Number Seventeen

No. 17 / Numero 17 / Talo numero 17. GB © 1932 British International Pictures Ltd. P: John Maxwell. D: Alfred Hitchcock. SC: Alma Reville, Alfred Hitchcock, Rodney Ackland – based on the play (1925) and the novel (1926) by J. Jefferson Farjeon. DP: John J. Cox / Jack E. Cox, Bryan Langley - early sound aperture 1,2:1. AD: Wilfred Arnold / C. Wilfred Arnold. M: A. Hallis / Adolph Hallis. S+ED: A. C. Hammond. S recordist: A. D. Valentine. C: Léon M. Lion (Ben), Anne Grey (Nora - the "deaf-mute" girl), John Stuart (Barton - the detective), Donald Calthrop (Brant - Nora's escort), Barry Jones (Henry Doyle), Ann Casson (Rose Ackroyd), Henry Caine (Mr. Ackroyd), Garry Marsh (Sheldrake). Studio: Elstree. 64 min. The film had no theatrical release in Finland. First telecast by MTV Finland on 17.5.1978. Finnish classification 81063 (SEA) - K12. A SFI-FA print viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Alfred Hitchcock), 20 Dec 2013

Main credit title shot: "British International Pictures Ltd. presents Number Seventeen by J. Jefferson Farjeon from the play Number Seventeen produced by Leon M. Lion".

Revisited a film which Alfred Hitchcock, himself, referred to as "a disaster".

Wikipedia synopsis: "The film is about a group of criminals who committed a jewel robbery and put their money in an old house over a railway leading to the English Channel, the film's title being derived from the house's street number. An outsider stumbles onto this plot and intervenes with the help of a neighbour, a police officer's daughter." Wikipedia also claims that the film had only been available in poor quality prints for decades.

Charles Barr, in English Hitchcock (1999), makes a case for Number Seventeen. Hitchcock and his screenwriter Rodney Ackland claimed that a) Number Seventeen was a ponderous and conventional stage thriller, b) resenting BIP's assignment they transformed it by exaggeration and parody which nobody realized, and c) Hitchcock gratefully put the experience behind him, making a fresh start soon afterwards with Balcon. "All of these claims are wrong". a) The play, billed during its long West End run as a "joyous melodrama", was already an inventive and sophisticated comedy-thriller; b) the film remains closer to the original, in substance and in spirit, than Hitchcock liked people to believe; if nobody recognized it as a parody, it really wasn't one at all; c) it provided two new central structural elements that Hitchcock would adopt and make his own.

Barr compares the piece with Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, and evokes Vladimir Propp's taxonomy of basic roles in The Morphology of the Folk-Tale. He reminds us that simultaneously in Hollywood James Whale was directing The Old Dark House, based on a novel by J. B. Priestley, and scripted by Benn Levy. Number Seventeen was a move by Hitchcock towards Universal's brand of horror film.

Barr points out that Number Seventeen was the film in which Hitchcock streamlined his boy-meets-girl structure: a boy meets a girl for the first time, with initial antagonism, they go through an intense ordeal, and come together, tentatively or definitively, in the ending, all this in a short period of time. "Number Seventeen is the most intense distillation of this oneiric quality, all 'realism' squeezed out of it, creating the very template for the Hitchcock thriller."

Secondly, according to Barr, Number Seventeen is the film which introduces the MacGuffin. Everybody is after the hidden diamond necklace, which is finally offered as a wedding present. As Hitchcock loved to tell, a MacGuffin is the item, the details of which are unimportant for us the viewers, which motivates and structures the entire thriller plot.

Heikki Nyman, in Hitchcockin kosketus: Alfred Hitchcockin elokuvat, osa 1: Englannin kausi / [The Hitchcock Touch: The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Part 1: The English Period, 1994], reminds us that Number Seventeen was a play which J. Jefferson Farjeon wrote for the actor Léon M. Lion, who produced it and starred in it. The play was so successful that Farjeon novelized it afterwards.

Nyman comments that Number Seventeen is a film that wears thin with repeated viewings. The characters do not particularly move us since they are marionettes to which we cannot help reacting indifferently. In this respect Number Seventeen is an empty film. John Stuart is wooden as the detective Barton, and Léon M. Lion overacts theatrically. Also in Hitchcock's greatest films his characters may be more or less "synthetic", but there is also something essentially universal in them, they are also about us.

