Search - Lynne Sachs - A Collection of Films Exploring Women, Culture, Science & Myth on DVD

Wonderfully intuitive

D. Finkelstein | New York | 08/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I loved every minute of "House of Science." First of all, the collage technique of how the images, sounds, and text flow together is artistically exquisite. But, strangely enough, I found the film much more CONVINCING in it's arguments, and in it's effort to make a meaningful statement, than "Lilith." I almost felt as if in "Lilith" there was an external intellectual framework, viewing the issues of sexuality and of patriarchy and women's rebelliousness through the framework of the Lilith myth, but that this externally imposed framework didn't convince me that the film was really a coherent, meaningful statement. But in "House of Science," it felt as if Sachs had actually decided NOT to impose an intellectual framework, but instead she chose to listen to a very internal, intuitive voice, to guide her in her choices about what to include in the film and how to make the visual and sound compositions. And, as a result of her close listening to her own intuition, the film is STARTLINGLY coherent and meaningful.

In any case, the associations and resonances of "House of Science" are rich and complex, so I look forward to watching it again, and teasing out more of it's meanings. But I did feel, in it's images of (male) science attempting to explain, categorize, and contain the female body, that it had a very similar subject matter to "Lilith," although viewed through a different set of metaphors."