No Narrative

Meditation on Violence
by: Maya Deren

(sorry, I could only find the film in two separate parts)

After watching Deren’s films more and more you can see that her films are frequently more about theory and possibility, in a meta sort of way, than the larger ideas - something Jonas Mekas had derided her for. There are exceptions, like Meshes of the Afternoon, but through the vast majority of her work she stuck very closely to her theoretical writings, so much so that they can be difficult to understand outside of that context.

Meditation on Violence fits very near Ritual in Transfigured Time theoretically. I mentioned in the post about that film how she is really trying to exploit the possibilities within the interaction between a dancer/choreographer and filmmaker. This film is no different. There are a few essays in her collected writings which primarily focus on her stance that dance and film are the two arts that have the most to offer each other, but are frequently boring companions due to the lack filmic experience on the behalf of the choreographer and the potential lack of choreographic knowledge on the part of a filmmaker. They can work together to create something that is completely impossible without the other. This is very clear in Meditation on Violence.