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Heaven and Earth Magic

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Wikipedia article




'Heaven and Earth Magic' (also known as 'Number 12', 'The Magic Feature', or 'Heaven and Earth Magic Feature') is a 1962 American avant-garde cutout animation film directed by visual artist, filmmaker and mystic Harry Everett Smith. Jonas Mekas gave the film its title 'Heaven and Earth Magic' in 1964/65.

Plot



Harry Smith stated of 'Heaven and Earth Magic': "The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land in terms of Israel, Montreal and the second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by Max Mller on the day Edward the Seventh dedicated the Great Sewer of London."

Reception



Fred Camper from 'Chicago Reader' praised the film's artistic style, calling it "a mysterious world of alchemical transformations in which objects suggest a multitude of possibilities." 'Time Out Magazine' offered the film similar praise, comparing it to the works of Max Ernst and Georges Mlis.

Legacy



It is listed in the film reference book '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', noting the film as director Harry Smith's magnum opus, and saying "Incomplete, deeply idiosyncratic, rearranged from materials taken largely from an earlier period a Victorian-era catalogue it is explicitly "folk" in nature."

See also



*List of animated feature films

*List of stop-motion films

*Cutout animation

*Alchemy

*Hermetic Qabalah

References



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