NOCTURNE (1954)
Ariticle 5234 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 8-21-2016
Directed by Alexander Alexeieff and Georges Violet
No cast
Country: France
What it is: Animated blanket advertisement

A butterfly represents the ideal body temperature for sleeping.

At the time this short/advertisement was passed on to me, I was told that that it was perhaps the least interesting work from animator Alexeieff as well as the one with the least fantastic content. Now, I’ve had one other encounter with Alexeieff in my cinematic journeys (NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN from 1933), so I know how interesting he can get. This one consists mostly of a fluttering stop-motion butterfly whose only function is to represent 37 degrees Centigrade, the ideal body temperature for sleeping; it’s a blanket commercial. If this doesn’t sound compelling… well, it isn’t. The butterfly is well animated, but without anything to really do, it never rises above what it is. And, for that matter, an animated fluttering butterfly hardly qualifies for fantastic content, either.