Rythmetic

1956 film

19 January 1956 (1956-01-19)

Running time

8 minutes, 25 secondsCountryCanadaLanguagesEnglish, French

Rythmetic is a 1956 Canadian short animated film directed by Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart for the National Film Board of Canada.^[1]

It is an amusing, non-verbal lecture on the subject of mathematics and one of McLaren’s longest animated works.

McLaren wanted to make a truly international film about the inadequacies of communication between peoples of different cultures and languages. To this end, he used the most understood method of communication, Arabic numerals.^[2]

Filmed without a camera or microphone and using McLaren’s scratch sound system, the film is a ‘crazy dance’ of mechanical actions and anthropomorphic gestures made by arithmetical figures and symbols; we hear rhythmic music with clicks or scratching sounds made by ink directly painted on the soundtrack. The filling of the background with bright figures against a dark background evoke a classroom blackboard and the teaching process. Classified as an educational film, it is also regarded as a visual and auditory work of art.^[3]

Awards

6th Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin: Silver Bear, Short Films, 1956^[4]
Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh: Diploma of Merit, 1956
Rapallo International Film Festival, Rapallo, Italy: First Prize, Abstract Films, 1957
International Review of Specialized Cinematography, Rome: Diploma of Honour, 1957
Chicago Festival of Contemporary Arts, University of Illinois Chicago: First Prize 1957
Golden Reel International Film Festival, Film Council of America, New York: Silver Reel Award, Avant-Garde and Experimental, 1957
Durban International Film Festival, Durban: Certificate of Merit, 1957
Johannesburg International Film Festival, Johannesburg: Certificate of Merit, 1957^[5]

References

^ "Rythmetic". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
^ Utako, Kuriharo. "Norman McLaren's Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art" (PDF). bigakukai.jp. The Japanese Society for Aesthetics. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
^ Utako, Kuriharo. "Norman McLaren's Animated Film Rythmetic as Temporal Art" (PDF). bigakukai.jp. The Japanese Society for Aesthetics. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
^ "6th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
^ "Rythmetic". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 26 February 2023.