Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali I Domenech is a well known Spanish Catalan Surrealist painter. Salvador Dali, as an artist was not limited to specific media or style. He worked in all media including graphics, films, jewels, sculptures, performance pieces, photographs and objects of different descriptions.
Dali worked as an artist for more than sixty years. Dali’s work is based on personal interests which increases the unique quality to his art . The Surrealist Salvador Dali improved a deep connection with films.He is the artist whom people know for his baguette-crowned bicyclists, crawling ants and melting ants. He not only painted but had stunning interest to work in films. Apart from being a painter, he also proved his talent as a writer, actor, director, set director and costume designer.
He worked with well-known movie personalities who include Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Bunuel and Walt Disney. He also created works which were manipulated by Marx brothers and Cecil B. De Mile.In 1945, Walt Disney invided Dali to work in a 6 minute film which consists of animated drawings and mixing real images. Dali worked on this project and produced story board drawings and color sketches to narrate the story of the god of time, mortal girl and star-crossed lovers: Chronos. Due to the lack of finance, this project was abandoned and it completed only 15 to 18 seconds of the film.
This film ‘Destino’ was completed in 2003 based on Hench’s memories and by using the short sequence.Though Dali designed the scenes, the only animation he created can be noticed at the end of the film where the two human headed tortoises meet. Dali worked along with the photographer Phillippe Halsman and prepared a documentary film ‘Chaos and Creation’ in 1960. This was very famous as it was the first artist’s videos.
Un Chien Andalou is the 1929 film was meant to provoke dreaming or nightmaring. This film not only features the cult-classic scene like slicing the eyeball by the razor blade, but also depicts unsavory images like piles of ants and decaying donkey.L'Age d'Or is another film made by Bunuel and Dali. The characters in the film are based on Dali’s paintings. In 1945, the film Spellbound was made based on the dream sequence featuring big eyeballs in different states of staring.
Dali’s has worked on several movies which include Aussi loin que l'amour, Un chien andalou, Impressions de la haute Mongolie, Dali en Avignon, Salvador Dali, Moontide and Spellbound. Apart from these films, there were several films which were made based on the life of Dali.The most well known film is ‘The Death of Salvador Dali’. The upcoming movies on Dali are ‘Dali and I: The Surreal Story’ directed by Andrew Niccol and ‘Goodbye Dali’ is produced by David Permut .
Dali explored the central role of cinema as an means for experimentation and also as an inspiration. Dali has shown the contradictory ability to join actual and imaginary, surreal and real, the poetic and the prosaic. Cinematic vision became a model for Dali’s work and film was a passion for him.
