Review of Rhythmus 21

Hans Richter was not just a filmmaker; although thanks to works like these he is better remembered as such, he was also a painter who explored modern styles of painting (like those of the Dadaists). One of these styles was Cubism, which basically reduced paintings to no more than geometric shapes and colors; a very simple style, but one which was growing increasingly popular in the 20th century. "Rhythmus 21" (which is now 100 years old just about) is essentially a transfer then of that concept to film: there are no actors or anything onscreen in this three-minute film, which is the first in a series of "Rhythmus" shorts by the filmmaker (the other two were "Rhythmus 23" and "Rhythmus 25"). Instead, it is like watching one of Richter's paintings moving; the man himself has been quoted to say he saw his films as continuations of his paintings.

That said, this is an extremely simple film which can mainly be enjoyed in the context of less being more. All the film consists of are squares and lines shrinking and moving before the audience for around three minutes, with the rest of the space occupied by either a black or white background. Compared to the work of Stan Brakhage, it's hardly exceptional, but then again, it's cubism, all geometry, just transferred to film to allow these shapes movement and independence from the canvas. I could see it being enjoyed better as a painting than as a film, as that largely appears to be what Richter was going for; but regardless, an interesting beginning to one who would later take his definition of abstract to a whole new level.