Luciano Emmer: Goya, Picasso, Leonardo

Luciano Emmer: Picasso (1954).

Luciano Emmer: Leonardo da Vinci (1952).

From: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia / Cineteca Nazionale.
E-subtitles in English and Italian.
Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Luciano Emmer 100: The Art of Gazing, 30 June 2018.

Before the show, two commercials by Emmer for Carosello: Lancrossi fabrics; Totò and a bank robber, were screened.

Paola Scremin (quoted in the Il Cinema Ritrovato catalog): "Luciano Emmer began working as a documentary filmmaker in 1938 and for twelve years, before turning his attention to the cinema, shot several documentaries, including some dedicated to art. Emmer is the pioneer of the ‘film on art’, rather than art documentaries as we normally understand them. Indeed, given the cinematic nature of his narratives, it is appropriate to talk about them as real fiction."

"Ever since his debut, Emmer demonstrated an almost ‘experimental’ approach to cinematic writing: the rapid montage, sinuous camera movements, and even one-shot sequences, animations and audacious and innovative pictorial details bestowed the paintings with a markedly ‘realist’ value and earned his films the label of ‘naturalism’. In the Giotto of Racconto di un affresco, Emmer frames a detail of a face painted by Beato Angelico to evoke a particular state of mind. "

"Rejecting a purely scholarly approach, he transformed the paintings into virtual sets, suitable for a mise-en-scène. For this reason, too, at the end of the Forties, the main protagonists of his stories were great ‘narrators’ like Giotto, Bosch, Simone Martini, Paolo Uccello, Beato Angelico, Botticelli, Piero della Francesca and Carpaccio." [...]

"However, from the perspective of the theoretical debate around film technique in the art documentary – a debate promoted by the critic Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti – Luciano Emmer’s films on art did not emerge particularly well. Only the art historian Lionello Venturi and André Bazin understood that the fundamental contribution of Emmer’s ‘films on art’ was their ability to communicate on multiple levels: both to the general audiences who filled post-war cinemas in search of escapism and to the film specialists concerned with the relationship between form and content. [...]"

"Emmer always sought out unique subtleties and this is typical of the discretion which is integral to his cinema. In 1948, he asked Jean Cocteau to write and narrate a commentary for Carpaccio’s Sant’Orsola; and in 1950 he got Andrés Segovia to perform music by Albéniz, Torroba and Tárrega on the guitar for Goya, occasionally even shooting his hands as he played. "

"By 1952, Emmer was already an established filmmaker. Leonardo won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The filmmaker had managed to animate Leonardo’s drawings to create the magical impression of a maturing oeuvre. In 1954 he made Picasso documenting the exhibitions in Roma and Milano and for this project, he wanted to meet the most acclaimed and talked-about artist of the time. Thus Picasso appeared, for the first time, on Italian screens, in the guise of both man and artist, while he sketched his dove of peace in real time. "

– Paola Scremin, Luciano Emmer e il film sull’arte, in Omaggio a Luciano Emmer, Regione Siciliana, 1999.

AA: Ever since I read André Bazin's essays "Peinture et cinéma" and "Un film Bergsonien: Le Mystère Picasso" I have been looking forward to see Luciano Emmer's classic art documentaries. (They are available on dvd, but I can wait for years to see films on screen). I love Alain Resnais's art documentaries, inspired by Emmer. In fact, Emmer's art documentaries inspired Resnais to become a film-maker. They were an inspiration for the Italian, French and Belgian schools of art documentaries. Emmer's insight is generally that once we enter the world of the paintings we stay there and explore the painter's world focusing on the paintings themselves. Unfortunately the quality of the prints did not do justice to the painters, Emmer, or his wonderful cinematographers, including Mario Bava.

In Il Cinema Ritrovato's Luciano Emmer retrospective also the documentaries Racconto da un affresco (1940, on Giotto), Paradiso terrestre (1940–1946, on Bosch), Il cantico delle creature (1943, on Giotto), Venise et ses amants (1948, on Venice), Isole nella laguna (1948, on Venice), La leggenda di Sant'Orsola (1948, on Carpaccio), and I'invenzione della croce (1948, on Piero della Francesca) were screened as pre-films.

Francisco Goya, Capricho n.º 43, «El sueño de la razón produce monstruos»; penna e inchiostro su carta, 23×15,5 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Title: The sleep of reason produces monsters (No. 43), from Los Caprichos. Object type: Print. Date: 1799. Medium: Etching with aquatint and other intaglio media, 1st. ed. Height: 188.98 mm (7.44 in); Width: 149.10 mm (5.87 in).

GOYA. LA FESTA DI SANT’ISIDORO. Director: Luciano Emmer. Year: 1950. Country: Italia. F.: Mario Bava. Prod.: Sergio Amidei per Colonna Film. 35 mm. D.: 8’. Bn.
    AA: A spiritual biography of Goya. The camera enters the painter's world unconditionally: a world of secret beauty and horror, a sense of the grotesque, a blessed door of heaven, the horrors of the 1808 war against Napoleon. The Spanish court as a gallery of grotesques. The Duchess of Alba, clothed and nude. La vida es sueño, as in Calderón. Andrés Segovia plays classic Spanish tunes for Emmer, and a glimpse of his playing is filmed in the same way as Carol Reed filmed Anton Karas for the credit sequence of The Third Man. This music score was my favourite at Il Cinema Ritrovato, together with the Chaconne theme of When Tomorrow Comes. (And I was naturally inspired to listen to Segovia's sublime guitar interpretation of the Chaconne, as well). Visual quality modest.

Pablo Picasso: La Vie. 1903. Oil on canvas. Cleveland Museum of Art.

PICASSO. Director: Luciano Emmer. Year: 1954. Country: Italia. Testo: Renato Guttuso, Antonello Trombadori, Antonio Del Guercio. F.: Giulio Giannini. Mus.: Roman Vlad. Prod.: Sergio Amidei per Rizzoli. 35 mm. D.: 44’. Col. French version.
    AA: The commentary is a bit hagiographic in this beautiful tribute to Picasso, inspiring for educational purposes as well as for Picasso converts. We meet Picasso in the process of creation and get a wonderful résumé of his artistic development with its several different periods. It's a good idea to screen Goya and Picasso back to back thanks to their significant connections. We follow the colombe motif through all the periods. In the finale we return to Picasso creating today. The child inside is alive. "Je ne cherche pas. Je trouve". The commentary is overdone in this otherwise beautiful film which may have inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot for Le Mystère Picasso (1956). The print is not brilliant.

Leonardo da Vinci: Codex Windsor. A page showing Leonardo's study of a foetus in the womb. Royal Library, Windsor Castle. Created: circa 1510-13.

