Spectres of the Spectrum

Director: Craig Baldwin
Year Released: 1999
Rating: 3.0

Giddy, playful reconstruction of found footage into a deliriously weird movie about the relation between technology and paranoia - even though there isn't a clear 'message' to be taken from this, it can be considered something of a celebration of the medium itself and the resurrection of 'deceased' film clips. Consistency isn't its strong suit - the second half of the movie is more or less documentary with a few digressions, retracing the history of (among others) Philo Farnsworth, RCA, Marconi, Edison and many more technology pioneers - but I found myself more and more compelled by the construction itself than any other component. In a way, it's almost like Pop Art: all surface, but still fun.