Glass

Glass

1958-06-27 10m
Documentary
7.6
User Score
38 votes

Overview

This short documentary, shot in the glass factories of Leerdam and Schiedam, demonstrates how glass blowers do their work. But thanks to the superbly edited ballet of working hands and the sequence of mechanical motions of the engines, is it especially a cinematic tour de force. That the industry can’t do without man’s involvement is shown in the scene where we hear the voice of Haanstra himself counting the bottles on the conveyor belt, until one bottle breaks…

Bert Haanstra

Director

Bert Haanstra

Writer

Top Billed Cast

Movie Details

Status

Released

Original Language

nl

Budget

$N/A

Revenue

$N/A

Runtime

10m

Release Date

1958-06-27

Recommendations

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

2024-02-17T17:27:25.031Z

Ostensibly a documentary about the art of Dutch glassblowing, and engagingly illustrative at that - with a gently jazz soundtrack - it gradually evolves into something altogether more thought-provoking. Back to the actual blowing, though, and that's quite fascinating to watch - the creative and delicate artistry at work. Perfect geometrical shapes all from a ball or string of molten sand - they look like balloons sometimes. In and out of the white hot ovens. What it slowly gives way to, though, is almost as interesting as the process becomes more mechanised. Not so much with the intricate designs, but the rudimentary bottle making - until, that is, the conveyor goes wrong and it's briefly quite comedic then. Moral? I suppose mechanisation is unstoppable now, but though the handmade might be slower and more expensive, the top only comes off when it's supposed to!