Empreintes

Jacques Drouin draws us into an unforgettable sensory experience. On the surface of the pinscreen, he imprints his desires and his intuitions, hurling himself into a hand-to-hand tussle with his favorite instrument. He positions the camera and the lighting to reveal the relief formed by the pins, and he continually pivots the screen so that the viewer can glimpse the images hidden behind this mysterious barricade. The repeated harmonies of a rondo for harpsichord by François Couperin give the film its rhythm and shape. Alexeïeff's invention, caught up in this whirlwind of creativity, appears in a new light.

At the start of the film, Drouin sits down in front of the pinscreen like a musician at his keyboard, preparing to leave his mark on the work. When the animation begins, the pins and the music answer each other, vibrating in unison like the rhymes of a poem. "Imprints" is a film of love about an object as beautiful and rare as a harpsichord, made by a filmmaker at the height of his powers.

Les Barricades Mystérieuses composed by François Couperin, performed by Luc Beauséjour (Analekta).

The pinscreen is an apparatus invented by Alexander Alexeïeff and Claire Parker for making films with the look of fluid engravings.