Weekly Review No. 346 - Rhythm and Movement

Short Film (Full Length) – 1948

This short profiles the work of Gisa Taglicht. A pioneer of women's rhythmical gymnastics, Taglicht advocated the benefits of physical exercise for women. Risqué at the time for the women’s skimpy outfits, the Wellington-set film sees women escaping machine and washing line oppression via a YWCA hilltop session: limbs reaching and stretching towards a stark sky. The National Film Unit's post-war Weekly Reviews became less overtly patriotic, and some, like this Michael Forlong-directed one, were unabashedly experimental. The score was composed by Douglas Lilburn.

City living is so complex and bustle that we don't have much time to think about our physical well-being. We hurry to work, catch trains and buses, and grab quick meals, with a vague thought in the back of our mind that we should do something about it.
– From the narration