Christian Pointl

Filmic research into the manipulation of time in film. At the end of the film, Mol shows his famous time-lapse pictures of budding flowers. (eyefilm.nl)

'Uit het rijk der kristallen' is one of several scientific films made ​​by J.C. Mol. In the film, the crystallization processes of various chemicals are shown. There are different versions of Uit het rijk der kristallen: the original silent film was given a soundtrack in the 1930s, and there is a colour version of the film which was made ​​using Dufay colour. A clip from the film, or other shots of identical crystallization processes, can be seen in Mol’s other films. The film was not only screened at educational and scientific presentations, but also resonated within avant-garde circles. The film was screened at the first show presented by the Harlem branch of the Filmliga. This was followed by a screening at Amsterdam’s Filmliga, and at ‘Studio 28’ in Paris. There, the film was screened as a ‘triptyque’, with three projectors side by side.

Several versions of Mol's film "From the Realm of the Crystals" exist; In the film, the crystallization processes of various chemicals are shown. This is a shorter, colour version of the film which was made ​​using Dufay colour.