Maya Deren Collection on Kino Classics Blu-ray

by Zoe Crombie

Contrary to the belief of many, women filmmakers are not a recent phenomena. Alice Guy-Blache was a pioneer of narrative cinema at the point of its creation in the late 19th century, Dorothy Arzner became the first female director in Hollywood, and Laura Mulvey’s writing and filmmaking has revolutionised how we view movies. The disparity remains, notably at the Oscars in February where no women were nominated in the director category, but this doesn’t mean that the trail hasn’t already been blazed – these women need to be remembered and celebrated, and Maya Deren may be one of the most important filmmakers in history of any gender.

Featured in this new Blu-ray collection by Kino Classics are eight of the most important films from her tragically short career, including the immeasurably influential Meshes of the Afternoon, for which she is undoubtedly best known. Often seen as a puzzle to be solved - much like Un Chien Andalou, a major influence on Deren’s work – the film exists more as an unanswerable question, bringing you into a trance rather than demanding a solution. The use of editing remains evocative and fascinating, and it’s still utterly unbelievable that these images in these combinations were created in 1942. Deren here created a work that has been endlessly cited since, and that remains as effective today as it was over 70 years ago.

Often paired with Meshes of the Afternoon is the similarly enigmatic At Land, which also stars Deren as a figure displaced across time and space. Rather than contending with the strange figures that have invaded her home, she instead finds herself in the midst of conflicts and situations beyond her control. The striking image of her crawling across a dinner table between famous intellectuals is the perfect metaphor for being a female director at the time, fighting to enter the minds of the men in charge while simultaneously disrupting and dismantling their power. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum tone wise, The Private Life of a Cat is a short dedicated to her two cats and their kittens – a delightful film that truly demonstrates her range and love of the medium.

Alongside these films are several works that explore Deren’s marked interest in choreography, rituals, and the body on screen. While Meshes and At Land can hardly be described as conventional narrative cinema, these studies feel as though they’re using cinema in a way similar to that of the attractions of the late 19th century, turning the physical into a projected marvel. By abstracting the body into shadows, waves and ripples as she does in A Study in Choreography for Camera, Ritual in Transfigured Time, Meditation on Violence and The Very Eye of Night, she brings a new perspective to the concept of ‘character’, transforming humans onscreen from goal-oriented fantasies to corporeal wonders.

In her later years, Deren developed a fascination with Haitian Voudoun (or voodoo), shooting a documentary feature over seven years titled Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti that was, unfortunately, incomplete before her abrupt death. As it was finished decades later by her widowed husband Teiji Ito (who also provided the hypnotizing score for Meshes) and his second wife Cherel as editor, it’s hard to say how much of Deren’s original vision survived – the remainder of her work has a particularly personal feel, while much of this film feels rather dry. This is unfortunate because it was meant to be a document of her own participation and immersion into the Voudoun culture. Regardless, the research and care put into shooting this separates it from the more mainstream colonialist efforts at depicting cultures beyond that of Europe and America (though you may want to avoid this one if you’re especially effected by scenes of animal cruelty and sacrifice).

As a figure so artistically ahead of her time, its tempting to imagine how Deren’s career could have blossomed if she had lived into old age, or even if she had been born several decades later. It’s easy to think that she would be more welcome in a decade like the 60s or 70s – in reality, the cinematic experimentations and innovations of these decades likely wouldn’t have emerged without her revolutionary approach to the medium. For anyone interested in feminism, the avant-garde, or one of the most important artists of the 20th century, this collection is a must-have.

Purchase the collection here from Kino Lorber.