Anemic Cinema, Marcel Duchamp

Anemic Cinema is a film made by Marcel Duchamp in 1926.  It is a black and white silent film lasting about five minutes which shows a variety of spinning spiral forms.  The images rotate between geometrical spiral forms which spin clockwise, and spirals of French text which spin counterclockwise. 

After watching this film I decided to read a little bit about its production.  Duchamp made a series of these spinning works and referred to them as Rotoreliefs.  To create his images, Duchamp would create his circular/spiral designs on cardboard and then play them on a turntable.  The spinning motion of the spirals makes the designs feel almost three-dimensional (like one of the endless cylindrical pits in Star Wars).  The spirals of French text are puns and other forms of wordplay written by Duchamp.  I can't actually read French, but here are the texts from the film:

• "Bains de gros thé pour grains de beauté sans trop de bengué." 
• "L'enfant qui tète est un souffleur de chair chaude et n'aime pas le chou-fleur de serre-chaude."
• "Si je te donne un sou, me donneras-tu une paire de ciseaux?"
• "On demande des moustiques domestiques (demi-stock) pour la cure d'azote sur la côte d'azur."
• "Inceste ou passion de famille, à coups trop tirés."
• "Esquivons les ecchymoses des Esquimaux aux mots exquis."
• "Avez-vous déjà mis la moëlle de l'épée dans le poêle de l'aimée?"
• "Parmi nos articles de quincaillerie paresseuse, nous recommandons le robinet qui s'arrête de couler quand on ne l'écoute pas."
• "L'aspirant habite Javel et moi j'avais l'habite en spirale."

Overall the film is very simple.  All of the shots are composed in the same way without any camera movement or change in focus.  However, despite the simplicity of the film, there is an addictive element to it.  I've just watched it several times.  While the French text is unappealing to me (I just don't understand it) the optical illusions created by the spinning circular patterns are mesmerizing.