Sadly Over-hyped

Powerful

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"The Very Eye of Night" is one of Maya Deren's longer films at 15 minutes. It is also her last work as writer and director counting her known movies. She was 40 when this one was made here and unfortunately dead 3 years later already. There is not too much to this short movie. We see a starry sky early on and after this introduction ballet dancers appear in the sky. We do not really see their faces though as this one is probably mostly about the aesthetics of dancing and the figures they are presenting. Still Ihave to say this is not really that much content and even starts to drag a bit, even at 15 minutes. It does not get too interesting in the first place. I felt this film looks like it could have been 50 years older maybe, not only because of the black-and-white, but also because of how simple it is. Hands down, some movies from 1898 told more of a story. Really only worth a watch for ballet lovers.

"The Very Eye of Night" is the final completed film of Maya Deren, the Ukrainian-born American experimental filmmaker, (underrated) film theorist, dancer, choreographer, and voodoo priestess whose life and work is the very embodiment of the "independent" ethic and who has consequently exerted a tremendous influence on both mainstream and avant-garde American cinema. A word of warning: Deren is best known for her debut film "Meshes in the Afternoon" (1943), a dream-logic feminist nightmare which owes a lot to surrealism (although she actively disputed the categorization) which these days finds a sympathetic interpretation among attendees of art-house cinemas and/or feminist university courses. And rightly so, as the film is incredible and easily sits among the best the avant-garde has to offer…however, as "The Very Eye of Night" comes some fifteen years later, after Deren has incorporated her love of dance into her films and explored the exotic rites of voodoo, those expecting anything along the lines of "Meshes…" are going to be sorely disappointed. Instead, we have a total absence of narrative and, like her earlier "Meditation on Violence" (1948), a film totally given over to dance – in this case ballet. However, while not exactly a fan of ballet, I nevertheless enjoyed the film due to the creative use of the negative print of the ballet dancers who seem to float through a starry sky giving the impression, less of a dream, and more of a transcendent out-of-body experience among the stars and watching ancient gods at play.A key characteristic of Deren's films has always been the creative use of simple camera tricks to spectacular effect: and this film is no different. Indeed, whereas her other films were resolutely earthy and material (albeit invariably with a dream-like ambiance) the totally other-worldly realm she creates in "The Very Eye of Night" with the double exposure and negative print is truly magical and could be seen as the culmination of her work. This said, like many, I find her earlier work (especially "At land" (1944) and "Ritual in Transfigured Time" (1946)) much more satisfying and "The Very Eye of Night", despite both the magical ambiance and the enchanting score from her third husband Teiji Ito, seemed to me to just fall a little bit on the side of boring after about the 10 minute mark. Yet, this aside, Deren's artistic vision cannot be doubted and the film stands as an appropriate final bow in the oeuvre of a true pioneer which should be seen by anyone interested in the work of this amazing woman.

Inverted images of dancers with fixed outlines move across a starry sky. From the contemporary point of view, The Very Eye of Night, Maya Deren's last finished short, looks like a special effects computer application's tutorial; an innocent use of the "latest" technology comes to look cheap eventually. Probably it is an exercise piece whose experiment would have been developed if she had not passed away three years later.

The Very Eye of Night is according to some critics Maya Deren's weakest work something that enraged Maya. I do understand why someone would not like this film as much as her first films but I still think it's quite good. The use of a balet that dances with a starry sky in the background (a very surreal picture) wouldn't interest me that much if it wasn't for Teiji Ito's music which is what really makes this film for me.