LEONARDO DA VINCI. Director: Luciano Emmer. Year: 1952. Country: Italia. Anim.: Luciano Emmer. F.: Mario Craveri. Mus.: Roman Vlad. Testo: Gian Luigi Rondi. Voce: Gino Cervi. Prod.: Luciano Perugia per Documento Film. 35 mm. D.: 47’. Bn. Italian version
    AA: A wonderful and original educational film on Leonardo, an inspired résumé on his life and works. Emmer's interpretation of Leonardo's notebooks is particularly engrossing, including animation. A filmed essay on the enigmatic genius. This bad black and white print of a Gevacolor film does not do justice to Leonardo or Emmer.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: COMMENTS FROM PUNTO DE VISTA, JORGE OTER AND CECILIA CRISTIANI:

Wu jiaqi / Spoiling the Wedding Day

Wu jiaqi / Spoiling the Wedding Day. Han Fei (Xiao Laba) and Li Lihua (Ah Cui). On a blind date they immediately discover they are childhood friends. But they cannot marry because there is no place for newlyweds to stay.

誤佳期 / [Matrimonio rimandato]
    Directors: Zhu Shilin, Bai Chen. Year: 1951. Country: Hong Kong.
    Scen.: Lu Jue. F.: Cao Jinyun. M.: Wang Chaoyi. Scgf.: Bao Tianming. Mus.: Li Houxiang, Chun Zhi. Int.: Han Fei (Xiao Laba), Li Lihua (Ah Cui), Li Ciyu (Wang Dagu), Lan Qing (la madre), Liu Lian (Wang Dasao), Jiang Ming (il padre), Ren Yizhi (A Ying). Prod.: Longma yingpian gongsi. DCP. D.: 110’. Bn.
    Mandarin version with French subtitles.
    DCP from Centre de Documentation sur le Cinéma Chinois (Paris).
    DCP provided by Wu Xingzai and deposited at CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.
    E-subtitles in English and Italian by Sub-Ti Londra.
    Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, The Rebirth of Chinese Cinema (1941-1951), 30 June 2018.

Tony Rayns (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Director Zhu Shilin came under professional and political attack in Shanghai after the war and moved to Hong Kong – soon followed by his friend and collaborator Fei Mu. His work in Hong Kong’s nascent Mandarin-language film industry (most of it for leftist companies) ranged from historical dramas and earnest literary adaptations to sprightly comedies, the latter reflecting his long-time enthusiasm for Lubitsch movies. Case in point: Wu Jiaqi, which combines the ‘shining through’ qualities of the pre-war Shanghai classic Malu Tianshi (Street Angel, Yuan Muzhi, 1937, itself influenced by Borzage movies) with some smart, inventive plot twists and turns that are clearly indebted to Lubitsch. The direction is co-credited to Bai Chen, but no-one doubts that Zhu was the auteur."

"Fellow refugees from the mainland film industry Li Lihua and Han Fei star as tough-minded factory girl Cui and a naïve young trumpet-player respectively. Friends in childhood, they meet again as adults and decide to marry – only to face unforeseen obstacles every time they name the day. There is little or no reference to the realities of Hong Kong life in 1951 (in Hong Kong almost everyone speaks Cantonese!), which confirms that the story remains rooted in a Shanghai sensibility. In fact, as the mainland’s new government moved to bring film production under complete state control in the early 1950s, films like this represented a direct continuation of the Shanghai traditions that were being superseded in China." Tony Rayns

Marie Claire Kuo and Kuo Kwan Leung: "Wu Jiaqi was directed by Zhu Shilin and Bai Chen. It was set in Hong Kong just after the War. The main protagonists were two young lovers, interpreted by Li Lihua and Han Fei. The girl was called Ah Cui and her fiancé held the nickname of ‘Little Trumpet’ (Xiao Laba), because he plays the trumpet. It is a clin d’œil to the character played by Zhao Dan in the famous Street Angel. Both of them were workers and because they were very poor, which was the situation of many refugees at that time in Hong Kong, their marriage was always postponed by some material difficulties. When he saw the film, Georges Sadoul said it reminded him of Il tetto by Vittorio De Sica (1956). It is true that the film has a flavor of neo-realism, although at that time, in Shanghai as in Hong Kong, Chinese directors knew very little of Italian cinema. Wu Jiaqi is a charming comedy in which the influence of Lubitsch can also be felt, full of good spirit and very merry, even if, as in a De Sica film, the optimism of the protagonists is sometimes mixed with bitterness. It is one of the best films Zhu Shilin (1899–1967) made in Hong Kong. He was a famous writer and director in Shanghai in the 1930s and early 1940s. He went to Hong Kong in 1946 and worked for several movie companies, first at Dazhonghua, then at Yonghua where he made Qing Gong Mishi (Secret History of the Qing Court) in 1948. Later he joined Longma and Fenghuang where he directed some of his most significant films." Marie Claire Kuo and Kuo Kwan Leung

AA: The blind date meeting at the tea house is good-humoured. It immediately turns out that the partners are childhood friends. Yet they are shy in a funny way. The grip of the directors Zhu Shilin and Bai Chen is assured in a restless, bustling sequence.

Wu jiaqi is a comedy of hardships. The guy Xiao Laba (Han Fei) is a trumpetist, a wedding player but he cannot wed himself because every time there are obstacles that make marriage impossible. Most seriously, there is no place for the newlyweds to live. A highlight of the movie is a rousing montage of building a room for the young lovers. Alas, it is immediately demolished as it was built without permission on land in development.

The father is a construction worker, but he falls from the scaffold and is badly injured. Nevertheless, he offers his own room to the young ones, but when he is found sleeping on the street that plan is discarded.

Just when the adversity starts to seem daunting the girlfriends of Ah Cui (Li Lihua) join forces and collect funds to prepare a room for the couple. There is a happy wedding celebration.

"We poor folk must look on the support of others. If we count on individual effort we never go anywhere. Stick together, help each other."

Xiao Laba finally gets to play in his own wedding. He plays "Solidarity Forever" (the same tune as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") which we also heard two days ago in John M. Stahl's When Tomorrow Comes (1939); the connection is meaningful. "Solidarity, my sisters. Unity is strength".

The DCP has been created from difficult sources, and there is even video static for a while.

One More Spring (MoMA restoration)

One More Spring. Roger Imhof (Michael Sweeney), Warner Baxter (Jaret Otkar), Janet Gaynor (Elizabeth Cheney), and Walter Woolf King (Morris Rosenberg). Mr. Sweeney, the park maintenant man, lets these outcasts stay over the winter in the stable. Jaret  and Morris have carried "Napoleon's bed" from Jaret's bankrupt antiques house. Mr. Sweeney at first has difficulty allowing Elizabeth to join. Photo: MoMA.

One More Spring with Janet Gaynor. Photo: Il Cinema Ritrovato.

Ritornerà primavera.
    Director: Henry King. Year: 1935. Country: USA.
    Sog.: dal romanzo omonimo di Robert Nathan. Scen.: Edwin Burke. F.: John F. Seitz. M.: Harold D. Schuster. Scgf.: Jack Otterson. Mus.: Arthur Lange. Int.: Janet Gaynor (Elizabeth Cheney), Warner Baxter (Jaret Otkar), Walter Woolf King (Morris Rosenberg), Grant Mitchell (Mr. Sheridan), Jane Darwell (Mrs. Sweeney), Roger Imhof (Mr. Sweeney), Rosemary Ames (Miss Weber). Prod.: Winfield R. Sheehan per Fox Film Corporation. DCP. D.: 87’. Bn.
    Not released in Finland.
    Restored by MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation with funding provided by George Lucas Family Foundation.
    DCP from MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art.
    Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, William Fox Presents: Rediscoveries from The Fox Film Corporation, 30 June 2018.

