Anti-Clock is a 1979 British experimental psychological science-fiction drama film written and directed by Jane Arden and co-directed by Jack Bond. The film, which stars Arden's son Sebastian Saville, was shot on film and video in colour with black and white sequences.

Plot

The film mixes pioneering video techniques with pin-sharp colour footage in order to create a densely woven, dream-like narrative which explores issues of personal identity and social conformity. The story takes Joseph Sapha though the shadows of his past to confront that mirror image of the self that condemns us all ... a blind automaton whose words are simply the rationale of the defence attack system caught in the horrors of the past and the anxieties of the future.

Cast

Production

Filming locations

The film was shot on location in London and Norfolk, England.

Music

For the film, Arden sung two songs "Sleepwalking" and "Figures in White" which she also wrote the lyrics for.

Release

The film opened the 1979 London Film Festival but was never picked up for British distribution: its only other public British screening was at the National Film Theatre in 1983 as a tribute to Jane Arden, who committed suicide at the end of the previous year. The film remained unseen since then. However, it had a modest theatrical release in the US, where it received considerable critical acclaim.

Obscurity

Like the other two films Arden made with Bond, Anti-Clock remained unseen and was thought lost for many decades.

Home media

The film was restored by the British Film Institute for DVD and Blu-ray and released on 13 July 2009.

Critical reception