Poem 8: Just a bunch of people dancing in the woods

Is this for you?

If you like movies that feel like a fever dream or a weird art school project, maybe give Poem 8 a look. If you need, you know, a plot or dialogue or characters who actually talk, you will absolutely hate this. It’s not for the casual Friday night crowd.

There isn’t much to say about the story because there isn’t one. It’s just people in white fabric spinning around in the woods. It feels a lot more like a recorded performance piece than a proper motion picture.

Oddly specific observations

• The way the fabric catches the light through the trees is actually kinda hypnotic.
• I kept waiting for someone to trip over a root, but they never did. Very professional.
• The forest looks really damp. I kept thinking about the mosquitoes.
• There is a rhythm to it that feels very 1920s experimental, even if it feels a bit dated now.

Honestly, watching this made me think about The Bird Store in terms of how it uses a small, contained space to tell a weird little story. Or maybe I just like comparing old, forgotten films to see what sticks.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Poem 8 (1932) through its definitive frames.

Some of the movements feel a little repetitive, honestly. You get the idea of the white cloth and the trees within the first three minutes, and then it just... keeps going. It doesn't really build to anything. It just stops. 🌳

Maybe it’s meant to be profound, but it mostly just feels like a moment in time that was captured and forgotten. It’s not trying to impress you with high-tech gear. It’s just dance. I’m not sure I’d watch it twice, but it didn't hurt to watch it once.

Sometimes the camera just lingers on a hand or a piece of cloth fluttering in the breeze. It feels personal, in a way. Like the person holding the camera was just as distracted by the wind as I was.

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it’s a weird little artifact. If you have ten minutes and want to see something completely different from The Prince of Rogues, this is definitely that.