: "The film was developed during my daughter's early childhood. It's not about her, but it's a response to her questions about the world that implicitly challenge things we take for granted--the visual appearance of the world, ambiguities in language, the way we relate to each other" (Guy Sherwin). "Sherwin's hallmark is the direct, concentrated image which fully exploits the tonal range of black-and-white stock--a craft aspect of his films which stems from a thorough art training. This control is not at all rigid, since its purpose is to capture in the shot a certain kind of freedom and chance in the visible world... The landscapes of Messages are not pure and pastoral, the domestic scenes not narrow and private, nor the concern with childhood cloying or sentimental. It is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the few British avant-garde films to meditate seriously on the theme of language, to draw a curve in which mind, word and picture are subtly connected." (A. L. Rees, Monthly Film Bulletin)