Bleu Shut

One of the more accessible examples is Bleu Shut. Robert Nelson's 1970 film won a National Film Preservation Award and, like Eureka, is a meditation on cinematic time. Where Gehr's film emphasizes the materialist side of the sturctural-materialist equation, Bleu Shut is concerned primarily with the sturctural side. The film comprises discrete units divided by minute, with a clock in the corner revealing the elapsed time. In contrast to ficiton films which ask the spectator to submit to a narrative time, here the experience of real time is played with. And played with is the right term: Bleu Shut approaches its materialism with both an aleatory aesthetic and a sense of humor.

Audience: Fairly accessible as far as experimental work goes. I find the film entertaining - and some students do as well - but that reaction may vary by crowd. Do note that there is a brief but graphic clip of an old pornographic stag film.

Basics: Robert Nelson, 1970, 16mm, color, 30m

Distribution: Canyon Cinema, 16mm rental, $125 + shipping + fees