Dali and Film

The Dali exhibition at the Tate Modern was captivating and intriguing, especially the film in Room 3 entitled Un Chien andalou. The opening scene was a woman’s eye being cut open immediately lures the viewer in. A silent film, no oral words spoken in the entire duration of the film was enticing. I have watched very few films that have this feature. Dali’s film is obsessed and infatuated with sexuality and the desire to balance this in the world of reality. Dali plays with Freud’s theory of the id, ego, and superego. According to Freud, the id functions as the irrational part of the mind and is the ‘want’. The ego is the rational part and advises the mind. Its task is to find a balance between primitive drives and reality while pleasing both the id and superego. The superego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id and acts as the conscience. The characters in this film struggle with this concept of equilibrium. Ants are used by Dali to demonstrate the ability of achieving balance. For example, Dali has the hand of one of the main characters smashed in a door. While the hand flails violently, ants begin to pour wildly from the palm. The ants symbolize the ability to reach the desired goal more effectively due to being extremely small the ants are able to go through crevices. Furthermore, the ants represent the ability to disconnect with life. In Dali’s most famous piece, The Persistence of Memory, Dali has ants on the pocket watch that is not melting. Time is significant and the ants illustrate immortality while the rest of the figures in the painting are melting away. Dali demonstrates that our time on earth is limited and this painting deals with the concept of mortality. In the painting, The Spectre of Sex Appeal, there is a young boy looking up fascinated by the pieces of sticks which are holding up a body. Sex appeal is placed on a pedestal and this image signifies the ultimate desire for human beings. This is analogous to Un Chien andalou, because the concept of the film revolves around sexual desire. When one dies, one can reach the balance of sexuality and the purpose of life, as it appears for the characters in the film. In conclusion, this film depicts the struggles that humans live with. Maybe when we die we will be able to decipher the true meaning of life and manifest this outcome.
-Michelle Macaluso