In the Labyrinth

Name: In the Labyrinth
Duration: 21 min

Roman Kroitor , Colin Low & Hugh O'Connor

1979 | 21 min

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Synopsis
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A film without commentary in which multiple images, sometimes complementary, sometimes contrasting, draw the viewer through the different stages of a labyrinth. The tone of the film moves from great joy to wrenching sorrow; from stark simplicity to ceremonial pomp. It is life as it is lived by the people of the world, each one, as the film suggests, in a personal labyrinth.

In the Labyrinth was first released as a multi-screen presentation for Chamber III of the Labyrinth at Expo 67. These separate images were integrated into a single strand of film, using a "five-on-one" cinematic technique.

"Scenes for this giant-screen production were shot all over the world with five cameras running simultaneously on a cross-shaped mount. They were then projected on five separate screens in a similar cruciform arrangement. The technique required faultless synchronization among the cameras, the editing equipment and the projectors. The results promised to be spectacular: viewers would have never seen anything like it. More than a million people experienced the film In the Labyrinth / Dans le labyrinthe, shown in two parts in chambers I and III of the huge five-story pavilion (also called The Labyrinth) in Cité du Havre, near the main Expo site. While the other themed pavilions of the Man and His World portion of the fair showed the various means by which humanity had tamed its environment, The Labyrinth offered an interior voyage through which audiences discovered humanity’s conquest of itself." - A. Ohayon
Albert Ohayon
From the playlist: Expo 67: 50+ Years Later

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<iframe src="https://www.nfb.ca/film/in_the_labyrinth/embed/player/" width="(( width ))" height="(( height ))" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true"></iframe><p style="width:(( width ))px"><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/in_the_labyrinth/" target="_blank"><em>In the Labyrinth</em></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/roman-kroitor/" title="more films by Roman Kroitor" target="_blank"><span>Roman Kroitor</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/colin-low/" title="more films by Colin Low" target="_blank"><span>Colin Low</span></a><span> & </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/hugh-oconnor/" title="more films by Hugh O'Connor" target="_blank"><span>Hugh O'Connor</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://www.nfb.ca" target="_blank">provided by the National Film Board of Canada</a></p>

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Credits

director

Roman Kroitor

Colin Low

Hugh O'Connor
producer

Tom Daly

Roman Kroitor
executive producer

Desmond Dew
camera

Michel Thomas-d'Hoste

Walter Lassally

Gilles Gascon

Georges Dufaux

V.V. Dombrovsky

Alex O. Krasnov
sound

Edward T. Haley
editing

Tom Daly
sound editing

Tom Daly
re-recording

Edward T. Haley

Michel Descombes

Jean-Pierre Joutel
music

Eldon Rathburn

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Thank you for posting this. I was eight years old when I first saw it. My father was part of the Sound Division at NFB and we had the opportunity to visit Expo67 daily. I didn't get the Labyrinth metaphor then, but I get it now. I remember the spectacular cinematography and the multi screens of the Chamber- listening intently to the amazing sound work (and the alligators and the baby being born). Although he probably didn't play a super big part in the production, I will always consider it part of of his legacy. Thanks NFB.
DMatsell, Vancouver 2021, 3 Jun 2021
I waited in line for 2½ hours to see this film at the Labyrinth Pavillion at Expo '67. After having seen it, I walked out and put mysef right back in queue to see it again. I was 13 years old and although at the time I didn't fathom all of the value of having watched, it had a profound effect on how I stgarted to look around me and look at the world then and since. I was able to remember only a few scenes watchng this again, scenes that I thought I had forgotten about. Wonderful work. Makes me think of the more recent Ron Fricke films... Thanks for calling attention to this masterwork.
Effache, 11 Dec 2014
Brilliant!Thanks for presenting this in its original format. It is a wonderful tribute to Roman Kroiter, Colin Low and Hugh O'Connor. Bro. John
Bro. John, 20 Sep 2012
Yes, 720p is broken it seems, too bad because this film really requires a decent resolution....
MvanGageldonk, 18 Sep 2012
we can't purchase a download of this? or watch it in 720? (doesn't seem to work) I would SO buy a blu-ray if you made one!! thank you!
hansmark, 17 Sep 2012

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In the Labyrinth

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