"In 1 to 60 Seconds Iimura does an extraordinary thing: he abstracts time from any concrete associations, seems to put it on the screen and there you sit looking at (or for) it, experiencing it. The film is all black leader except for the numbers 1 to 60 that appear individually in sequence to indicate t he amount of time in seconds that each of them followed one second letter by a number or numbers indicate the total amount of time that has thus far transpired. So at each juncture you know beforehand how much time awaits you be fore the next and how much is behind you, and then it's just you and the black screen. And thereafter many things happen: you attempt to experience, say, twenty one seconds so accurately you will be ready for the 22, or you become impatient and bored, or you just feel time, fell the ongoingness. The film's as varied as time (for you) is and can be." – Paul Poggiali, The Soho Weekly News, New York, May 9, 1974