Dave Kehr (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "One of the last films to be released by Fox Film Corporation before the financially endangered studio merged with Darryl Zanuck’s independent 20th Century Pictures, One More Spring was a personal project for its director, Henry King, who considered it “probably his best picture, in a way”, according to a 1937 interview in the “New York Times”. Adapted from a literary novel by Robert Nathan, the film is set in a studio stylized Central Park, where a tool shed becomes a shelter against the raging Depression for a group of assorted outcasts – including an unemployed actress (Janet Gaynor), a bankrupt antiques dealer (Warner Baxter), a Jewish musician in exile from Hitler’s Europe (Walter Woolf King) and a banker who has defaulted on his depositors (Grant Mitchell). Staged with King’s characteristic simplicity and sincerity, this gently uplifting comedy has some of the flavor of the Popular Front film emerging simultaneously in France, imagining unexpected alliances across class barriers in the face of economic devastation (“The photoplay”, sniffed the “New York Times”, “is abnormally kind to the banking profession, revealing its members as misunderstood altruists whose hearts crack with sympathy when their savings institutions fail”). Filmed as the Depression was taking a new, freshly devastating downturn, the film’s minimalistic settings seem also to reflect the economic reality of Fox Film, as the leaderless studio drifted through its final year of existence." Dave Kehr

AA: A Fox retrospective would be incomplete without a film by Henry King, the house director of the company from 1930 until the end of his career.

In the female lead is the big Fox star Janet Gaynor whom Frank Borzage and F. W. Murnau had directed in some of the greatest romantic films of all times. In sound films, Henry King had already directed her in Merry Mary Ann, State Fair, and Carolina. Soon, when Fox merged with 20th Century, Gaynor was superseded in A-list stardom by Loretta Young and Shirley Temple.

In the leading male roles are Warner Baxter (Dr. Samuel A. Mudd in The Prisoner of Shark Island) and Walter Woolf King (Rudolfo Lasparri in A Night at the Opera).

It's a romantic fairy-tale from the deepest Depression, to be compared with Borzage and Capra, but with a different flavour. Henry King had his own sober approach, in which some have discovered "a style without style".

In this series we have seen several Pre-Code films from Fox Film Corporation, but since 1 July 1934 all films in general theatrical release in the U.S. needed a Seal of Approval from the Production Code Administration (PCA), an office of self-regulation of the American film industry.

Under the impact of the PCA all references to Elizabeth's activities as a streetwalker were omitted. (While the question inevitably lingers).

As Dave Kehr observes in his remarks there is an affinity with the French Popular Front cinema in the emphasis on solidarity, "one for all, all for one". They have nothing, yet they help each other, and everybody wins.

There is also an affinity with Chaplin in this movie.

A brilliant DCP from MoMA.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM AFI CATALOG:

Holy Matrimony

Holy Matrimony. Una O'Connor (Sarah Leek), Gracie Fields (Alice Chalice, married to who whe believes is Henry Leek), Monty Woolley (Priam Farll posing as Henry Leek). Sarah makes an accusation of bigamy. "I hope there are not more of them", states Alice to her husband after she has scared the real Leek family away.

Eläköön avioliitto / Leve äktenskapet / Una moglie in più.
    Director: John M. Stahl. Year: 1943. Country: USA.
    Sog.: dal romanzo Buried Alive [1908] di Arnold Bennett [in Finnish: Elävältä haudattu, 1921]. Scen.: Nunnally Johnson. F.: Lucien Ballard. M.: James B. Clark. Scgf.: James Basevi, J. Russell Spencer. Mus.: Cyril J. Mockridge. Int.: Monty Woolley (Priam Farll), Gracie Fields (Alice Chalice), Laird Cregar (Clive Oxford), Una O’Connor (Sarah Leek), Alan Mowbray (signor Pennington), Franklin Pangborn (Duncan Farll), George Zucco (signor Crepitude), Eric Blore (Henry Leek). Prod.: 20th Century-Fox. 35 mm. D.: 93’. Bn.
    Print from 20th Century Fox.
    Courtesy of Park Circus.
    Introduce Ehsan Khoshbakht.
    Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Immortal Imitations: The Cinema of John M. Stahl, 30 June 2018

Ehsan Khoshbakht (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "In 1905, Priam Farll, a nationally celebrated English painter who has been living in seclusion on a remote tropical island, is drawn back to civilisation having received notice from the king of England that he is to be honoured with a knighthood. Upon his arrival in London, Farll’s loyal valet Leek unexpectedly dies. By a curious mix of honest mistake and mischief, Farll swaps his identity for the dead valet’s, which leads to chaos, confusion and trickery. All attempts to correct are ineffective: people believe what they want to believe."

"Holy Matrimony is a supreme variation on Stahl’s favourite theme of concealed or mistaken identities. Here the secrecy is twofold. Despite their amiable relationship, Farll is oblivious to the married Leek’s correspondence with another woman, a widow named Alice Chalice, whom he meets at his ‘funeral’ at Westminster. Alice is also kept in the dark about the true identity of the man she meets, having only seen a photograph of the painter and the valet together beforehand."

"While comic touches are never absent in Stahl’s work, even in his sombre melodramas, here, unlike less successful comedic efforts such as Our Wife (1941, screwball comedy/melodrama) and Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949, musical/comedy), Stahl’s economical and invisible style is close to perfection."

"The film is aided by a superb cast. Monty Woolley, who repeats some of the earlier success he had with The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1942), is wonderful as the fussy, arrogant artist who gradually comes to earth and learns to like more than just himself. As is Gracie Fields as the strong-willed Alice, who tames and charms Farll. A personal favourite of screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, the same story had previously been filmed at least three times under the titles The Great Adventure (1915 and 1921) and His Double Life (1933)." Ehsan Khoshbakht

AA: At Twentieth Century-Fox John Stahl expanded his horizon to new genres and discovered new kinds of stars. In 1943 he directed a war film (Immortal Sergeant) and a comedy (Holy Matrimony).

Nunnally Johnson's brilliant screenplay based on the novel by Arnold Bennett is directed with a good sense of humour by Stahl. The film is story-driven and character-driven. The humour arises both from situations and characters.

Priam Farll is England's greatest living painter, but he wants to live in peace, hates public attention and is grateful for being presumed dead. Yet he is profoundly moved when he attends his own funeral as a gate-crasher in Westminster Abbey and cries so loud at the wonderful eulogy that he disturbs the ceremony.

Alice Chalice has been in romantic correspondence with Henry Leek, Farll's valet, whose identity Priam has assumed. Alice immediately takes command of the relationship, steers Farll ingeniously back to the Abbey as a guest of honour, and fields impeccably the intrusion of the family of the real Henry Leek. They create a happy home together although Alice does not know who her husband is.

That insight makes the comedy of Holy Matrimony special. When Alice and Priam meet in front of Westminster Abbey they are perfect strangers. But immediately they become partners in non-conformism, and that is a good point to start. Priam is very happy that Alice does not know who he is in public life. Their holy matrimony is based on their happiness as private human beings.

