A test of violence (1969)

Stuart Cooper's multiple prize-winning 1969 short about the work of Spanish artist Juan Genovés is the film that caught the attention of The Imperial War Museum's James Quinn and ultimately led to Cooper's direction of Overlord. It's not hard to see what sparked Quinn's interest and so impressed the juries at the Berlin, Moscow and Venice film festivals -- A Test of Violence is an inspired introduction to the work of this extraordinary artist, exploring its minimalist aesthetic and storytelling qualities through a variety of cinematic techniques, including animation, news footage and live action recreations. Superb.