Arthur Lipsett (13)
Arthur Lipsett
Arthur Lipsett is one of the few filmmakers—alongside Alanis Obomsawin, Kathleen Shannon, Norman McLaren and Willie Dunn—who will forever reside in the pantheon of NFB artists. One of the most enigmatic yet celebrated directors who ever worked at the Board, Lipsett was born in Montreal on May 13, 1936, and died in the same city only 50 years later. He received a credit for animation, photography, sound recording/mixing, scriptwriting, producing, directing or editing on a total of 26 NFB titles.
Lipsett directed 13 films, all now available on nfb.ca for free. His body of work can be divided into two streams: collage/found-footage films and academic research films.
The first group includes Hors-d’oeuvre (1960), Very Nice, Very Nice (1961), 21-87 (1963), Free Fall (1964), A Trip Down Memory Lane (1965), Fluxes (1968) and N-Zone (1970). These films brought Lipsett recognition across the globe; Very Nice, Very Nice, for example, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject and praised by filmmaking giants like Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas. Lipsett’s early work could arguably be considered the precursor to a new wave of compilation, found-footage and archival films that emerged the same decade (e.g., Santiago Alvarez’s 1965 film Now and his 1967 film L.B.J.). This in turn spawned a popular fictional subgenre, as seen in cult movies such as Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and The Blair Witch Project (1999).
The second group of Lipsett films is composed of Fear and Horror, Animal Altruism, The Puzzle of Pain, Animals and Psychology and Perceptual Learning, all of which were released in 1965. Part of a series called Psychology Topics for Discussion Groups, these five films are academic examinations of how emotions and behaviours manifest and differ among various animals.
The only Lipsett film that doesn’t fit in either of these two categories is Experimental Film (1962), which takes the form of a discussion panel featuring world-renowned critics, whose opinions on experimental filmmaking are juxtaposed with excerpts from various films, including works by Jan Lenica, Norman McLaren and Lipsett himself.
To this day, Lipsett’s work and creative process—his instinctive approach and striking stream-of-consciousness montage technique—are shrouded in mystery, and his canonical films continue to inspire artists around the world. He has been the subject of recent documentaries such as Theodore Ushev’s Lipsett Diaries (2010) and Eric Gaucher’s The Arthur Lipsett Project: A Dot on the Histomap (2007).
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Animal AltruismArthur Lipsett 1965 17 minConcern and generosity for others are common in man but it has been assumed that this is due to social pressures. Dr. D.O. Hebb indicates, however, that comparative evidence shows it is more fundamental, having developed with evolution; it can be found in the dog, and is clearly marked in the porpoise and chimpanzee. -
Fear and HorrorArthur Lipsett 1965 12 minThe capacity for irrational fears increases with intelligence, being characteristic of the higher animals and people rather than of lower animals, and of older rather than of younger subjects. In this film Dr. D.O. Hebb proposes that emotion is a direct function of intelligence.
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N-ZoneArthur Lipsett 1970 45 minIn this experimental film, Arthur Lipsett pieces together his vision of this fragmented world using odds and ends from other people’s image and sound recordings. By juxtaposing these snippets of found film with snatches of comment or dialogue echoing the banality of human communication, Lipsett shows the emptiness of much of what we say or do. N-Zone is one man's surrealist sampler of the human condition.
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Experimental FilmArthur Lipsett 1962 27 minThis panel discussion about experimental films features American film historian Herman Weinberg, film critics Clyde Gilmour and Fernand Cadieux, and NFB producer Guy Glover. They comment on films by George Dunning, Robert Breer, Jan Lenica, Wladimir Borowczyk, and Arthur Lipsett. Norman McLaren talks about how he creates his films.
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The Puzzle of PainArthur Lipsett 1965 12 minThe perception of pain is modified by our past experiences, our expectations and our emotional attitudes. In this film Dr. Ronald Melzack of McGill University discusses the psychological phenomena of pain and their underlying neurophysical mechanisms.
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FluxesArthur Lipsett 1968 23 minThis experimental short conveys avant-garde filmmaker Arthur Lipsett’s view of the human condition and the chaotic planet on which we live. As in his other films (Very Nice, Very Nice; 21-87), the flow of images in Fluxes seems somewhat disjointed and erratic -- yet it all builds up to a devastating indictment of the modern world. The film’s only commentary consists of unrelated snatches of words and sounds.
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Perceptual LearningArthur Lipsett 1965 11 minThis film contains three demonstrations by Dr. D.C. Donderi, showing the importance of experience in determining what we see. Each illustrates a recent development in visual perception.
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Animals and PsychologyArthur Lipsett 1965 11 minComparative psychology developed as a result of Darwin's theory and the behavioural scientists' search for objective data. Dr. Muriel Stern indicates some of the ways the laboratory rat contributes to our understanding of complex behaviour.
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Free FallArthur Lipsett 1964 9 minAn experimental film from Arthur Lipsett, Free Fall is an assortment of film trimmings assembled to make a wry comment on humankind in today’s world. It evokes a surrealist dream of our fall from grace into banality.
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Very Nice, Very NiceArthur Lipsett 1961 6 minArthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." It was critically acclaimed and plays frequently in festivals and film schools around the world.
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Hors-d'oeuvreGerald Potterton , Robert Verrall , … 1960 7 minThis film is a collection of 1-minute cartoons produced by NFB animators for government sponsors. Showcasing a playful selection of animation techniques, the clips include reminders about television programs, traffic safety rules, and admonitions from the Department of Labour.
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A Trip Down Memory LaneArthur Lipsett 1965 12 minFrom Arthur Lipsett (Very Nice, Very Nice and 21-87), another incisive short film that looks at human might, majesty and mayhem. Compiled from some peculiar newsreel items of the last 50 years, the filmmaker calls this a time capsule yet his arrangement of pictures makes it almost explosive. There are hundreds of items, once front-page stuff, but all wryly grotesque when seen in this reshuffle of the past.
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21-87Arthur Lipsett 1963 9 minThis short film from Arthur Lipsett is an abstract succession of unrelated views of the passing crowd. A commentary on a machine-dominated society, it is often cited as an influence on George Lucas's Star Wars and his conceptualization of "The Force."
