"At Land" can be considered in some way a direct sequel to Deren's first film, "Meshes of the Afternoon." It has the same mood and tone, and its beginning by the sea matches a form of spatial relationship to some of the areas Deren explored in "Meshes."
What strikes me specifically about "At Land" is how Maya Deren's film-making literally consummates what other people have tried to do before and since, and still her movies work where others do not. For instance, the reverse-shot footage of the waves, such a simple and already-been-done concept, still provides the uncanny special effect of making Maya Deren's body literally emerge from receeding waves. Is it something in the specific way she frames them, or the particular motion and shape of the waves she caught, or the speed in which she runs the film stock? How is it that her cinematography works on things that others do not? This film also features other effects such as stop-motion animation and a even more surreal sense of space travel. This movie is more overtly "dream-like" than "Meshes", which makes it just slightly less like a dream (though to be perfectly honest, that may be because "Meshes" has a very creepy score and this film is entirely silent).
Still, some moments, especially the scene where Deren chases the pawn down the stream, are stand-alone proof to uncanny quality of Maya Deren's work. Even if you haven't dreamt the things Deren dreams, her films will make you think you have, overall because they are both completely immersive and strangely familiar.
--PolarisDiB
What strikes me specifically about "At Land" is how Maya Deren's film-making literally consummates what other people have tried to do before and since, and still her movies work where others do not. For instance, the reverse-shot footage of the waves, such a simple and already-been-done concept, still provides the uncanny special effect of making Maya Deren's body literally emerge from receeding waves. Is it something in the specific way she frames them, or the particular motion and shape of the waves she caught, or the speed in which she runs the film stock? How is it that her cinematography works on things that others do not? This film also features other effects such as stop-motion animation and a even more surreal sense of space travel. This movie is more overtly "dream-like" than "Meshes", which makes it just slightly less like a dream (though to be perfectly honest, that may be because "Meshes" has a very creepy score and this film is entirely silent).
Still, some moments, especially the scene where Deren chases the pawn down the stream, are stand-alone proof to uncanny quality of Maya Deren's work. Even if you haven't dreamt the things Deren dreams, her films will make you think you have, overall because they are both completely immersive and strangely familiar.
--PolarisDiB