Intended as a publicity film for Chrysler, Rhythm uses rapid editing to speed up the assembly of a car, synchronizing it to African drum music. The sponsor was horrified by the music and suspicious of the way a worker was shown winking at the camera; although Rhythm won first prize at a New York advertising festival, it was disqualified because Chrysler had never given it a television screening. P. Adams Sitney wrote, âAlthough his reputation has been sustained by the invention of direct painting on film, Lye deserves equal credit as one of the great masters of montage.â And in Film Culture, Jonas Mekas said to Peter Kubelka, âHave you seen Len Lyeâs 50-second automobile commercial? Nothing happens thereâŚexcept that itâs filled with some kind of secret action of cinema.â - Harvard Film Archive