Complications arise when Priam cannot stop painting, and his paintings start to leak back to the marketplace. Alice has no sense of art, and even in this dimension she does not know who her husband is, but that, too, is fine with Priam, who wants to separate his public life from his private life. For Alice 15 pounds is a high price for a painting whose actual market value is 5000 pounds.

The film is also a satire of the art market. A fine painting may be worth little, but when there is a master's signature, there is a 10 000% profit. Accusations of forgery lead to a trial, and Priam finally must come back from the dead. He also has to give up his happy home in Putney, but together with Alice they move to Australia.

"Home is where the heart is" is the final motto of this conventional and unconventional story.

Holy Matrimony introduces to me two great performers, Monty Woolley and Gracie Fields, whose work I know previously from supporting roles only. Their performances are wonderfully original, humoristic and surprising. Holy Matrimony is also a film with a consistently great cast where everybody seems to be relishing their parts.

A fine print from 20th Century Fox.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM AFI CATALOG:

1898: Anno Tre: Sujets composés or Scènes de Genre. La Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ (Lumière)

Le Tentation de Saint Antoine (1898) with Georges Méliès as Saint Antoine and Jehanne d'Alcy as Temptation.

Grand piano: Mie Yanashita.
Introduce: Béatrice de Pastre (CNC).
    Sala Mastroianni, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, 29 June 2018.

CAPITOLO 3: SUJETS COMPOSÉS O SCENE DI GENERE
CHAPTER 3: SUJETS COMPOSÉS OR SCÈNES DE GENRE

Registi del 1898: Hatot e Breteau
Directing films in 1898: Hatot and Breteau

Mariann Lewinsky (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Georges Hatot and Gaston Breteau (or Bretteau) directed scores of vues Sujets composés (also Scènes de genre) on behalf of Frères Lumière in 1897 and of Léon Gaumont & Co. in 1898. Moreover Breteau begins to appear in the account books of Pathé Frères in 1898, paid for prises cinematographiques and would continue to work for Pathé Frères until 1904, as we know from the detailed history of the enterprise by Stéphanie Salmon, Pathé: À la conquête du cinéma (1896-1929)."

"Breteau and Hatot, who directed, edited and sold films on a contractual basis to several companies, were key figures in these early years of cinematography. They had worked together at the Théâtre de l’Odéon as stage coordinators and engaged an eminent set designer and scene painter, Marcel Jambon (1848-1908), for their cinematographic productions."

"It was Jambon who created the sets for the series of Vues historiques directed by Hatot in 1897 on behalf of the Frères Lumière and for the Life of Christ of 1898 (“after famous paintings of religious art”); these would be used again for the Passion series Breteau directed for Gaumont in 1899. Breteau also acted: he appears on-screen as Jesus Christ in the Lumière series and as the woman smuggling ham and roast chicken under her skirt in L’Utilité des Rayons X."

"The Frères Lumière added ‘genre scenes’ directed by Hatot and Breteau and often shot by Alexandre Promio, such as Barbe-Bleue or Jeanne d’Arc, to add variety to their catalogue. Pathé Frères and Gaumont in 1898 were suppliers of photographic and phonographic merchandise. In 1898 the two companies bought films from the external cinématographistes Hatot and Breteau a ‘software’ for their apparatuses; they would venture into film production seriously only later." Mariann Lewinsky

Barbe-Bleue. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 946. Barbe-Bleue s’apprête à décapiter son épouse qui a découvert son secret, mais deux hommes l’en empêchent. Opérateur: inconnu. Date: [1897] - 20 novembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Programmée le 20 novembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous son titre (Lyon républicain, 20 novembre 1898). Technique: [Décorateur : Marcel Jambon]. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 copie Lumière. Lieu: décor. Objet: costumes.

BARBE-BLEUE. Catalogo Lumière n . 946, Gaston Breteau, Francia, 1898 Scgf.: Marcel Jambon. Prod.: Lumière DCP. D.: 1’  Da: Cinémathèque française (coll. Olivier Auboin-Vermorel)  Digitalizzato nel 2015 in 4K da Cinémathèque française e Institut Lumière a partire da un nitrato 35 mm con perforazioni Lumière conservato da Cinémathèque française / Digitalized in 2015 in 4K by Cinémathèque française and Institut Lumière from a nitrate 35 mm print with Lumière perforations preserved at Cinémathèque française. – AA: Fiction, fairy-tale, horror. Pochoir colour. Bluebeard is about to behead his wife who has revealed his secret.

Exécution de Jeanne d’Arc. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 964. Jeanne d’Arc est amenée devant l’évêque Cauchon puis installée sur le bûcher. Titre issu du Catalogue des vues - Septième Liste. Opérateur: inconnu. Date: [1897] - 20 novembre 1898. Lieu: France, [Paris]. Projections: Programmée le 20 novembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous son titre (Lyon républicain, 20 novembre 1898). Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 contretype Lumière. Lieu: décor. Objet: costumes.

EXÉCUTION DE JEANNE D’ARC Catalogo Lumière n . 964, Gaston Breteau, Francia, 1898  T. int.: Execution of Joan of Arc. Prod.: Lumière DCP. D.: 1’. Col Da: Cinémathèque française (coll. Olivier Auboin-Vermorel) Restaurato nel 2015 da Cinémathèque française e Institut Lumière a partire da un positivo nitrato 35 mm imbibito e colorato a mano con perforazioni Lumière / Restored in 2015 by Cinémathèque française and Institut Lumière from a positive nitrate 35 mm print tinted and hand-colored with Lumière perforations. – AA: Fiction, a historical moment. Possibly the earliest film on Jeanne d'Arc. Jeanne d'Arc is brought to Bishop Cauchon and taken to the stake. Pochoir colour.

Serie: La Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ
Series: La Vie et La Passion de Jésus-Christ

Dominique Moustacchi (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Louis and Auguste Lumière shot fiction as soon as the Cinematograph came into being, producing everyday domestic scenes performed and recorded, either at home in Lyons’ Monplaisir neighbourhood or in the family’s holiday villa at La Ciotat on the south coast, from 1895 onwards. During these early years, however, through 1896 and 1897, ‘drama’ occupied only a very small proportion of the company’s catalogue. It was not until 1898 that the genre took off. That year, fully one third of the films produced fell into this category, as awareness of competition from Pathe Frères and Léon Gaumont & Cie grew. Having produced various comic shorts and historical tableaux or reconstructions, the Lumière Bros company then decided to embark on a major series called La Vie et La Passion de Jésus-Christ (‘Life and Passion of Jesus Christ’) in 13 tableaux. This was shown at Lyons over the Christmas period and again during the 1899 Easter season. Michelle Aubert & Jean-Claude Seguin’s catalogue raisonné, La Production cinématographique des frères Lumière (published by BiFi –Editions Mémoires de cinéma, 1996), credits Alexandre Promio as sole camera operator, though it seems the series was in fact directed by Georges Hatot, with Marcel Jambon as production designer and Promio as cameraman. Such an arrangement would represent a step forwards in the Lyons-based company’s production mode, considering that camera operators had previously worked alone, with the occasional help of an assistant. Thus, with this first team the Cinematograph, originally designed for individual use, became cinema, a collective undertaking." Dominique Moustacchi

LA VIE ET LA PASSION DE JÉSUS-CHRIST
Francia, 1898. Regia: [Georges Hatot]. Operatore: [Alexandre Promio]. Int.: Gaston Breteau (Gesù). Prod.: Frères Lumières. 35 mm. – AA: One of the earliest multi-shot Passion Plays of the cinema, conveyed with a tableaux vivants approach, respecting conventions established in pictorial presentations of the life of the Christ. Gaston Breteau was one of the first portrayers of Jesus Christ on the screen, together with Frank Russell in The Passion Play of Oberammergau (US 1898, PC: Edison, D: Henry C. Vincent). Soon to be followed by many other production companies. There is a reverent power in this series, a sense of a mission in translating millennia of holy visual legacy to a new born medium. The syntax is primitive, yet with a true sense of both the human and the sacred. - At the same time, as always, there is a current of blasphemy, of transgressing the image ban.

