Meshes of the Afternoon is an experimental film in a new American avant-garde cinema.
This film was directed by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid in 1943. It could be said that this film
was the perfect combination of Hammid’s filmmaking experiences and Daren’s diverse passions.
“Meshes of the Afternoon” is an uncanny, first of its kind “trance film” that successfully uses
experimental shots and cinematography to walk viewers through what seems like a dream or
fragmented memories of the protagonist. This film was referred to by many as one of the first
psychodramas, in which the audience was plunged into a spiral of unplotted events where space,
time, and reality were distorted through the brilliant use of symbols, and close-up shots, lighting,
and shadows. As a viewer, I could be free to use my creativity and unconscious thoughts of my
understanding in this unplotted film.
I am most impressed with the use of props to symbolize simple household items such as the
key, knife, mirror, and flower in order to depict the different meanings and reality of the women.
More particularly, each of these symbols can represent multiple meanings. For instance, the key
was the first item that open the door and lead the women into this enigmatic dream. Then later
when she pulled it out of her mouth, one can interpret that she also possesses the key to escape
from that same dream. Obviously, this narrative was further supported by the scene where the key
transformed into a knife in the women’s hand, hinting that the key to escape is through the knife – a
symbol of death or violence. Another excellent use of the symbol is the flower where at first it
appears that she was bringing the white flower to her doppelganger’s dead body, she awoke to find
the man softly placing the flower on her bed. The gloomy flower that was symbolizing death
suddenly changed into an icon of love and romance.
As far as I’m concerned, the use of close-up shots, multiple optical angles, and lighting sets
in this film allow viewers to feel the sense of dread and hopelessness of what the women seem to
experience. The scene where she appears to wake up from the dream ended up with mirror shards
