Honor and Obey (1988)

In Warren Sonberts Honor and Obey soldiers march in formation a tiger stalks through the snow religious processions wind through the streets and palm trees wave in a tropical breeze As brightly colored images of authority figures blend into scenes of cocktail parties this 21minute silent film flows along with the grace of a musical score built on complex tensions hidden among the notes Whose authority will you obey the film seems to ask as it deftly avoids simpleminded juxtapositions Instead we see a melange of images so full of geography Notre Dame Cathedral the Sydney Opera House Fifth Avenue that the work mocks the idea of any specific setting Sooner or later social and natural laws meet and probably clash Mr Sonbert suggests but in this scenario of discrete images all is apparent harmony Caryn James The New York Times