“A Moment’s Silence” is a short film which explores the rhythm of the city of Amsterdam, but in a way that side-steps the familiar representation of a metropolis as a place where speed, power and progress converge.
Van Der Keuken’s camera shows us a major intersection drawing to a halt; cars and pedestrians wait in eerie silence in respect of some civic memorial. The soundtrack is bare of narration; not knowing the details, we can only observe the form.
From this quiet moment we move into the back streets and canals to witness a series of everyday events portrayed in a halting stop-start rhythm, where simple observation is combined with the use of repetition and jump cut editing.
Children play on rubbish skips, workmen clear a building site, and a man builds a fire out of junk with the canal lapping at his feet. These small events on the edges of the city’s life are brought momentarily to centre stage in this brief, poetic film.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
B1001846
Audience classification
G
Subject category
Short films
Holdings
Digital Betacam [PAL]; Sub-master
VHS [PAL]; Reference - timecoded
Digital Betacam [PAL]; Master