Summer Storm Passage

“This film, which dates from 1964, has always satisfied me. I believe the footage was completed before the assassination of Kennedy – an event that changed many things. I had made only silent films until I made THE ELMS, which followed upon this one. SSP is a film whose form I had in mind from the outset. It was to be a visual piece structured in a ‘musical’ manner. It would have three movements in differing visual ‘tempi’. Rhythms, counterpoint, theme and variation, and so on were to be in mind as I filmed and edited. The thematic material would develop slowly, and there would be recapitulations and so on. The three sections are entitled ‘Barn’, ‘Summer Storm’, and ‘Bird’. A sense of place, shelter, and fertility. A welcoming of the necessary summer storm of birthing. A child’s wonder and excitement at experiencing the vast unfolding world.” –Abbott Meader