An Optical Poem

An Optical Poem (1938)

March 5th, 19380h 7min

Animation, Music
66%

Overview

A dance of shapes. A title card tells us this is an experiment in conveying the mental images of music in a visual form. Liszt's "Second Hungarian Rhapsody" is the music. The shapes, all two-dimensional, are circles primarily, with some squares and rectangles, and a few triangles. The shapes move rhythmically to the music: receding from view or moving across the screen. Red circles on a blue background; light blue squares; white rectangles. Then, a red background of many circles with a few in the foreground. Red gives way to blue then to white. Shapes reappear as Liszt's themes re-occur. Then, with a few staccato notes and images, it's over.


Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!

Trailer

Similar Movies

Four Minutes

Four Minutes


Released on: 2006-06-23
Drama, Music

Jenny is young. Her life is over. She killed someone. And she would do it again. When an 80-year-old...

Allegro non troppo

Allegro non troppo


Released on: 1976-03-12
Fantasy, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Music

The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than paro...

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker


Released on: 2016-12-08
Music, Fantasy

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker...

Fantasy

Fantasy


Released on: 2021-01-21
Animation, Adventure, Romance, Music, Fantasy

What happens when an earth-splitting disaster destroys the home world of a lone living skeleton? As ...

Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity

Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity


Released on: 2024-04-28
Documentary, Music

Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last complete...

Siapa Dia

Siapa Dia


Released on: 2025-08-28
Drama, Music

Layar, a popular film star who feels bored with his career wants to make a musical theater set in a ...

Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra


Released on: 2022-11-17
Music

On Air presents Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, performed by the world-renowned Royal Philharm...

The Planets

The Planets


Released on: 1983-01-30
Music, TV Movie

Based on the famous Gustav Holst musical suite, this musical film takes watchers on a magnificent jo...

K-Classics Generation

K-Classics Generation


Released on: 2020-06-01
Documentary, Music

The film traces the career of some of the winners of this new generation nicknamed the "K-Classics G...

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker


Released on: 1977-12-16
Music, Fantasy

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critically acclaimed Emmy-nominated product...

Jack-Jack Attack

Jack-Jack Attack


Released on: 2005-03-15
Adventure, Animation, Family

The Parrs' baby Jack-Jack is thought to be normal, not having any super-powers like his parents or s...

The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century

The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century


Released on: 1998-03-25
Documentary, Music

Imagine a window into the past. Imagine finally connecting singers' bodies to the voices you have al...

Fantasia

Fantasia


Released on: 1940-11-13
Animation, Family, Fantasy

Walt Disney's timeless masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound! See the music come to life...

House of Ricordi

House of Ricordi


Released on: 1954-12-01
History, Drama, Music

The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of th...

Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex

Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex


Released on: 2022-11-03
Action, Science Fiction, Animation

When army of Gigans tries to invade and destroy the Earth, the only one who can stop them is Godzill...

Days of Happiness

Days of Happiness


Released on: 2023-10-20
Music, Drama

Emma, a talented conductor and rising star on the Montreal scene, has a complicated relationship wit...

Tacet

Tacet


Released on: 2021-12-13
Drama, Music

An aspiring classical pianist loses his hearing and, with the help of those closest to him, must fin...

Lindsey Stirling: Brave Enough

Lindsey Stirling: Brave Enough


Released on: 2017-05-17
Documentary, Music

Beginning on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, “Brave Enough,” documents violinist Lindsey Stirling...

CODA

CODA


Released on: 2014-01-01
Animation, Music

This short animation draws on advanced digital technologies to offer a new vision of dance in cinema...

Svätopluk

Svätopluk


Released on: 2024-01-28
Music

Eugen Suchoň's opera Svätopluk returns to the stage of the Slovak National Theatre Opera in 2023. Si...