A MOVIE

Painter, sculptor and avant-garde filmmaker Brucer Conner sets a montage of found footage to Ottorino Respighi's lively and often majestic "Pines of Rome" in this 12-minute short subject. A MOVIE splices pieces of film leader and end credits together with scenes from ethnographic documentaries, fictional narratives, stag films and newsreels. Conner cuts rapidly from one piece of found footage to the next with scenes of violence and destruction – mushroom clouds, tanks, car crashes, firing squads – scenes of adventure and derring-do – safaris, scuba divers, tightrope walkers, acrobats, cowboys and Indians – scenes from nature – crashing waves, an otter swimming. He uses music to enhance the drama inherent in each found scene, to punctuate the irony and social commentary, and to comic effect, the occasional erotically-suggestive juxtaposition of images. Despite the deluge of frenetic imagery, Conner's concluding message seems to suggest a sense of hope and transcendence.

A MOVIE was added to the National Film Registry in 1994.