| 21-87 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Arthur Lipsett |
| Produced by | Colin Low Tom Daly |
| Edited by | Arthur Lipsett |
| Distributed by | National Film Board of Canada |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 minutes 33 seconds |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
21-87 is a 1963 Canadianabstractmontage-collage film created byArthur Lipsett that lasts 9 minutes and 33 seconds.[1] Theshort, produced by theNational Film Board of Canada, is a collage of snippets from discarded footage found by Lipsett in the editing room of the National Film Board (where he was employed as ananimator), combined with his own black and white 16 mm footage which he shot on the streets of Montreal and New York City, among other locations.[2]
21-87 premiered on theCBC programExplorations in 1964.[2]
JournalistHoward Junker dismisses21-87 and Lipsett's other film,Free Fall, as repetitious: "the whole idea of wildly flashing stills and phrases wears quickly".[3] Critic N. Roy Clifton is frustrated by the seeming randomness of the images.[4] Critic John Fell suggests the film is evocative ofparataxis, like a sentence without aconjunctive word.[5]
"21-87" would have a profound influence on directorGeorge Lucas and onWalter Murch, aneditor anddesigner with whom Lucas worked. Lucas described it as "the kind of movie I wanted to make – a very off the wall, abstract kind of film".[6]
In response, Lucas created thepure cinema, short, 16mm movies: "6-18-67", "1:42.08", and "Look at Life". The later "Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB", an experimentalscience fiction short, takes place in adystopian future on 14 May 2187.[7] Lucas expanded the latter intoTHX 1138. His later worksAmerican Graffiti andStar Wars have shown "21-87"'s influence. Lucas and Lipsett would never meet.
The concept ofthe Force, so prominent inStar Wars and its sequels and prequels, is said to have been inspired by a statement made byRoman Kroitor in the short film.[8][9]
