Born in Kiev, Maya Deren is the mother of American avant-garde films. She uses images to explore the basic emotions and ultimate destiny of human beings (women), and she is recognized as the pioneer and founder of modern American avant-garde experimental films. . As Maya's most famous work, Lost Afternoon reflects her willingness to explore female psychology and existentiality. I tend to interpret this short film as a woman's dream. It is more clearly divided into five paragraphs, namely five dreams.
Dream 1: Here are some images that run through. The woman played by Maya Deren picked up the flowers left by the man in black in the afternoon, chased the man in black unsuccessfully, and returned to the front of the house. When opening the door, the key slipped, and after several turns, the woman picked it up and opened the door. Flowers here symbolize a kind of pretense, or hidden danger (from men); the key can be regarded as a tool to explore the inner desire of women, and the key that is difficult to hold means that desire is hindered. Walking in the door, the knife on the dining table fell from the bread. The knife is the ultimate embodiment of the male phallus, and the potential danger is exposed. Put the flowers on your body and fall asleep on the recliner. In a dream, I saw another self running outside the window chasing the man in black. The man in black has a mirrored face, symbolizing the self-gazing through the "mirror". Slide into the next dream.
Dream 2: Repeat the action of Dream 1. The woman who came to the house hesitantly stepped over the knife on the steps, floated up the stairs lightly, and was surprised to find the knife hidden in the bedding in the bedroom. See yourself sleeping on the recliner. Staring out the window and chasing the man in black, he spit out the key from his mouth (inside his body), indicating that he is ready to further explore his inner desires.
Dream 3: Go inside the house. Seeing the man in black with the flowers go upstairs and put the flowers on the bed, it means a dangerous closer approach. See yourself sleeping on the recliner. Staring at the other self outside the window, he spat out the key again, the difference being that this time the key became a knife. This is unavoidably reminiscent of the image of the book turned into a gun in Buñuel's "An Andalusian Dog", and both the knife and the gun undoubtedly symbolize the danger of male phallus. The knife in the hands of women shows a strong aggressive desire to resist.
Dream 4: A woman with a knife rushes into the room, and three selves at different times meet in the same space. The three themselves took the keys on the dining table, and the keys turned into knives in the last one's hands. The woman with the knife was about to assassinate herself sleeping on the couch, but suddenly turned into a man after changing her perspective. This shot profoundly reflects women's awareness of potential danger not only from men, but also from their own desires. The knife is still used as the symbol of phallus, and the subject is transformed into a male body, and the camera cuts into Maya Deren's graceful figure full of desire and plump lips. This viewing presents a strong voyeuristic connotation. After the woman resisted, the flowers turned into knives and stabbed at the man's face, and the face turned into a mirror and was shattered.
Dream 5: The man repeats a series of actions of the woman entering the house. Pick up the flowers and push the door to enter, and find the woman killed by the broken mirror. This passage may be interpreted as reality, but I prefer to see it also as a dream.
In the fivefold dream, in addition to the multiple selves shown on the screen, the image of the man in black may represent another self. In addition to the desire to project the self in the face made of mirrors, he is the immediate source of flowers and bears the knife symbolizing the phallus. This image is both a danger to the outside world (male) and a deep and secret desire that originates from the female heart. And the final death of the woman shows Maya Deren's mourning for the women in the Phallus Center society.
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