For Nyman, the opening of the film retains its value in repeated viewings. He enjoys the comic escalation, the wildly mistaken identities (the detective turns out to be a villain, a passer-by turns out to be a detective, the "deaf-mute" woman starts to talk), the "resurrection" theme, the most extended spiral staircase scenes in a Hitchcock film, the centrality of the jewel, and the very Hitchcockian vertiginous scene of the man and the woman hanging from the ceiling, roped together by their hands on a broken banister about to crash down.

AA: The opening of the film is very well made with a moving camera and long takes. It is still a display of the mastery of the cinematography of the golden age of the silent cinema.

There is an Expressionistic inspiration, and there are affinities with German classics of the 1920s such as Schatten. Number Seventeen is a film full of strange shadows.

Number Seventeen is clearly linked with the cycle of the haunted house mystery thrillers / horror films popular in the late 1920s, films such as The Cat and the Canary. There was also often a spoof aspect in them. We cannot take them very seriously. Yet there is a sense of the absurd, a sense of the uncanny, and even a sense of horror.

I was very disappointed when I saw Number Seventeen for the first time. Now I liked Number Seventeen more than before because I did not expect much from the characters and the plot. A deep, compelling personal commitment is missing. The film fails to engage, but it has its more superficial and external rewards.

The melodramatic music also adds to the silent cinema ambience. The sound recording is not very successful. The sound seems hollow, and it is sometimes difficult to follow the dialogue.

The cinematography by John J. Cox and Bryan Langley is fine, and the miniatures in the final desperate train chase sequences are effective. Although Number Seventeen is a filmed play, it does not look like it.

The visual quality of this print is good.

EFG1914: a giant film collection on the First World War online

EFG1914 Press release 16/12/2013

THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN MOVING IMAGES
European Project Making Film from 1914-1918 Available Online for the First Time

The year 2014 will be characterised by numerous commemorations for the 100th Anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. These tributes will also take place in moving images thanks to a unique project co-ordinated by the German Film Institute in Frankfurt am Main. Since February 2012 the European project ‘The European Film Gateway 1914’ (EFG1914) has digitised over 650 hours of historical film material from the war and has made this footage available online for the first time. The films can be viewed via the European film heritage internet platform ‘The European Film Gateway’.
 
The catastrophe that was the First World War coincided with the rise of film as a powerful, modern medium. The surviving films from 1914-1918 are eloquent representations of political, social and aesthetic positions. They reproduce and document every day life as well as the state of emergency, and provide information about the technological and narrative development of the cinema.

The EFG – European Film Gateway also offers a comprehensive insight into film production from the time. Approximately 1,500 weekly news programmes, documentaries, animations and feature films have been digitised for the EFG 1914 and can be seen online. A further 1,000 titles will be added between now and the conclusion of the project in February 2014. The German Film Institute in Frankfurt am Main co-ordinated the collaboration of 26 partner institutions from 15 different countries. A unique body of work; featuring not only all of the phases and locations from the First World War but also all genres and sub-genres (from propaganda films to anti-war films), has resulted from contributions from film archives across Europe. The contents have been thoroughly prepared for the user so it is possible to search particular topics such as ‘the western front’, ‘mountain warfare’ and ‘civilians’ next to the usual search engine.

During the First World War, film was used as a propaganda medium for the first time. Film production was subjected to strict censorship on military authority, therefore there are hardly any examples from the battles at the front, most of the pictures are shot behind the front or during exercises. Two films, that focus on the Alp Front, show how different the aesthetic access to the reality of war can still be.

An example of which is the news reel EIN HELDENKAMPF IN SCHNEE UND EIS / A HEROIC STRUGGLE IN SNOW AND ICE (Austria-Hungary, 1917) from the Austrian Film Archive’s collection, which impresses with beautified, hand-coloured images of the Alpine mountains. In contrast, the documentary GUERRA SULLE ALPI / THE WAR IN THE ALPS (ITALY 1916) from the Italian filmpioneer and camera man Luca Comerio, shows the struggle of the Italian mountain troops as they transport heavy war machinery 3,000 meters high through snow and ice. GUERRA SULLE ALPI comes from the collection at the Cineteca Italiana in Milan.

Location Belgium: the suffering of the civilians due to the atrocities of the German troops is a recurring theme in films made shortly after the end of the war, which come from the Royal Belgian Film Archive in Brussels. The feature film BELGIQUE MARTYRE (Belgium 1919) conjures up the image of the ‘poor little Belgium’, which the allies also used for their propaganda against Germany. This can be seen in the British war bond advertisement STAND BY THE MEN WHO HAVE STOOD BY YOU (Great Britain 1917) from the Imperial War Museum’s collection, which, with over 1,000 titles, is the largest contribution to the EFG1914.

