''In the Labyrinth'' ''(French: Dans le labyrinthe)'' was a groundbreaking multi-screen presentation at the Labyrinth pavilion at

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. It used 35 mm and

70 mm 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...

film projected simultaneously on multiple screens and was the precursor of today's

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

format.

History

Roman Kroitor Roman Kroitor (December 12, 1926 – September 17, 2012) was a Canadian filmmaker who was known as an early practitioner of ''cinéma vérité'', as co-founder of IMAX, and as creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system. H ...

created a six-screen exhibit to show

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

at the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

in 1963. He later proposed creating a screen that had a display with the maximum horizontal and vertical fields of vision, but was unable to gain financial backing until the NFB got a spot at He later proposed a

. He created ''Faces'' to show how his idea would work and it utilized two screens. Kroitor, Low, and

Hugh O'Connor Hugh Edward Ralph O'Connor (April 7, 1962 – March 28, 1995) was an American actor known for his role as James Flynn in the 1984 film ''Brass'' and his portrayal of Lonnie Jamison on '' In the Heat of the Night'' until his death in 1995. He ...

started working on the project in January 1964, with Tom Daly executive producing.

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, '' Fearful Symmet ...

was brought in to aid in planning the scenario and suggested seven psychological steps of initiation (origins, childhood, confident, youth, the desert, the battle with the dragon, death, and ascent or celebration through death). Low was committed to ''In the Labyrinth'' and declined an offer to work on '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. NFB animator

Ryan Larkin Ryan Larkin (July 31, 1943 – February 14, 2007) was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic Oscar-nominated short ''Walking'' (1968) and the acclaimed '' Street Musique'' (1972). He was the subject of th ...

also designed animated sequences for the film. Scenes for the exhibition were filmed in the United Kingdom, United States, Ethiopia, Japan, Cambodia, Greece, India, Soviet Union, Canada, and India. The project cost $4.5 million (). The first room included eight balconies, five theatre sound systems, and 288 speakers. The second room was a M-shaped maze with disorienting elements. The third room had five screens in the form of a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

that was 9m x 13m. The pavilion was attended by 1.3 million people in 1967, and ran for 5,545 shows for six months. ''In the Labyrinth'' was re-issued in a single-screen format in 1979. In May 2007, the NFB and the

Cinémathèque québécoise The Cinémathèque québécoise is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to preserve, document, film and television footage and related documents and artifacts for future use by the public. The Cinémathèque's collectio ...

presented an exhibition on the Labyrinth pavilion, marking the 40th anniversary of Expo 67. From September 18 to 30, 2017, during the 50th anniversary of Expo 67, the central square of

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

was the site of a multi-screen NFB installation ''Expo 67 Live'', partly inspired by ''In the Labyrinth''.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' stated that ''In the Labyrinth'' was "as special to Expo 67 as the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

was to the Paris Exposition of 1889", and ''

Film Quarterly ''Film Quarterly'', a journal devoted to the study of film, television, and visual media, is published by University of California Press. It publishes scholarly analyses of international and Hollywood cinema as well as independent film, including d ...

'' stated that it was "the most ambitious architectural-film relationship of all".

Legacy

Observers from Japan, the host of

Expo '70 The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

, were sent to see ''In the Labyrinth'' and Low was invited to advise. Kroitor and

Donald Brittain Donald Code Brittain, (June 10, 1928 – July 21, 1989) was a film director and producer with the National Film Board of Canada. Career ''Fields of Sacrifice'' (1964) is considered Brittain's first major film as director. His other notable ...

, as producer and director respectively, created a film for the event. Kroitor, Graeme Ferguson, Robert Kerr, and William Shaw worked on a camera and projector system through their company

IMAX Corporation IMAX Corporation is a Canadian theatre company which designs and manufactures IMAX cameras and projection systems as well as performing film development, production, post-production and distribution to IMAX-affiliated theatres worldwide. Founded ...

. ''

Tiger Child ''Tiger Child'' ( ja, 虎の仔 ''Tora no ko'') was the first IMAX movie ever made. It was directed by Canadian filmmaker Donald Brittain and produced by Roman Kroitor and Kichi Ichikawa. It premiered at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan is a desig ...

'' was completed after two years of development and they started selling the screens. It inspired Canadian filmmaker

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

to apply similar techniques to his film '' The Thomas Crown Affair''.

References

Works cited

External links

* Watc
''In the Labyrinth''
at the NFB website *

Labyrinth pavilion
{{Imax National Film Board of Canada short films Canadian avant-garde and experimental short films Expo 67 Canadian black-and-white films Films directed by Colin Low (filmmaker) World's fair films Multi-screen film IMAX Films scored by Eldon Rathburn Films produced by Tom Daly Films directed by Roman Kroitor 1967 films 1960s Canadian films