O Dreamland (Lindsay Anderson, 1953)

UK, 12 min

O Dreamland manifests Anderson’s distaste for the noisy vulgarity of Margate’s Dreamland Fun Fair. A careful montage of images and natural sound recalls the seediness of the attractions as articulated by the mocking mechanical laughter of the dummy sailor. Inescapably, the merciless candid camera reflects the middle-class condescension to the working class, picturing them alternately as being exploited, or being complicit in their exploitation. —— bfi

i loved this. leering reminders of the overwhelming coney island project i had to work on last year. (view full post for more delicious caps and a swell little essay from screenonline.)

screenonline :: imdb :: the free cinema movement

(those in the uk can watch it free on fourdocs)

“Everything is ugly… It is almost too much. The nightmare is redeemed by the point of view, which, for all the unsparing candid camerawork and the harsh, inelegant photography, is emphatically humane. Pity, sadness, even poetry is infused into this drearily tawdry, aimlessly hungry world.” — Gavin Lambert, article on Free Cinema