The Flight of Icarus [Le Vol d’Icare] (1974)

3 min. / no dialog / dir. Georges Schwizgebel

Swiss independent animator Georges Schwizgebel drew upon the story of Icarus and his fall in this film, the first he directed. The film’s unique pointillist aesthetic was created with “a black hole template laid over painted cels” (Bendazzi p. 198), which gives it a video-game like feel. The harpsichord musical accompaniment provides an element of gravitas to the playful animation, as it gives the impression that “the ‘bulbs’…are triggered by the harpsichord keys as they are played.”