Phase IV

Curiously enough, the only feature film directed by Saul Bass – the ingenious credit sequence specialist – contains no credit sequences. The story begins in space, a shot of the sun emanating a solar flare. A colony of ants seem to have picked up a signal from the flare, something that shifts them up the evolutionary scale, something that gives them purpose, a desire to dominate the planet. At first they concentrate on eliminating their nearest threats: spiders, mice, lizards. Later, they direct their sole attention to the next most advanced creatures on the planet: us. The phases referred to in the film indicate the stages of evolution the ants go through to assert their dominance over mankind.
Bass has constructed the story around them so effectively that their obviously natural actions take on greater significance. There are several amazingly emotive scenes from the insects.
Phase IV is a uniquely composed masterpiece of surreal science-fiction. The film, as you might expect from the visually inventive Bass, is beautifully put together. There are segments of the film which feel like an art installation, they are so perfectly formed and individually defining. In particular, the scene where Kendra, Jim and the central ant intelligence merge, is a magical expressionistic collage of abstract images, reflections, cross-fades and superimpositions.