The notion of dreams and the process of dreaming is one that intrigues society and does not fail to fully escape the grasp of understanding. It is such an ephemeral circumstance in which we find ourselves daily. And yet, fascination with the overwhelmingly unknown continues to probe our interests. In a manner, film overlaps into the realm of rapid eye movement in the most basic form. Through an alternate reality we exist, without control or complete possible actuality. Both film and its constituent element, the photograph, behold a certain level of the surrealism found in dreams through the raw creative boundaries.
Bazin realizes the analytic obscurity that arises between physical truth and the imaginary. The filmmaker is able to blur the black and white rules on any whim or fancy to achieve something completely nonsensical by strict nature but absolutely genuine in cinema. “A hallucination that is also a fact” substantiated by the institution of the picture itself. But distinctive from sheer phantasmagorical parallels, several essential qualities of the motion picture are discernible in dreams. The subject of the film Un Chien Andalou strives to portray a reverie experience to the viewer through non-coherency and illusory fashions.
We are thrown to the capricious tendencies of the dream, erratic in nature. Yet, the film, as dreams, seems to convey a sort of uniformity within itself, between the characters, and embedded in the elusive plot. Random shifts in scenery that so often speckle our nighttime adventures seem to be normal in the environment of the film. One will also notice the seemingly nostalgic overlay that tints dreams and films alike. It seems as if we recall the instances as we recall our viewing experience in a sort of sepia toned memory.
However the character familiarity and omniscient quality of a dream cannot be translated and achieved in the technical portrayal. Somehow we hold the knowledge that an individual is certainly that individual, a location is certainly that location, an event is certainly that event. Although within the context it may or may not appear at all as that individual, location, or event. In this sense, the film will never fully achieve the immersion and personal implication of a dream. Sparshott touches on these points in Basic Film Aesthetics, discussing the system of orrelations to dreams. Perhaps these correlations convey the ability of humans to artistically conquer any message they wish to convey, however metaphysical. But, I believe that there is one fatal shortcoming; that in a film, it is impossible to grasp the predisposed knowledge which one possesses in a dream. One cannot simply know where and when and why any instance is in fact occurring sans narration. It is then truthfully apparent that even though we experience the phenomenon diurnally, it remains out of reach.
Although in the facets which are attainable, the human perception of dreams is exposed. The transitory disposition survives and is evident through the motion picture. The human metropolis lends itself the persistent themes and finds it difficult to disengage from typical expectations of the condition of dreams. So while the film is so intertwined with the concept of the dream, does it adequately achieve its aim? Is the viewer immersed and simulated into a dreamlike state? This is difficult to qualify.
Un Chien Andalou succeeds more in the aspect of making the point that the personalities within the piece are in a dream and perhaps the entire picture is the machination of one character. This is conceivably an alternate goal from the supposed intention; the viewer is meant to identify the movie as a dream. Within the production the viewer can sense the ultimate crux, nevertheless the essential target slips subtly through the fingers of the filmmaker. This may be in part due to the predominant conventional methods of editing utilized in this nonconformist motion picture.
As discussed earlier, the object of the dream is a difficult one to grasp and hold firmly. While angles and perspective are similar in the idea of impossibility, only a certain level of exactness can be accomplished. Another aspect may be that any other form of nonstandard editing practice may prove too radical for the crowd of the time. But I believe it is simply the limits of film production. There simply fails to exist another effective and captivating means of editing. Each film will differ in its success to portray the dream experience, whether or not that may be its ultimate motive.
Nonetheless, Un Chien Andalou captivates Sparshott’s conviction of film reality. There is indeed the “image” that is created as an external entity composed of the innate flexibility. Surrealism can be so easily achieved in the motion picture that the merge between said film and the idea of the dream is inevitable. Besides the quintessential elements of every piece that will always bear undeniable connections to the subconscious adventure, Un Chien Andalou simultaneously embodies the human fascination and the transient nature of the dream.
