Moments of Play (1986)

• 66%
• 1986
• Jørgen Leth

A visually rich travelogue from Bali, Brazil, England, Haiti, Spain and the U.S.A., with a couple of scenes from China originally shot for Notater fra Kina, and a number of scenes with Leth's children in Denmark. Under thematic intermediate titles such as "Exploring, investigating reality" and "Being in another world, dreaming", the nine sections of the film present themselves as a series of loosely linked scenes or observations, with the clear point that play is a cross-cultural phenomenon and a human condition, not something naive or childish that we grow out of. The cinematography takes us close to the many manifestations of play, the soundtrack communicates the warm fundamental tone of the film while the narrator talks vividly about play and intones the poem "Jeg er klar nu", which may be seen as a personal approach to poetry. It includes the words "I play, I can do anything. Nothing is forbidden. I create my own world. I systematize chaos. I keep a balance as long as I think it is worth keeping".