Le Chant du Styrene (1959)

Le Chant du Styrene 
Directed by Alain Resnais
Written by Raymond Queneau
1959/France
Les Films de la Pleiade/Pechiney
First viewing/FilmStruck

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics. – The Graduate

Resnais brings poetry to a documentary short about the production of plastics.

This follows the production process for polystyrene and a number of articles made from the material.  Part of the process is observed in reverse order.

Resnais makes the quotidian beautiful.  The narrative is fairly straight-forward this time, lacking the resonance of his documentary shorts Night and Fog and Toute la memoire du monde.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNzs6sn2QW0

Images from the film set to music from Blade Runner