The Films of
Charles & Ray
Eames
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» toccata for toy trains
» house
» what is design?
» glimpses of usa
» kaleidoscope jazz chair
» spirit of st. louis
» powers of ten
» tops
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» author information
» bibliography
“We have not supposed there is a poetry of ideas.”
– Charles Eames
Chuck Pratt
Architecture 4395
The Constructive Vision
Prof. Ed Baum
Fall 2003
Tops extended the genre from observing toys, opening up the world of childhood, and presenting visual spectacles to conveying an understanding of the principles behind toys -- principles the Eameses often mentioned by tantalizingly, infrequently, and inadequately explained in words.
Paul Schrader classified Tops as a “toy” film, but it can just as easily be labeled an “ideas” film -- indeed, Schrader has written about the ideas it conveys. Tony Benn observed that it shows mankind of all races and from all over the world, and every culture, playing with a single simple toy. The unity of humanity comes through in a way that is utterly pleasurable and absolutely unforgettable." Not only were small tops made to seem as important as large ones, but cheap ones were given as much attention as rare and beautiful hand-carved ones. Many of the shots include fingers and hands, and these work to humanize the tops (which are also used to explain complicated scientific ideas.) What most transforms this film from an “object” film into an “ideas” film is a wonderful moment of comprehension when a simple tack, thrown onto a drawing board, spins and is suddenly seen as a top. As Schrader puts it, “This is a moment of object-integrity: all the complexity and variation of tops have resolved into the basic form of two planes, one of them suspended by the balanced forces of gravity and gyroscopic momentum. The unaware viewer realizes that he has never really understood even an insignificant creation like a top, never accepted it on its own terms, never enjoyed it.”
(Charles and Ray Eames; Kirkham)