Profoundly dissatisfied academy award nominee, dreaming of changing his life, psychoanalyzes himself and his relationship with the world.

In this short film by Norman McLaren, dancers enact the Greek tragedy of Narcissus, the beautiful youth whose excessive self-love condemned him to a trapped existence. Skilfully merging film, dance and music, the film is a compendium of the techniques McLaren acquired over a lifetime of experimentation.

Narcissus (from Greek Narkissos) shares the root nark-, with narcosis and narcotic. All these words have the same origin in the verb narkaō – to intoxicate through a strong smell. I was particularly interested to find out why a handsome and overall fortunate man says he never feels happy. He draws people in, but ends up hurting them, yet he is impossible to resist.

Pinku from 1967.

Documentary about the making of Powell and Pressburger's 1947 film "Black Narcissus."

Dreams is an American television series that aired in 1984-1985 for one season on CBS. It follows the story of a fictional rock band that tries to get a recording contract.

Four close friends with big dreams who live together in the slums struggle to overcome their lowly circumstances, and realise that the journey to greatness is one that must be bravely fought for.

Zhenya Zhuravleva is a freelance police officer. She helps solve crimes thanks to an incredible ability: she has visionary dreams in places where someone has died. Captain Makarov, who attracted her to work in the police, believes that this is a great gift. Zhenya herself considers her ability to be a curse. Zhuravleva only has to figure out if this is true, and at the same time figure out herself, comprehend the reason for the appearance of this ability and understand that her whole life is not what it seems.

This entry in MGM's Passing Parade series looks at the meaning of dreams, including one by Abraham Lincoln that foretold his death.