Whilst selecting films for EFG1914 the archivists were able to discover new things along the way. For example, HUNGER BLOCKADE GERMANY (Deutschland/USA ca. 1919) from the collections of the German Film Institute. The film is made William Held, an American doctor and documentary film-maker, and focuses on the health of the German population in the year following the war. The film shows an American audience with dramatic form, in the style of a German news reel, the effects of malnourished and deformed children.

Aside from the German Film Institute other German partners include the Deutsche Kinemathek and the Federal German Film Archive (Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv) in Berlin. Parts of the material is copyright owned by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation and the DEFA Foundation. The German entries, which currently consist of more than 200 titles, can also be found at filmportal.de, the central internet platform for German film and can soon be researched and viewed on the German Digital Library portal.

According to estimates, approx. only 20% of the films produced in Europe between 1914 and 1918 still survive. Thanks to the EFG1914, a considerable part of the existing films are now available online. Thousands of photos, posters and other historical documents will also be available via the European Film Gateway and Europeana websites until the start of 2014. “A peerless European project for film with an immense importance for academic and journalistic research” said Claudia Dillmann, the director of the German Film Institute, of the EFG1914.

EFG1914 Project partners: Arhiva Nationala de Filme, Bukarest | Association des Cinémathèques Européennes, Frankfurt/Brüssel | Athena Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies, Athen | Centre National du Cinéma et de l´Image Animée-Archives françaises du film, Bois d´Arcy| Cinecittà Luce S.p.A, Rom | Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, Brüssel | Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna | CNR-ISTI, Pisa | Det Danske Filminstitut, Kopenhagen | Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin | Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF e.V., Frankfurt | Estonian Film Archive, Tallinn | EYE Film Institut Netherlands, Amsterdam | Filmarchiv Austria, Wien | Filmoteca Española, Madrid | Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Mailand| Fraunhofer IIS, Erlangen | Imperial War Museums, London | IVAC, Valencia | Jugoslovenska Kinoteka, Belgrad| La Cineteca del Friuli, Gemona| | Magyar Nemzeti Digitalís Archivum És Filmintezét, Budapest | Národní filmový archiv, Prag | Nasjonalbiblioteket, Oslo | Österreichisches Filmmuseum, Wien | reelport GmbH, Köln

Facts about EFG1914 and the European Film Gateway

EFG1914 is co-ordinated by the German Film Institute (DIF) with the support of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media and the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts. The project is co-financed with 2,1 Million Euros by the ICT PSP Programme of the European Commission.

The digitized films and accompanying materials are held locally on the websites and portals of the participating archive partners. The ‘European Film Gateway’ (EFG) offers a central research and access point to all of the digitalised materials.

The EFG collects the development and access information (metadata) and makes it available via the ‘Europeana’ platform, which was developed by the EU-Commission for European cultural heritage. Therefore, these collections will be connected to those of 2,000 other cultural institutions. Currently, the EFG offers access to more than 600,000 photos, posters, films and historical film documents and therefore provides important information to film archives, academics, students and interested members of the public.

Links mentioned in text (in order of their appearance):
EFG1914: http://www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/content/efg1914-project
EFG1914 Topics: http://www.europeanfilmgateway.eu/content/wwi-topics
Ein Heldenkampf in Schnee und Eis / A heroic struggle in snow and ice: http://tinyurl.com/ohpa6zw
Guerra sulle Alpi / The War in the Alps http://tinyurl.com/nh3vtuv
Belgique martyre : http://tinyurl.com/pyhuckr
Stand by the men who have stood by you : http://tinyurl.com/loxpmog
Hunger Blockade Germany: http://tinyurl.com/ny9h4om
http://www.filmportal.de
https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/
http://www.europeana.eu

National Film Registry 2013

Martha Graham Dance Film: Lamentation. Martha Graham in a pose. (Courtesy Martha Graham Company). Library of Congress. National Film Registry 2013.

Yet another inspired selection of 25 titles for the U.S. National Film Registry, again an intriguing mix of classics and discoveries. Gilda, Mary Poppins, Pulp Fiction, The Quiet Man, The Right Stuff, Roger & Me, and Wild Boys of the Road belong to my all-time favourites. Bless Their Little Hearts (Billy Woodberry, 1984), Brandy in the Wilderness (Stanton Kaye, 1969), The Hole (an animation by John Hubley and Faith Hubley, 1962), and Martha Graham Early Dance films (1931-1944) are among the ones I look forward to see.

