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As Usual

1974 13 min
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Imagine a world where everything moves backwards. That's what happens in this short experimental film without words. A man wakes up to the sound of his alarm clock and begins his day, only to find that everything is running in reverse--his electric shaver, the morning paper. Out in the street, people and cars are backing away. He alone of all the crowd seems to move forward normally. The effect on him and the viewers verges on the bizarre.

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As Usual

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Imagine a world where everything moves backwards. That's what happens in this short experimental film without words.

A man wakes up to the sound of his alarm clock and begins his day, only to find that everything is running in reverse--his electric shaver, the morning paper. Out in the street, people and cars are backing away. He alone of all the crowd seems to move forward normally. The effect on him and the viewers verges on the bizarre.

  • director
    Raymond Brousseau
  • producer
    Paul Larose
    Monique Létourneau
  • script
    Thomas Vamos
    Raymond Brousseau
  • photography
    André-Luc Dupont
    Serge Lafortune
  • sound
    Roger Lamoureux
  • editing
    Raymond Brousseau
    Pierre Viau
  • music
    Vincent Dionne

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Education

Ages 15 to 17
School subjects
Show this film as part of an activity on surrealism, dystopian narrative or science fiction. The script is playful, but engenders strong philosophical reflections: the themes include marginality, exclusion and profound despair. Ask students to write or produce a project inspired by those themes that questions, in a simple but fundamental way, the meaning of the everyday.