If you’re looking for a dose of cinematic pretension (we all get that itch sometimes), Andrea Simon’s 1989 short film, The Happiness of Still Life, will take care of all your needs. The movie, which is running in the National Gallery’s Spring Film Program in 16 mm format, is a study of Austria’s Biedermeier culture of the mid 1800s—a lapse into middle class ecstasy characterized by pretty furniture and domestic bliss. While the film itself isn’t necessarily pretentious, if you leave the theater thinking you completely understood it, you probably are.
The film is part of a series of rare documentaries and artist portraits from the Gallery’s archives, which are screened at noon on Tuesdays until the end of June. It’s only 27 minutes long, not lengthy enough to put you into a stupor, but just the right amount of time to leave you pleasantly confused. The bulk of the action is created by shots that pan across idyllic paintings of garden parties and carefully decorated china sets. One memorable segment consists solely of chairs dancing across a white background, showing off their elegantly carved legs and upholstered seats.
While such scenes are pretty in and of themselves, intermittent narration details the government-imposed calm of wealthy Austrian life during the lull between the Napoleonic Wars and the 1848 revolutions in Europe. Regardless of whether or not the beauty of the time was a result of repression and censorship, its charm is undeniable, and the viewer is left with a feeling of “well, it was pretty while it lasted”.
If this sounds just a little bit dry, remember that The Happiness of Still Life is just one in a list of over 30 films being shown this spring. The program highlights films by international directors like Gabriel Figueroa, whose work tie together the folk art and the national heritage of his native Mexico, and tastefully celebrates films spawned by the 1968 social unrest in France. Since admission is free, the dose of culture goes down pretty easy.
For a more information and a copy of the film calendar, go to www.nga.gov/programs/film.
