Meshes of the Afternoon film review

Maya Deren's groundbreaking 1943 short film "Meshes of the Afternoon" is considered a seminal work of avant-garde cinema that remains disturbingly resonant to this day. As both writer and star, Deren crafted an abstract experimental narrative that navigates the unconscious like no other film before it.

Clocking in at just over 14 mesmerizing minutes, "Meshes" lures viewers into a surreal dreamscape through a series of enigmatic, looping images and events almost devoid of traditional plot or characterization. Deren invites audiences to immerse themselves in her oneiric visions and extract personal interpretations from the fragments she presents. Without clear exposition or resolution, the dreamer is left to piece together recurring symbols and develop their understanding of what's occurring within the protagonist's psyche.

From the onset, with a mysterious cloaked figure discovering dual versions of herself in a garden, an atmosphere of unease and uncertainty is established. Deren imbues every surreal occurrence with a haunting mystery that provokes endless contemplation. Recurring motifs like keys representing control and mirrors reflecting interior crises take on layered symbolic significance.


One of the film's most analyzed sequences sees Deren's character ascension an impossible winding staircase, mirrored by the camera in a mesmerizing dance between subject and observer. The dreamlike fluidity of motion draws viewers deep inside her psyche's journey of discovery. The staircase comes to represent the ineffable and cyclic nature of the unconscious mind, where we grapple with memories and anxieties through a perpetual process of self-examination.

Throughout "Meshes," Deren populates her dreamscape with uncanny strangers wearing masks that epitomize the dual, contradictory forces within us all. They appear alternately enticing and menacing as unconscious urges manifest in physical form. Their presence underscores the film's exploration of identity, sexuality, and power dynamics in a patriarchal society still coming to terms with feminist ideals.

Meshes of the Afternoon Mirror face

Deren's revolutionary cinéma vérité style, making innovative use of available resources to tap into abstract emotions through imagery alone, was utterly pioneering. Her filmmaking privileged artistic expression over commercial constraints, influencing generations of independent artists. At a time when few female directors worked, Deren forged her path as an auteur and ensured film could serve as a vehicle for personal introspection and social commentary.

Decades later, "Meshes of the Afternoon" has lost none of its haunting potency. It remains one of the purest cinematic depictions of the psyche's landscapes, a subversively feminist dream diary probing identity's complexities with mesmerizing visual poetry. Though brevity leaves viewers craving more mastery, Deren accomplished her mission to give audiences a glimpse into her inner world through surreal symbolism that has endured for nearly 80 years.


★★★★½



Shoaib Rahman


 Editor-in-Chief