Worth reading: the news bulletin from the Library of Congress, December 18, 2013:

"Heroes of the space race, a pop cult classic; the age-old battle between the sexes; and a record of Native-American traditions are among a cadre of films being recognized as works of great cultural, historic or aesthetic significance to the nation’s cinematic heritage. The Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, announced today the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to join the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. They will be preserved as cinematic treasures for generations to come."

""The National Film Registry stands among the finest summations of more than a century of extraordinary American cinema," said Billington. "This key component of American cultural history, however, is endangered, so we must protect the nation’s matchless film heritage and cinematic creativity.""

"Spanning the period 1919-2002, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, silent films, independent and experimental motion pictures. This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 625, a small part of the Library’s vast moving-image collection of 1.2 million items."

"The 2013 registry list includes such movie classics as "Mary Poppins," featuring Julie Andrews’ Academy Award-winning performance, and John Ford’s "The Quiet Man," starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Films that catapulted the cinematic careers of their directors include Quentin Tarantino’s "Pulp Fiction," a fusion of film noir and hardboiled crime storytelling; and Mike Nichols’ "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, then married, as an explosively espoused couple."

"The list also includes "Forbidden Planet," one of the seminal science-fiction films of the 1950s; "The Right Stuff," an epic tribute to the pioneers of the space program; and "Judgment at Nuremberg," which earned actor Maximilian Schell and screenwriter Abby Mann Academy Awards."

"Among the documentaries named to the registry are "Roger and Me," Michael Moore’s advocacy film about the human effects of the failing auto industry; "Cicero March," the confrontation between blacks and whites on the streets of an Illinois town in 1966; "Decasia," which was created from scraps of decades-old, decomposing film; and female filmmaker Lee Dick’s "Men and Dust.""

"The silent films tapped for preservation are "Daughter of Dawn," featuring an all-Native-American cast of Comanches and Kiowas; "A Virtuous Vamp," starring Constance Talmadge, from 1919; and the 1926 Cinderella story, "Ella Cinders." The Library of Congress recently released a report that conclusively determined that 70 percent of the nation’s silent feature films have been lost forever and only 14 percent exist in their original 35 mm format."

"Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. The films must be at least 10 years old. The Librarian makes the annual registry selections after reviewing hundreds of titles nominated by the public and conferring with Library film curators and the distinguished members of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB). The public is urged to make nominations for next year’s registry at the NFPB’s website (www.loc.gov/film)."

"For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations, either through the Library’s motion-picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion-picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Packard Campus is a state-of-the-art facility where the nation’s library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings (www.loc.gov/avconservation)."

"The Packard Campus is home to more than 7 million collection items. It provides staff support for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, the National Recording Preservation Board and the National Registries for film and recorded sound."

"Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its vast collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.
2013 National Film Registry

Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
Part of the vibrant New Wave of independent African-American filmmakers to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s, Billy Woodberry became a key figure in the movement known as the L.A. Renaissance. Woodberry crafted his UCLA thesis film, "Bless Their Little Hearts," which was theatrically released in 1984. The film features a script and cinematography by Charles Burnett. This spare, emotionally resonant portrait of family life during times of struggle blends grinding, daily-life sadness with scenes of deft humor. Jim Ridley of the "Village Voice" aptly summed up the film’s understated-but- real virtues: "Its poetry lies in the exaltation of ordinary detail.""

Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
This introspective "contrived diary" film by Stanton Kaye features vignettes from the relationship of a real-life couple, in this case the director and his girlfriend. An evocative 1960s time capsule—reminiscent of Jim McBride’s "David Holzman’s Diary"—this simulated autobiography, as in many experimental films, often blurs the lines between reality and illusion, moving in non-linear arcs through the ever-evolving and unpredictable interactions of relationships, time and place. As Paul Schrader notes, "it is probably quite impossible (and useless) to make a distinction between the point at which the film reflects their lives, and the point at which their lives reflect the film." "Brandy in the Wilderness" remains a little-known yet key work of American indie filmmaking.

Cicero March (1966)
During the summer of 1966, the Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., targeted Chicago in a drive to end de facto segregation in northern cities and ensure better housing, education and job opportunities for African Americans. After violent rioting and a month of demonstrations, the city reached an agreement with King, in part to avoid a threatened march for open housing in the neighboring all-white town of Cicero, Ill., the scene of a riot 15 years earlier when a black couple tried to move into an apartment there. King called off further demonstrations, but other activists marched in Cicero on Sept. 4, an event preserved on film in this eight-minute, cinema-vérité-styled documentary. Using lightweight, handheld equipment, the Chicago-based Film Group, Inc. filmmakers situated themselves in the midst of confrontations and captured for posterity the viciousness of northern reactions to civil-rights reforms.

