The Infinite Search (2018)

Directed by: Robin Lutz | 85 minutes | documentary

‘The Infinite Search’ is a sensual film about MC Escher (1898-1972), in which documentary maker Robin Lutz follows the famous illustrator’s wish that only he himself could make a film about his prints. Popular boy, Escher, is immediately apparent in this well-thought-out documentary. Sixties musicians such as Graham Nash of The Hollies and CSNY seem to be fond of the form language of the mathematically operating Escher.

After the interview with Nash, an I-narrator switches to a kind of school television about Escher’s childhood. Cultural education instead of hippies, it’s a remarkable leap. However, Escher is a charismatic subject, and his sketches are animated with enthusiasm, supported by appropriate music, whether that is ‘Little Red Rooster’ by The Rolling Stones, or the church organ of the Haarlem St. Bavo, where Escher liked to work in his young years.

Escher drew the majestic church organ as if he were hypnotized by the sounds, with a psychedelic end result: the music blows up the images. The powerful combination of image and sound does not always work well. The olive trees of Tuscany in combination with Italian folk music, that is not necessary. But the pace the narrator uses is fast, and focused on the artistic development of the young Escher.

His parents got married in Viareggio, says the now 92-year-old son George. The I-narrator continues. Escher senior found inspiration in nature, which was molded by his mind into a special formal language, although Escher’s work in the Italian period was predominantly figurative. Like Piet Mondrian, he developed towards more abstract forms, although Escher categorically refused to call himself an artist.

When Escher paints humans and animals, he attempts to ‘systematize’, although his heads initially resemble Aubrey Beardsley’s sketches more than geometric shapes. He continues to develop this tension as his trademark, culminating in the well-known ‘infinite’ stairwells that hung in the undersigned’s math classroom. He was inspired by the Alhambra, among other places. Not for nothing were the Arabs the godfathers of mathematics.

Although the bookish character of the narration may appear static, following Escher’s quest through his work is extremely satisfying. Is nature itself mathematical, or does Escher represent reality in his own way? This is instructive material, presented as if you were a traveling companion in the development of MC Escher, who outsmarts us forever with his work.