An extraordinary, original attempt at pure cubism, simultaneity,
atomization of time, space, plot, and narrative, as the camera
observes "a most ordinary and truly universal event": waking up,
getting ready, departure. An exploration of atmosphere and states
of being, the film proceeds on the levels of outer and inner reality
and projects yet a third: the "innate", man-less reality of the room
and the objects within it, viewed in lengthy, stationary one-shots,
silent except for street noises. A forerunner of minimal cinema, but
"with a purpose", these scenes are in startling contrast to those
involving the man, which proceed at staccato-speed (two-framecuts), to the point of annihilation (and more sophisticated reconstitution) of reality. The filmmaker's program note, in its mixture
of science and metaphysics, is a pure example of the new world view:
"Nothing happens and everything happens -- in the simplest of
experiences there is a complexity and vitality unknown and unfelt
until the moment when we begin to let its wonder filter into us and flow
through our bodies, our minds and our souls. When that happens the
ordinary world becomes extraordinary -- the magic of the universe is
within each moment and act perceived on as many levels as we can contain.
Nothing Happened This Morning attempts to capture this state of conciousness in the first twenty minutes of an ordinary/extraordinary morning."