Daughter of Dawn (1920)
A fascinating example of the daringly unexpected topics and scope showcased by the best regional, independent filmmaking during the silent era, "Daughter of Dawn" features an all-Native-American cast of Comanches and Kiowas. Although it offers a fictional love-story narrative, the film presents a priceless record of Native-American customs, traditions and artifacts of the time. The Oklahoma Historical Society recently rediscovered and restored this film with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Decasia (2002)
Errol Morris, the director of such highly acclaimed documentary features as "The Thin Blue Line," "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" and "Mr. Death," is noted to have sat drop-jawed watching "Decasia" and stammering, "This may be the greatest movie ever made." Created from scraps of decades-old decomposing "found film," "Decasia" hypnotizes and teases with images that fade and transform themselves right before the viewer’s eyes. Culling footage from archives across the country, filmmaker Bill Morrison collected nitrate film stock on the very brink of disappearance and distilled it into a new art form capable of provoking "transports of sublime reverie amid pangs of wistful sorrow," according to New York Times writer Lawrence Weschler. Morrison wedded images to the discordant music of composer Michael Gordon—a founding member of the Bang on a Can Collective—into a fusion of sight and sound that Weschler called "ravishingly, achingly beautiful."

Ella Cinders (1926)
With her trendsetting Dutch bob haircut and short skirts, Colleen Moore brought insouciance and innocence to the flapper image, character and aesthetic. By 1926, however, when she appeared in "Ella Cinders," Moore’s interpretation of the flapper had been eclipsed by the more overtly sexual version popularized by Clara Bow or Joan Crawford. In "Ella Cinders," Ella (Colleen Moore) wins a beauty contest sponsored by a movie magazine and is awarded a studio contract. New York Times reviewer Mordaunt Hall observed that the film was "filled with those wild incidents which are seldom heard of in ordinary society," and noted "Miss Moore is energetic and vivacious." The film is an archetype of 1920s comedy, featuring a star whose air of emancipation inspired her generation.

Forbidden Planet (1956)
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox, MGM’s "Forbidden Planet" is one of the seminal science-fiction films of the 1950s, a genre that found itself revitalized and empowered after World War II and within America’s newly created post-nuclear age. Loosely based upon William Shakespeare’s "The Tempest," "Forbidden Planet" is both sci-fi saga and allegory, a timely parable about the dangers of unlimited power and unrestrained technology. Since its production, the movie has proved inspirational to generations of speculative fiction visionaries, including Gene Roddenberry. Along with its literary influence, highly influential special effects and visual style, the film also pushed the boundaries of cinematic science fiction. For the first time, all action happened intergalatically (not on Earth) and humans are depicted as space travelers, regularly jetting off to the far reaches of the cosmos. Additionally, "Forbidden Planet" is remembered for its innovative score—or lack thereof. No music exists on the film’s soundtrack; instead, all ambient sounds are "electronic tonalities" created by Louis and Bebe Barren. Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis and, in his debut, Robbie the Robot make up the film’s cast.

Gilda (1946)
With the end of World War II came a dark edge in the American psyche and a change in the films it produced. Film noir defined the 1940s and "Gilda" defined the Hollywood glamorization of film noir—long on sex appeal but short on substance. Director Charles Vidor capitalizes on the voyeuristic and sadomasochistic angles of film noir—and who better to fetishize than Rita Hayworth, poured into a strapless black satin evening gown and elbow-length gloves, sashaying to "Put the Blame on Mame." George Macready and Glenn Ford round out the tempestuous triangle, but "Gilda" was and, more than 65 years later, still is all about Hayworth.