La Passion I. L’Adoration des Mages. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 933. “Dans l’intérieur de la crèche, la Vierge veille auprès de l’enfant Jésus. Un esclave vient annoncer à Joseph, qu’il précède les Rois conduits par l’Étoile auprès de l’enfant-né. Entrée des Rois mages, qui viennent se prosterner devant la Crèche et déposer au pied du Divin Enfant les dons en hommage qu’ils ont apportés avec eux.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre L'Adoration des mages (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 contretype Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 2 copies Edison. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: animal, comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

I. L’Adoration des Mages (n . 933). – AA: The gestures of the Magi are telegraphed in the manger.

La Passion II. La Fuite en Égypte. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 934. “Joseph, conduisant dans le désert l’âne qui porte la Vierge et l’enfant Jésus, s’arrête au pied du Sphinx pour y passer la nuit. Après avoir installé la Vierge, il s’enroule dans son manteau et s’endort. Les soldats romains se précipitent pour s’emparer de la Vierge, mais apercevant tout à coup le Sphinx, emblème d’une divinité, ils tombent agenouillés pleins de terreur, pendant que Joseph éveillé se jette au-devant d’eux pour protéger la Vierge et son Enfant.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Fuite en Égypte (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 4 copies Lumière - 2 copies Edison. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

II. La Fuite en Égypte (n . 934) – AA: Modelled after Luc-Olivier Merson's painting as explained in Valentine Robert's Tableaux vivants show.

La Passion III. L’Arrivée à Jérusalem. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 935. “Une rue à Jérusalem : à gauche le palais d’Hérode. Arrivée de Jésus-Christ monté sur un âne. La foule agite des rameaux à son passage, tandis que les Apôtres étendent des étoffes sous les pieds de sa monture. Hérode, dans un geste de colère, fait éclater la jalousie qu’il ressent à la vue du triomphe de Jésus. Il demande à Judas de lui livrer le Christ qui bénit la foule agenouillée autour de lui.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Arrivée à Jérusalem (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 contretype Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 2 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898),

III. L’Arrivée à Jérusalem (n . 935) – AA: Starring Gaston Breteau, an early case of an actor portraying Jesus Christ on the screen.

La Passion IV. Trahison de Judas. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 936. “Intérieur du palais d’Hérode. Entrée d’Hérode qui mande Judas à son prétoire. Celui-ci promet de livrer enchaîné le Christ à Hérode qui lui remet pour prix de sa trahison un coffret d’argent. Sortie de Judas sur le dernier serment qu’il fait d’accomplir son ténébreux projet.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Trahison de Judas (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 1 copie Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

IV. Trahison de Judas (n . 936) – AA: The gestures are telegraphed to emphasize the betrayal.

La Passion V. Résurrection de Lazare. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 937. “On apporte sur un brancard le cadavre de Lazare. Sa femme éplorée a supplié le Christ de lui rendre son époux. Jésus s’avance alors auprès du cadavre et prononce ces paroles : “Lazare lève-toi”. Le cadavre s’anime et le mort ressuscite au milieu d’une foule émue par ce miracle et qui se prosterne aux pieds de celui qui vient de l’accomplir.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Résurrection de Lazare (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 2 copies Lumière - 1 copie Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

V. Résurrection de Lazare (n . 937) – AA: Jesus is portrayed as a great magician, a bit like Georges Méliès.

La Passion VI. La Cène. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 938. “Les Apôtres sont assemblés autour de la table lorsqu’apparaît soudain le Christ. Il leur partage le pain et le vin en disant : “Mangez, buvez, ceci est mon corps, ceci est mon sang”. Judas, placé à sa droite lui donne alors un baiser, qui attire de la part de Jésus ces mots : “Oh ! mes frères, il en est un de vous qui me trahit”. Mouvement de surprise et d’indignation de tous les apôtres qui protestent de leur fidélité, pendant que l’un d’eux placé à la gauche de Jésus l’embrasse en même temps que Judas se détourne de lui.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Cène (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur : Marcel Jambon - 2 plans par collure (trucage). Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 2 copies Lumière. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

VI. La Cène (n . 938) – AA: The model is Leonardo da Vinci.

La Passion VII. L’Arrestation de Jésus-Christ. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 939. “Jésus, entouré de Joseph, de la Vierge et de Marie-Magdeleine, repose dans la forêt. Il s’éveille au bruit de l’arrivée d’Hérode qu’accompagne Judas. Ce dernier désigne à Hérode celui qu’il lui a vendu. Entrée des soldats qui s’emparent de Jésus et l’enchaînent.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Arrestation de Jésus-Christ (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 1 copie Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

VII. L’Arrestation de Jésus-Christ (n . 939) – AA: Histrionic overacting as Judas points Jesus to Herod.

La Passion VIII. La Flagellation. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 940. “On amène à Hérode le Christ accompagné de Joseph et de Marie-Magdeleine. Jésus est attaché à la colonne placée au centre du prétoire, puis, sur l’ordre d’Hérode, un soldat frappe le Christ sur son refus de répondre à celui qui l’interroge. La Vierge et Marie-Magdeleine baisent la robe de Jésus pendant que Joseph implore en vain la pitié d’Hérode.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Flagellation (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 copie Lumière - 1 copie Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

VIII. La Flagellation (n . 940) – AA: Jesus whipped.

La Passion IX. Le Couronnement d’épines. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 941. “Un soldat, sur l’ordre d’Hérode, place sur le front du Christ une couronne d’épines, tandis que deux autres soldats apportent la croix dont ils forcent Jésus à se charger, en l’entraînant vers le lieu où il doit être crucifié.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Couronnement d'épines (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 4 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

IX. Le Couronnement d’épines (n . 941) – AA: The Crown of Thorns.

La Passion X. La Mise en croix. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 942. “Au début de ce tableau, des soldats sont occupés à mettre en croix deux voleurs condamnés à être crucifiés aux côtés de Jésus. Le Christ arrive chargé de sa croix. Il est dépouillé de ses vêtements et placé sur la Croix.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Mise en croix (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Technique: Décorateur : Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 5 copies Lumière - 3 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

