
Samuel Beckett's Film (17 MIN 30 SEC)
http://www.5minutesonline.com/1D/FILM.htm
Written by Samuel Beckett, directed by Alan Schneider and starring Buster Keaton, this 1966 silent film remains one of the greatest experimental movies ever made.
Based around Bishop Berkeley's principle 'esse est percipi' (to be is to be perceived), the film follows an old man who struggles to evade observation by an all-seeing eye. We first see him walking the streets, heading home, trying desperately to shield his face from passerby’s. Once home, he begins covering up the mirrors and the cages his pets are kept in. He continually keeps his back to the camera, as if he knows we too are watching him. Throughout the film, the camera floats around the room, until it is able to sneak up on the man, and reveal his face. Think of Film as the Twilight Zone by way of Beckett.
Containing absolutely no music or dialogue, this is truly the world's only absolutely silent film. The choice of Buster Keaton as the old man is brilliant, considering his name nearly signifies the silent era of film and his presence in the movie gives it all the more power, meaning and impact.
(2 full sources now.)