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Movie poster: Canon (1964)
🎬 Movie

Canon

1964 · 10 min Animation Music
6.2 / 10 · TMDB

Perhaps the only film whose content is totally based on the musical form known as canon. The first sequence is a simple demonstration of the canon "Frere Jacques" where four cubes dance and combine with one another on a checkerboard. The second sequence show four little human-like figures dancing in space. The third and most elaborate sequence shows a human going through several strange gesticulations. Through multiple printing we realize that the man, as in the previous sequences, is part of a visual canon and is making the gestures to himself. As we hear variations on the canonic theme so too do we witness visual variations: a woman and cat enters the canon. To show the musical technique of inversion, the image of the man is printed upside down.

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📋 Film Details

Year 1964
Country Canada
Genre Animation, Music
Director Grant Munro
Runtime 10 min.
Rating TMDB: 6.2/10 (17 votes)

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🎬 MovieFinder's Take

Norman McLaren constructs the film as a direct visual translation of a musical canon, where rhythm and repetition dictate not sound but imagery. He relies on animation and multiple printing to explore how a single theme, through variation, creates a complex visual counterpoint.

What lingers after viewing is a hypnotic experience where the boundary between music and image dissolves, leaving a pure sense of structural harmony. This is cinema about the very principle of organizing time and space. — MovieFinder Editorial

Director: Grant Munro

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Watch in complete silence or with quality headphones to fully absorb the synthesis of image and sound.

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