Eaux d'artifice

The visual delights of Eaux d’artifice were inspired by a beautiful location, an Italian garden of fountains. Enchanted by the 17th century setting, Anger used infra-red B&W film and carefully lined up each shot so that the light would set off the water sprays from their backgrounds; he also changed camera speeds and shutter angles to make the droplets of water seem alive. A grand lady character strolls down the garden’s many steps. Anger’s brilliant stroke is to cast a heavily costumed midget in the role, to double the apparent size of the fountains! The entire film is toned blue and set off by a couple of startling hand-tinted shots. The musical background is the Winter section of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.