X. La Mise en croix (n . 942) – AA: A powerful view as the nails are hammered through the arms.

La Passion XI. Le Calvaire. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 943. “Jésus est crucifié entre les deux voleurs. Celui de droite joint ses invectives à celles des soldats qui insultent le Christ en le défiant de se délivrer lui-même. Le bon larron placé à gauche demande au contraire à Jésus des consolations, en l’assurant de sa piété et de sa foi. Sur l’ordre d’un chef, un soldat présente au Christ une éponge imbibée de vinaigre. Mort du Christ qui expire après un dernier regard vers le ciel.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre Le Calvaire (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 3 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

XI. Le Calvaire (n . 943) – AA: Crucified between the two thieves, one scolding him, the other defending him.

La Passion XII. La Mise au tombeau. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 944. “Jésus est détaché de sa croix par les soldats, il est enseveli et déposé dans le Sépulcre dont les soldats replacent la pierre sur laquelle viennent se prosterner la Vierge et Marie-Magdeleine.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Mise au tombeau (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 1 contretype Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 3 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

XII. La Mise au tombeau (n . 944) – AA: The casket is heavy.

La Passion XIII. La Résurrection. Catalogue Lumière Vue N° 945. “Les soldats sont assemblés autour du Tombeau. Un chef romain leur rappelle qu’ils lui répondent du corps de Jésus. Les soldats s’endorment autour de la pierre sépulcrale, et, Jésus ressuscité, soulève la pierre et apparaît aux yeux de Marie-Magdeleine qui priait auprès du tombeau.” Opérateur: Alexandre Promio. Date: [1897] - 5 décembre 1898. Lieu: France, Paris. Projections: Déposée au Greffe du Conseil des Prud'hommes de la Ville de Lyon le 5 décembre 1898.Programmée le 25 décembre 1898 à Lyon (France) sous le titre La Résurrection (Le Progrès, 25 décembre 1898). Décorateur: Marcel Jambon. Eléments filmiques: négatif Lumière - 3 copies Lumière - 2 copies Edison. Pays: France. Ville: Paris. Lieu: décor. Genre: art, comédie, religion. Sujet: comédien. Objet: costumes. Séries: La Passion, Les scènes reconstituées tournées par Alexandre Promio (1898).

XIII. La Résurrection (n . 945) – AA: Jesus rises from the grave.

La Tentation de Saint Antoine / The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Star Film Catalogue no. 169.) is a 1898 French short black-and-white silent drama film, directed by Georges Méliès, featuring Anthony the Great being visited by seductive women to test his faith and piety. The film, "contains a familiar collection of Georges Méliès’ trademark jump-cut-triggered appearing and disappearing acts," but, according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "the overtly religious elements are entirely new." - Synopsis: Anthony the Great's devotions in a cave are disrupted by the sudden appearance of a young maiden who he banishes and returns to his prayer book. Two maidens then appear either side of him only to be quickly banished. The saint kisses a skull relic only for it to transform into a third woman, who is rejoined by the others to encircle him before vanishing. The saint kneels before an image of Christ on the cross only for this to transform into one of the maidens. He is finally saved by the appearance of an angel who returns all to normal. (Wikipedia).

LA TENTATION DE SAINT ANTOINE
Francia, 1898 Regia: Georges Méliès Int.: Georges Méliès, Jehanne d’Alcy Prod.: Star Film (n. 169) 35 mm. L.: 21 m. Bn Da: La Cinémathèque française
    AA: One of the first blasphemous works in film history. Visions of three wonderful women torment Saint Anthony. Even a skull and the Christ on the cross turn into seductive women. There is a direct line from here to Luis Buñuel and Simón del desierto.

Wo zhe Yibeizi / This Life of Mine / This Whole Life of Mine / Life of a Beijing Policeman

我这一辈子 / [Era la mia vita].
    Director: Shi Hui. Year: 1950. Country: Cina.
    Sog.: dal racconto The Life of a Peking Policeman di Lao She. Scen.: Yang Liuqing. F.: G Weiqing. M.: Fu Jiqiu. Mus.: Huang Yijun. Int.: Shi Hui (il poliziotto), Wang Min (sua moglie), Li Wei (suo figlio), Wei Heling (Zhao), Cui Chaoming (Sun), Shen Yang (Sun Yuan), Cheng Zhi (Huli), Lin Zhen (signora Qin). Prod.: Wenhua. 35 mm. D.: 109’. Bn.
    Print from Centre de Documentation sur le Cinéma Chinois (Paris).
    Print provided by Wu Xingzai and deposited at CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.
    Chinese version with French subtitles.
    E-subtitles in English and Italian by Sub-Ti Londra.
    Introduce Tony Rayns.
    Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, The Rebirth of Chinese Cinema (1941–1951), 29 June 2017.

Tony Rayns (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Trained in theatre from his teens, Shi Hui hit his stride as a film actor when he joined Wenhua in 1946. After taking both comic and serious roles in a string of movies, often playing characters significantly older than he actually was, he directed his first film in 1949. Wo zhe Yibeizi was his second film as director/star, adapted from a short story by the Peking novelist Lao She which has been translated as The Life of a Peking Policeman. Like the story, the film is narrated in the first person: the unnamed protagonist traces his life in flashbacks as he lies, destitute and dying, on the winter streets of Peking in the late 1940s. The account of forty turbulent years in the city’s early-20th-century history plays fast and loose with some of the facts for dramatic effect, but the film’s fidelity to the sights and sounds of Peking’s street-life through the decades is scrupulous."

"It’s a chronicle of defeats, the ‘little man’ buffeted by a succession of inhumane, authoritarian bosses, a policeman who looks for ‘natural justice’ but never finds it. The tone is often seriously gloomy. The production company Wenhua was still in private hands at the time, but the Shanghai authorities requested a more upbeat ending: hence the rather obviously tacked-on closing images of the policeman’s son (Li Wei, from Xiao Cheng zhi Chun) contributing to the communist victory. A big popular success in China, the film was invited to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival." Tony Rayns

Marie Claire Kuo and Kuo Kwan Leung: "Based on a story by Lao She, the film described the turbulent period of the first half of the 20th century, from the end of the Manchu dynasty until the establishment of the communist regime. Against the background of a series of major events over which they had no control, it depicted the suffering of ordinary people, and helped the spectators, Chinese or foreigners, have a better understanding of the birth of modern China."

"On one wintry night in Peking, an old beggar on the point of dying fell down on the pavement and his whole life came back to him. In a flashback he saw himself as a young policeman and he remembered all the extraordinary events that took place during his life: the fall of the Manchu dynasty and the foundation of the Republic; the conflicts between the war-lords; the students’ demonstrations against Japan’s ‘21 Demands’ in 1915; the reunification of China by Chang Kai-Shek in 1927 and the moving the capital to Nanking; the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and the declaration of war in 1937 after the Marco Polo bridge incident; the surrender of Japan in 1945, and the civil war from 1946 to 1949."

