hopscotch on the street, and second a woman tends to a scuba man. The stories are juxtaposed to each other, and both at times run in reverse. The hopscotch kind of works as a metaphor for film, in that the squares can be traversed forward or backward. I feel that the dream logic worked better on me here than in Un Chien Andelou only because it feels less aggressive. For instance, I especially like the connection of the girls chalk marking the sidewalk in reverse to the scuba divers oxygen hose (at least I think that’s what it is); it’s a simple graphic match, but follows a dream logic; in that two times, and subject matters are connected but only barely. However in un Chien Andelou the content seems to be shocking for shocks sake. I can understand why the filmmakers would choose this technique but I think the shocking nature of it is an ineffective way of showing what surrealistic qualities film is capable of. Also adding to why I enjoyed The Lead Shoes, is its slow pace. The pace gives me an opportunity to see the connections, and build some ideas as to what I am seeing. I loved the lens distortion. I often have dreams where part of my vision is blurred. The score was appropriate with both the playfulness of the girl, and the surreal qualities of the woman and the scuba diver. There seemed to be many things going on in the score, which played with the images to bring a sensory overload. Things are firing off, and they aren’t specifically connected to the images but they seem to fit.