The Hole (1962)
With "The Hole," legendary animators John and Faith Hubley created an "observation," as the opening title credits state, a chilling Academy Award-winning meditation on the possibility of an accidental nuclear catastrophe. Jazz great Dizzy Gillespie and actor George Mathews improvised a lively dialogue that the Hubleys and their animators used as the voices of two New York construction workers laboring under Third Avenue. Earlier in his career, while he worked as an animator in the Disney studios, John Hubley viewed a highly stylized Russian animated film—brought to his attention by Frank Lloyd Wright—that radically influenced his ideas about the possibilities of animation. With his new vision realized in this film, the Hubleys ominously, yet humorously, commented on the fears of nuclear devastation ever-present in cold war American culture during the year that the Cuban Missile crisis unfolded.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Selecting as its focus the "Justices Trial" of the post-World War II Nuremberg war crimes tribunal, rather than the more publicized trials of major Nazi war criminals, "Judgment at Nuremberg" broadened its scope beyond the condemnation of German perpetrators to interrogate the concept of justice within any modern society. Conceived by screenwriter Abby Mann during the period of McCarthyism, the film argues passionately that those responsible for administering justice also have the duty to ensure that human-rights norms are preserved even if they conflict with national imperatives. Mann’s screenplay, originally produced as a Playhouse 90 teleplay, makes "the value of a single human being" the defining societal value that legal systems must respect. "Judgment at Nuremberg" startled audiences by including in the midst of its narrative seven minutes of film footage documenting concentration camp victims, thus using motion-picture evidence to make its point both in the courtroom and in movie theaters. Mann and actor Maximilian Schell received Academy Awards and the film boasted fine performances from its all-star cast.

King of Jazz (1930)
A sparkling example of a musical in the earliest days of two-color Technicolor, "The King of Jazz" is a fanciful revue of short skits, sight gags and musical numbers, all with orchestra leader Paul Whiteman—the self-proclaimed "King of Jazz" — at the center. Directed by John Murray Anderson and an uncredited Paul Fejos, it attempted to deliver "something for everyone" from a Walter Lantz cartoon for children to scantily-clad leggy dancers and contortionists for the male audience to the crooning of heartthrob Bing Crosby in his earliest screen appearance. "King of Jazz" also featured an opulent production number of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

The Lunch Date (1989)
Adam Davidson’s 10-minute Columbia University student film examines the partial erosion of haughty self-confidence when stranded outside one’s personal comfort zone. A woman has a slice-of-life, train-station chance encounter with a homeless man, and stumbles through several off-key reactions when they share a salad she believes is hers. Winner of a 1990 Student Academy Award, "The Lunch Date" stands out as a simple, yet effective, parable on the vicissitudes and pervasiveness of perception, race and stereotypes.

The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The popularity of this Western, based on Akira Kurosawa’s "Seven Samurai" (1954), has continued to grow since its release due in part to its role as a springboard for several young actors on the verge of successful careers: Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Horst Buchholz. The film also gave a new twist to the career of Yul Brynner. Brynner bought the rights to Kurosawa’s original story and hand-picked John Sturges as its director. Sturges had earned a reputation as a solid director of Westerns such as "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955) and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957). Transporting the action from Japan to Mexico, where it was filmed on location, the story portrays a gang of paid gunslingers hired by farmers to rout the bandits pillaging their town. Contributing to the film’s popular appeal through the decades is Elmer Bernstein’s vibrant score, which would go on to become the theme music for Marlboro cigarette commercials from 1962 until cigarette advertising on television was banned in 1971.

Martha Graham Early Dance Films (1931-1944)
("Heretic," 1931; "Frontier," 1936; "Lamentation," 1943; "Appalachian Spring," 1944)
Universally acknowledged as the preeminent figure in the development of modern dance and one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Martha Graham formed her own dance company in 1926. It became the longest continuously operating school of dance in America. With her company’s creation, Graham codified her revolutionary new dance language soon to be dubbed the "Graham Technique." Her innovations would go on to influence generations of future dancers and choreographers, including Twyla Tharp and Merce Cunningham. This quartet of films, all silent and all starring Graham herself, document four of the artist’s most important early works. They are "Heretic," with Graham as an outcast denounced by Puritans; "Frontier," a solo piece celebrating western expansion and the American spirit; "Lamentation," a solo piece about death and mourning; and "Appalachian Spring," a multi-character dance drama, the lyrical beauty of which is retained even without the aid of Aaron Copland’s famous and beloved music.

Mary Poppins (1964)
Alleged to be Walt Disney’s personal favorite from all of his many classic films, "Mary Poppins" is based upon a book by P.L. Travers. With Travers’ original tale as a framework, screenwriters Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with the aid of songwriters the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. and Robert B.), fashioned an original movie musical about a most unusual nanny. Weaving together a witty script, an inventive visual style and a slate of classic songs (including "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee"), "Mary Poppins" is a film that has enchanted generations. Equal parts innocent fun and savvy sophistication, the artistic and commercial success of the film solidified Disney’s knack for big-screen, non-cartoon storytelling and invention. With its seamless integration of animation with live action, the film prefigured thousands of later digital and CGI-aided effects. With its pitch-perfect cast, including Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Jane Darwell, Glynis Johns and Ed Wynn, "Mary Poppins" has remained a "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" achievement.

