Why Man Creates
| Why Man Creates | |
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| Directed by | Saul Bass |
| Produced by | Kaiser Aluminum, Saul Bass & Associates |
| Written by | Saul Bass and Mayo Simon |
| Starring | Paul Saltman |
| Music by | Jeff Alexander |
| Cinematography | Erik Daarstad |
| Edited by | Kent MacKenzie, Albert Nalpas, Cliffe Oland |
| Distributed by | Pyramid Films [1], [2] |
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Release date
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Running time
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25 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English, Spanish |
Why Man Creates is a 1968 animated short documentary film which discusses the nature of creativity. It was written by Saul Bass and Mayo Simon, and directed by Saul Bass. It won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. An abbreviated version of it ran on the first broadcast of CBS' 60 Minutes, on September 24, 1968.
Why Man Creates focuses on the creative process and the different approaches taken to that process. It is divided into eight sections: The Edifice, Fooling Around, The Process, Judgment, A Parable, Digression, The Search, and The Mark.
In 2002, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The Edifice begins with early humans hunting. They attempt to conquer their prey with stones, but fail, so they begin to use spears and bait. They kill their prey, and it turns into a cave painting, upon which a building begins to be built. Throughout the rest of the section, the camera tracks upward as the edifice grows ever taller.
Early cavemen begin to discover various things such as the lever, the wheel, ladders, agriculture and fire. It then cuts to clips of early societies and civilizations. It depicts the appearance of the first religions and the advent of organized labor. It then cuts to the Great Pyramids at Giza and depicts the creation of writing.
Soon an army begins to move across the screen chanting, "Bronze", but they are overrun by an army chanting, "Iron". The screen then depicts early cities and civilizations.
This is followed by a black screen with one man in traditional Greek clothing who states, "All was in chaos 'til Euclid arose and made order." Next, various Greek achievements in mathematics are depicted as Greek columns are built, around which Greeks discuss items, including, "What is the good life and how do you lead it?" "Who shall rule the state?" "The Philosopher King." "The aristocrat." "The people." "You mean all the people?" "What is the nature of the Good? What is the nature of justice?" "What is happiness?"
The culture of ancient Greece fades into the armies of Rome. The organized armies surround the great Roman architecture as they chant, "Hail Caesar!" A man at a podium states, "Roman law is now in session", and when he bangs his gavel, the architecture collapses. Dark soldiers begin to pop up from the rubble and eventually cover the whole screen with darkness symbolizing the Dark Ages.
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Wikipedia