Hours for Jerome is a 1982 American silent experimental film in two parts directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. The footage was shot between 1966 and 1970, but Dorsky shelved the material due to a creative block. He re-discovered it in 1978 and completed editing the film over a two-year period ending in July 1982, with a premiere on December 4, 1982.
The film captures daily events from Dorsky's life with his partner, artist Jerome Hiler, around Lake Owassa in rural New Jersey and in Manhattan. It is structured around the four seasons: Part 1 (21 minutes) depicts spring and summer across 28 stanzas, while Part 2 (24 minutes) depicts fall and winter across 38 stanzas. Each stanza is separated by black leader. The film has no soundtrack and no established narrative; images range widely, including people in parks, silhouettes at an aquarium, animals at a zoo, and landscapes.
The title evokes a traditional medieval book of hours, a devotional text with prayers recited at different times of the day. It also alludes to Saint Jerome, a common subject in illuminated manuscripts, while simultaneously referencing Jerome Hiler, the filmmaker's partner. Dorsky was influenced by the Limbourg brothers' illuminated manuscripts, the Belles Heures and Très Riches Heures.
Hours for Jerome represents Dorsky's earliest development of polyvalent (or autogenous) montage, an approach inspired by the paratactic style of poet John Ashbery. This technique creates a disjunctive sequence of images in which subtle resonances emerge across the film rather than through narrative or conjunctions.
Dorsky filmed with a Bolex 16 mm camera on Kodachrome II reversal stock. The film is silent and intended to be projected at 18–20 frames per second (rather than the standard 24 fps for sound film). Dorsky has insisted that the work remain exhibited only as a 16 mm film print and has not authorized digital distribution.
In 1998, the film was restored by Dorsky in collaboration with the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, during which some footage was slightly condensed.
Critical reception: The Village Voice critic J. Hoberman described the film as "frequently gorgeous" and compared it to romantic diary films by Warren Sonbert and Andrew Noren. Scott MacDonald called it "America's most compelling cinematic paean to temperate-zone seasonality."
Recognition: In 2012, Hours for Jerome was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Critic Matthew Flanagan selected it as one of the ten greatest films ever made for the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
