Le chant du Styrène

This cinematographic project is as poetic as it is technical in its depiction of the realm of plastics from its extraction from Nature to its final product in modern Civilization. The narration, thanks to R. Queneau, reminds of a mid 50's news real, as featured prior to blockbuster films in France, depicting the glory of Babylon lending a mechanical hand to the so-called imperfect aboriginals. Although this movie is closer to a dry documentary than anything else, a philosophic mind appreciative of essences and existenz will admire the exhaustiveness of the subject matter as well as the keen eye for detail.

The narrative here, I imagine conceived as an educational short to be screened before a feature, is the backwards journey from a plastic bowl to the raw elements it originates from. It doesn't matter, the journey could be anything. What matters here is the plasticity of the image itself, how the forms can be moulded, bent, shaped into a fluid cinema. The various technological processes provide the opportunity; we swirl around machinery, track beneath structures or across platforms, follow busy assembly lines, and it's all joyful and upbeat. A celebration of French industry for who funded this, but for us and Resnais a celebration of the adventurous camera and cinematic texture.