A Christian Science introduction ,that is ,as this short documentary film was written,directed ,photographed and narrated by King Vidor (a believer,oddly hiding under the name Nicholas Rodiv !?) ,and explains the religious slant and quotes from Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. We are told in this film - shot in Los Angeles around January 1965 - that the search for truth can be 'misdirected or sublimated in many ways' ,that consciousness equals the Universe and all we see and hear ,how we change things into thoughts ,how the mind is necessary to experience ,that 'truth' when found results in definite positive good ,before the question is posed as to whether experience is subjective or the result of external phenomena (something Vidor insists humanity must decide). It ropes into it's argument characters like Shakespeare ,Aristotle ,and even Cinema ,through 'persistence of vision' ,and disappearing cars and levitating oranges. Now if all this has a familiar Berkeleyish tone to it (the Bishop not the university) that's because this film - shot by Vidor and looking at times like a clumsy home movie - is a cinematic exposition of 'subjective idealism' ,where subjectivity appears to be taken to an illusory level. 'God' is synonymous with truth (or illusion, from another 'subjective' perspective) ,we have an idea about money which almost seems to say 'I think therefore i'm rich' ,that 'there is no out there' (apart from out there) ,and we are told that we create our own 'world of consciousness' ,so we can't blame others for the conditions we're suffering under - to which the obvious answer is that others create their 'worlds of consciousness' which interact and affect ours through things like war ,'racism' and so on. A mildly engaging but unconvincing diversion.