Men and Dust (1940)
Produced and directed by Lee Dick—a woman pioneer in the field of documentary filmmaking—and written and shot by her husband Sheldon, this labor advocacy film is about diseases plaguing miners in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Sponsored by the Tri-State Survey Committee, "Men and Dust" is a stylistically innovative documentary and a valuable ecological record of landscapes radically transformed by extractive industry.

Midnight (1939)
Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche and John Barrymore light up the screen in this Mitchell Leisen romantic comedy. Liesen is often described as a "studio contract" director—a craftsman with no particular aesthetic vision or social agenda who is efficient, consistent, controlled, with occasional flashes of panache. Leisen’s strength lay in his timing. He claimed he established the pace of a scene by varying the tone and cadence of his voice as he called "ready…right…action!" This technique served to give the actors a proper "beat" for the individual shot. In addition to Leisen’s timing, "Midnight" also boasts a screenplay by the dynamic duo of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. Hilarity ensues when penniless showgirl Colbert impersonates a Hungarian countess, aided by the aristocratic Barrymore, until, despite her best efforts, she falls for a lowly taxi driver (Ameche) —all this amidst a Continental sumptuousness abundant in Paramount pictures of that era. The staggering number of exceptional films released in 1939 has caused this little gem to be overlooked. However, in its day, the New York Times called "Midnight" "one of the liveliest, gayest, wittiest and naughtiest comedies of a long hard season." Reportedly unhappy with Leisen’s script changes, Wilder found the motivation to assert more creative control by becoming a director himself.

Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)
When Frank Stauffacher introduced the Art in Cinema film series at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1947, he was on his way to becoming a significant influence on a generation of West Coast filmmakers. Through the series, he cultivated his knowledge of San Francisco surrealist films of the 1940s as well as the "city symphonies" produced by European filmmakers in the 1920s and 1930s. "Notes on the Port of St. Francis" is the natural progression of Stauffacher’s appreciation for the abstract synthesis of film and place. Impressionistic and evocative, the film is shaped by the director’s organization of iconic imagery, such as seascapes and city scenes, and by the juxtaposition of these visuals and the soundtrack comprised both of music and narration by Vincent Price of excerpts from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1882 essay on San Francisco. Independent film scholar Scott MacDonald speculated that the "notes" in the film’s title may refer to "both the informality of his visuals and his care with sound that may have been a subtle way of connecting his film with the European city symphonies of the twenties." Throughout the film, Macdonald observed, Stauffacher echoes Stevenson’s theme of the "City of Contrasts" by shooting from both San Francisco Bay and from the hills.

Pulp Fiction (1994)
By turns utterly derivative and audaciously original, Quentin Tarantino’s mordantly wicked Möbius strip of a movie influenced a generation of filmmakers and stands as a milestone in the evolution of independent cinema in the United States, making it one of the few films on the National Film Registry as notable for its lasting impact on the film industry as its considerable artistic merits. Directed by Tarantino from his profane and poetic script, "Pulp Fiction" is a beautifully composed tour-de-force, combining narrative elements of hardboiled crime novels and film noir with the bright widescreen visuals of Sergio Leone. The impact is profound and unforgettable.

The Quiet Man (1952)
Never one to shy away from sentiment, director John Ford used "The Quiet Man" with unadulterated adulation to pay tribute to his Irish heritage and the grandeur of the Emerald Isle. With her red hair ablaze against the enveloping lush green landscapes, Maureen O’Hara embodies the mystique of Ireland, as John Wayne personifies the indefatigable American searching for his ancestral roots, with Victor Young’s jovial score punctuating their escapades. The film and the locale are populated with characters bordering on caricature. Sly, whiskey-loving matchmaker Michaleen O’Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald), the burly town bully Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) and the put-upon but patient Widow Tillane (Mildred Natwick) are the most vivid. Beautifully photographed in rich, saturated Technicolor by Winton C. Hoch, with picturesque art direction by Frank Hotaling, "The Quiet Man" has become a perennial St. Patrick’s Day television favorite.