"Shi Hui played the main role in this first person story, moving from a fresh young man to a dying old man with an extraordinary veracity. His great talent as actor is demonstrated in all the films he has interpreted. We should not ignore that he was also an important director who continued to make films till 1957, but his promising career and life came to a sad end during the Anti-Rightist Campaign." Marie Claire Kuo and Kuo Kwan Leung

AA: I caught the first half of this fascinating film. Through the first person narrative of a Peking policeman we are invited to an epic account of Chinese history during many of its most dramatic turning-points. I regret having had to leave early to catch an Anno Tre screening. The print looks quite watchable.

Revolutionens datter / Daughter of the Revolution

Revolutionens datter: folkekomedie i 4 akter.
    Director: Ottar Gladtvet. Year: 1918. Country: Norvegia.
    Scen., F., M.: Ottar Gladtvet. Int.: Joh. Price (il proprietario terriero Dalton), Solveig Gladtvet (Claire Staalhammer), Waldemar Holberg (l’operaio Albert Fjeld), Fred Boston (Jack, il figlio di Dalton), Thomas Boston (Tommy, il figlio di Albert e Claire). Prod.: Gladtvet Film A/S 35 mm. L.: 910 m. D.: 44′ a 16 f/s. Imbibito / Tinted.
    Norwegian intertitles.
    Print from Nasjonalbibliotekket.
    E-subtitles in English and Italian by Sub-Ti Londra.
    Grand piano: Antonio Coppola. Alla batteria: Frank Bockius.
    Viewed at Sala Mastroianni, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cento anni fà: 1918, 29 June 2018.

Karl Wratschko (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Revolutionens datter is a love story by the Norwegian film pioneer Ottar Gladtvet. Gladtvet started his career as a projectionist and later became a cinema director, photographer, film director and founder of the production company Gladtvet Film A/S. Gladtvet made several commercials, documentaries, actualities / newsreels, and travelogues from Norway and exotic areas around the world. Revolutionens datter is his second fiction film and his only silent feature to survive."

"Claire is the beautiful daughter of the director of the steelworks. Revolutionaries from the steelworks storm the director’s estate during a strike, and the director is killed. Steelworker Albert Fjeld remembers that Claire helped him earlier, and he helps her to escape from the mob. She dresses up as a revolutionary and after several fistfights, they manage to escape, steal a boat and flee the country. On the run they meet an associate of Claire’s father (Mr. Dalton, a landowner) and stay with him. Mr. Dalton plans for Claire to marry his son Jack, especially when it becomes clear that she is the heir to her father’s millions. She promises to marry Jack if he can beat Albert in a boxing match. At first, the two fighters are evenly matched, but in the fourth round, Jack goes down. Claire admits her love to Albert, and they get married." (Karl Wratschko)

AA: Revisited Daughter of the Revolution which I last saw in 1999 in Sacile at the Nordic Explorations series of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, accompanied by Casper Tybjerg's illuminating introduction in the eponymous book.

The Finnish civil war in 1918 and its brutal aftermath had a shattering impact in other Nordic countries, also reflected in fiction films, most famously in Carl Th. Dreyer's Leaves from Satan's Book (1920). Daughter of the Revolution, which had its premiere already in October 1918, is one of these films.

It is a naive love story, but the vision of the workers of Kristiania (Oslo) on revolutionary rampage is startling. And this vision was created long before the classic views of Russian revolutionary cinema of the heroic period.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM WIKIPEDIA, NASJONALBIBLIOTEKKET, AND LE GIORNATE DEL CINEMA MUTO:

Wiederherstellung der Ordnung in Finnland durch finnische Weisse Garde und deutsche Truppen / [Restoration of Order in Finland by Finnish White Guards and German Troops]

Wiederherstellung der Ordnung in Finnland durch finnische Weisse Garde und deutsche Truppen. Photo: Bundesarchiv.

This photo in Wikipedia is not from the film but is from the same camera position as some shots in the film. Deutsche Soldaten der Ostsee-Division in einem Panzerzug, auf einer Bahnstrecke bei Lahti, Finnland im April 1918. Deutscher Panzerzug bei Lahti, Ende April 1918, die eingebauten Geschütze stammten von der „Aufklärungsabteilung Hamilton“ bzw. ihrem Autokanonenzug. Unbekannt - Verlag von K. F. Köhler, Leipzig 1920: Meine Sendung in Finnland und dem Baltikum. (Bestand: Reichsarchiv)

Järjestyksen palauttaminen Suomessa suomalaisen valkoisen kaartin ja saksalaisten joukkojen avulla
Suomen valkoinen armeija ja saksalaiset joukot palauttavat järjestyksen Suomeen v. 1918
    Year: 1918. Country: Germania.
    Prod.: Bild- und Filmamt (BuFA) / Ufa 35 mm. L.: 199 m (incompleto, l. orig.: 272 m). D.: 9′ a 20 f/s. Bn.
    Featuring: Ostsee-Division / Baltic Sea Division of the Imperial German Army under the command of Generalmajor Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz. Das Detachement Brandenstein (Landungsabteilung Brandenstein) war ein militärischer Verband, der vom Oberbefehlshaber Ost aufgestellt wurde. Der Verband unterstand dem Befehl von Oberst Otto von Brandenstein.
    The KAVI print is 244 m with Finnish intertitles.
    German intertitles.
    Print from Das Bundesarchiv.
    Grand piano: Antonio Coppola. Alla batteria: Frank Bockius.
    Viewed at Sala Mastroianni, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cento anni fà: 1918, 29 June 2018.

"The festivities to mark Finnish independence didn’t last long. As so often happens after new nations are born, various factions emerged from the woodwork to try and fill the power vacuum, and the country fell into a period of civil war which lasted five months, cost thousands of people their lives, and left the country bitterly divided for decades to come. On one hand there were the Reds, a working class movement armed and funded by the Russians which began a revolution in January 1918 aimed at creating a new Social Democratic Republic. And on other hand there were the Whites, a bourgeois movement which was funded and armed by Germany and which was determined to thwart the revolutionary Reds and seize power for themselves. As the title suggests, “Order Is Restored in Finland by the Finnish White Guard and the German Troops” is a propaganda piece which glorifies the fight against Communism by noble and brave Western Europeans – a common theme in many movies from this period. The film takes us on a ride across Finland in an armoured train. We see the German troops ‘restoring order’ (a speciality for which they are renowned throughout the world), as well as various battle scenes between the Whites and the Reds – battle scenes which, given the position of the camera, have obviously been staged for the occasion. Truth, as ever, is the first casualty of war, whilst no mention is made of the approximately 12,500 Reds who died of disease and malnutrition in internment camps." Karl Wratschko

AA: We saw a short version of this war propaganda newsreel shot by Bufa for the Imperial German Army. In it we see Finnish White Guards greeting German troops, White women at the canteen, "Panzerzug der 2. Pioniere zur Ausfahrt bereit" (the armoured train of the 2. Pioneers ready to go), German troops in an armoured train on its way to Lahti and Riihimäki, Germans fixing railway damage by the Red Guards, fighting the Red Guards, and taking prisoners.

In a longer version we see the armoured train in full action, German troops shooting from the moving train, and stopping for a more serious battle scene. The camera is often mobile either on the moving train or giving us a panoramic shot from the ground. Near Lahti we see an epic panoramic shot of captive Red Guards with their horses and vehicles. In another panoramic shot on a city square we see cannons seized from the Reds. Finally we see the Riihimäki barracks set on fire by the Reds. German troops next to the train participate in extinguishing the fire.

