The Overlap of Confusion: Self and Dreams in Maya Deren’s Experimental Film

Abstract

“Meshes of the Afternoon” was directed by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The experimental expressions in the film, such as the continuous repetition of dreams, shaking scenes, dancing movements, no audio-visual language, and so on, have formally shattered the establishment of the traditional film language system. It broke through traditional narrative thinking and logical thinking as well as took its own perception as the only clue of the film, the overlap between dream and reality, as well as the relationship between subconsciousness and sex, especially the layers of metaphor for reality from the feminist perspective, so as to explore the possibility of experimental film expressions being completely independent from mainstream films. In today’s digital film era, reviewing the past images is not only to return to important historical nodes, but also to retrospectively sort out, reflect, and think forward about the significance of the concept and practice of current experimental films.