7 min.; no dialog; dir. Lesley Keen
An absolutely stunning rendering of this quintessential myth of love and loss by independent Scottish animator Lesley Keen. Keen’s work has often engaged with mythical themes (see also her short film, “Invocation” and her feature film “Ra: Path of the Sun God”). Her website comments on this tendency in her work: “Animation has been a means to an end for Lesley, whose personal work has explored many aspects of non-narrative film making, frequently using mythology as subject matter. It is all about bringing to life concepts that could not be made visible by any other means.”
“Orpheus and Eurydice” was one of a number of films she was commissioned to create for the British public broadcast Channel 4 in the 1980s. In it, Keen uses dynamic line animation inspired by Greek red-figure vase painting to tell the story of Orpheus’ descent to the underworld to retrieve his beloved. The “long take sequence” and sidescrolling movement of the film recalls the action of turning a vase around to view the art on all its sides. The hero Orpheus encounters famous figures of the underworld including Cerberus, the sinners Sisyphus, Tantalus and Ixion, as well as Persephone and Hades himself.
The film features a haunting synthesizer score by Lyell Creswell and was nominated for the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes in 1984.
More: www.totallyimmersed.com/
Animated Antiquity 