The camera position is ideal, the composition in depth excellent and the view of the action always clear and uncluttered. Only the Riihimäki fire cannot be staged.

The armoured train of the 2. pioneers belonged to Detachment Brandenstein "commanded by the German Baron Otto von Brandenstein, a 3,000 man unit which landed at Loviisa April 7, 1918. Its assigned mission was to cut the Reds' railway connections by attacking to the East, thus cutting the railway between Helsinki and Viipuri. The major operation for Detachment Brandenstein was the Battle of Lahti in 19 April – 1 May. Later the unit was attached to the Baltic Sea Division." (Wikipedia).

There was no Communist organization in Finland until after the civil war. The Finnish Communist Party was founded in Soviet exile.

Durch das malerische Finnland / [Through Picturesque Finland]

Durch das malerische Finnland (1918). The Punkaharju ridge. Photo: Bundesarchiv.

Durch das malerische Finnland. Punkaharju. Photo: Bundesarchiv, BArch_B 46867 1R.

Year: 1918. Country: Germania.
    Prod.: Bild- und Filmamt (BuFA) / Ufa 35 mm. L: 264 m. D.: 10′ a 22 f/s. Bn.
    German intertitles
    From: Das Bundesarchiv.
Viewed at Sala Mastroianni, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cento anni fà: 1918, 29 June 2018

"On the surface, ‘A Journey Through Picturesque Finland’ is a standard travelogue, no different than any of the other travelogues piled to the ceiling in archives throughout the world (and not much different from lots of YouTube content today). Viewers gets to experience the most impressive monuments and must-see places in a particular region from the comfort of their armchairs (or cinema seats), and maybe enough of them will actually head there for a holiday to offset the production costs. These kinds of films were enormously popular during the Early Cinema period and were already standard fare by 1918 – so why would we be showing it? As ever, context is king. After the collapse of Tsarist Russia, Finland emerged as an independent nation in 1917. By the time this film was released, a bloody civil war had begun which would cost in total about 35,000 people their lives. So please, sit back and soak in the views of a beautiful and blessed new-born nation, but remember: what the proud parents don’t say is just as telling as what they do." Karl Wratschko

AA: According to Jari Sedergren, this travelogue was shot in the summer of 1918 in Finland after the civil war, during the period when Finland was tightly connected with Germany. It could not have been earlier since until 1917 Finland was a part of Russia, at war with Germany.

The film is a classic selection of Finland's major sightseeing attractions.

The print on display looks like it has been duped in many generations.

BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: JARI SEDERGREN'S REMARKS:

Waqai sanawat al-djamr / Chroniques des années de braise / Chronicle of the Years of Fire (2018 restoration by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project)

وقائع سنين الجمر‎ / De glödande åren / Cronaca degli anni di brace.
    Director: Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. Year: 1975. Country: Algeria.
    Scen.: Rachid Boudjedra, Tewfik Fares, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. F.: Marcello Gatti. M.: Yussef Tobni. Mus.: Philippe Arthuys. Int.: Yorgo Voyagis (Ahmed), Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina (Milud), Leïla Shenna (moglie di Ahmed), Cheikh Nourredine (Si Larbi), Larbi Zekkal (Smaïl), Sid Ali Kouiret, Nadia Talbi, Taha El Amiri, Abdelhalim Rais, Brahim Hadjadj, Hassan El Hassani. Prod.: ONCIC (Office National Commerce Industrie Cinéma). DCP. D.: 157' and 177’. Col.
    Arabic and French version with English subtitles.
    Section Cinemalibero.
    DCP from The Film Foundation: World Cinema Project.
    Restored in 2018 by Cineteca di Bologna and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project at L’Image Retrouvée and L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratories. Restoration funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Restored in 4K from the original camera and sound negatives and a first generation 35 mm interpositive. Color grading supervised by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. This restoration is part of the African Film Heritage Project, created by The Film Foundation, FEPACI and Unesco in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna.
    E-subtitles in Italian by Sub-Ti Londra.
    Introduced by Cecilia Cenciarelli. In the presence of Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina after the show.
    Viewed at Sala Scorsese, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Cinemalibero, 29 June 2018.

Before the screening we were informed that the 157 minutes French cut preferred by the director would be screened. But in reality the 177 minutes Algerian cut was on display.

Guy Hennebelle: "No, Waqai sanawat al-djamr is not a Hollywood movie: what we disapprove of Hollywood cinema is not its spectacular quality, but the fact that it manipulates emotions, creates fictitious universes and it distils a flawed ideology (among other things). This is certainly not the case with Lakhdar Hamina’s film. We have a great need for anti-imperialist films to reply to the innumerable lies of imperialist films […]"

"No, Waqai sanawat al-djamr is not, as someone said lately, a politically moderate film. Nor is it correct to say that “this is a film that spare the French”, quite the opposite, what can be objected is that colonial society is more complex than it is represented here, however, that was not the purpose of the film. Hamina shows the Europeans as ‘we’ showed Native Americans or third world citizens in ‘our films’: from a distance. And if this film serves to bring France (once Giscardian) closer to Algeria, so much the better, since it’s clear that it does go to the detriment of the latter. If the official France believed that it was clever to award this film in Cannes, we must take advantage of this contradiction, as it will allow the French to get a clearer idea of what the Algerian people’s liberation war really was." Guy Hennebelle, “Ecran”, n. 40, 1975

Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina: "I tried to recount, with dignity and nobility, this uprising that then became the Algerian Revolution, an uprising not only against the coloniser, but against a certain human condition. I wanted to avoid any kind of Manichaean, caricatural and demagogic approach, which risked turning Waqai sanawat al-djamr into a sort of Western; good against evil, Algerians against French. What guided me was the quest for honesty: I looked inside myself for the honesty of a child, the eyes of the child I once was, the memories of my childhood. […] It would be a serious mistake to distinguish Algerian Cinema, the cinema of the Maghreb, from African Cinema. The cinema of the Third World is one – the Arab World, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia – as we share the same motivations, the same difficulties, and a common destiny, on an artistic level and on an expressive level. We have suffered hunger and thirst. We will reclaim our image." Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, interviewed by Claude Dupont, “Cahiers de la cinémathèque”, Summer 1975

Wikipédia: "Le film est composé en 6 chapitres :

    Les Années de Cendre
    Les Années de Braise
    Les Années de Feu
    L'Année de la Charrette
    L'Année de la Charge
    Le 1 novembre 1954

L'histoire du film commence en 1939 et se termine le 11 novembre 1954 et, à travers des repères historiques, démontre que le 1er novembre 1954 (date de déclenchement de la révolution Algérienne) n'est pas un accident de l'histoire, mais l'aboutissement d'un long processus, de souffrances, de combats d'abord politiques et puis militaires, qu'entreprit le peuple algérien contre le fait accompli qu'est la colonisation française débutant par un débarquement à Sidi-Ferruch le 14 juin 1830." 

AA: I sampled the brand new restoration of the Algerian epic which I have seen a long time ago and need to see again. The digital quality is bright and clear.