The Right Stuff (1983)
At three hours and 13 minutes, Philip Kaufman’s adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s novel is an epic right out of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but thanks to its assortment of characters and human drama, it rarely drags. Director/screenwriter Kaufman ambitiously attempts to boldly go where few epics had gone before as he recounts the nascent Space Age. He takes elements of the traditional Western, mashes them up with sophisticated satire and peppers the concoction with the occasional subversive joke. As a result, Kaufman (inspired by Wolfe) creates his own history, debunking a few myths as he creates new ones. At its heart, "The Right Stuff" is a tribute to the space program’s role in generating national pride and an indictment of media-fed hero worship. Remarkable aerial sequences (created before the advent of CGI) and spot-on editing team up to deliver a movie that pushes the envelope.

Roger & Me (1989)
After decades of product ascendancy, American automakers began facing stiff commercial and design challenges in the late 1970s and 1980s from foreign automakers, especially the Japanese. Michael Moore’s controversial documentary chronicles the human toll and hemorrhaging of jobs caused by these upheavals, in this case the firing of 30,000 autoworkers by General Motors in Moore’s hometown of Flint, Michigan. As a narrative structure, Moore uses a comic device sometimes found in political campaign commercials, weaving a message around trying to find the person responsible for a wrong, in this case General Motors Chairman Roger Smith. "Roger & Me" is take-no-prisoners, advocacy documentary filmmaking, and Moore makes no apologies for his brazen, in-your-face style—he would argue the situation demands it. The themes of unfairness, inequality and the unrealized attainment of the American Dream resonate to this day, while the consequences of ferocious auto-sector competition continue, playing a key long-term role in the city of Detroit’s recent filing for bankruptcy protection.

A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
Employing a title suggested by Irving Berlin, screenwriter Anita Loos, working with husband John Emerson, crafted this charming spoof on romance in the workplace that catapulted Constance Talmadge, the object of Berlin’s unrequited affection, into stardom. During the silent era, women screenwriters, directors and producers often modified and poked fun at stereotypes of women that male filmmakers had drawn in harsher tones. The smiles of Loos’ "virtuous vamp"—as embodied by Talmadge—lead to havoc in the office, but are not life-threatening, as were the hypnotizing stares of Theda Bara’s iconic caricature that defined an earlier era. In this satire of male frailties, the knowing innocence of Loos’ character captured the imagination of poet Vachel Lindsay, who deemed the film "a gem" and called Talmadge "a new sweetheart for America."

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Edward Albee’s 1962 stage triumph made a successful transfer to the screen in this adaption written by Ernest Lehman. The story of two warring couples and their alcohol-soaked evening of anger and exposed resentments stunned audiences with its frank, code-busting language and depictions of middle-class malaise-cum-rage. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton—who were both Academy Award nominees for their work (with Taylor winning)—each achieved career high-points in their respective roles as Martha and George, an older couple who share their explosive evening opposite a younger husband and wife, portrayed by George Segal and Sandy Dennis. "Woolf’s" claustrophobic staging and stark black-and-white cinematography, created by Haskell Wexler, echoed its characters’ rawness and emotionalism. Mike Nichols began his auspicious screen directing career with this film, in which he was already examining the absurdities and brutality of modern life, themes that would become two of his career hallmarks.

Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
Historians estimate that more than 250,000 American teens were living on the road at the height of the Great Depression, criss-crossing the country risking life, limb and incarceration while hopping freight trains. William Wellman’s "Wild Boys of the Road" portrays these young adults as determined kids matching wits and strength in numbers with railroad detectives as they shuttle from city to city unable to find work. Wellman’s "Wild Bill" persona is most evident in the action-packed train sequences. Strong performances by the young actors, particularly Frankie Darrow, round out this exemplary model of the gritty "social conscience" dramas popularized by Warner Bros. in the early 1930s.

Films Selected for the 2013 National Film Registry

    Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
    Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
    Cicero March (1966)
    Daughter of Dawn (1920)
    Decasia (2002)
    Ella Cinders (1926)
    Forbidden Planet (1956)
    Gilda (1946)
    The Hole (1962)
    Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
    King of Jazz (1930)
    The Lunch Date (1989)
    The Magnificent Seven (1960)
    Martha Graham Early Dance film (1931-44)
    Mary Poppins (1964)
    Men & Dust (1940)
    Midnight (1939)
    Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)
    Pulp Fiction (1994)
    The Quiet Man (1952)
    The Right Stuff (1983)
    Roger & Me (1989)
    A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
    Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
    Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

Gold Diggers of 1933

Kultakalat 1933 / Guldfiskar. US 1933. PC: Warner Bros. P: Robert Lord, Jack L. Warner. Assoc. P: Raymond Griffith. Supervisor: Robert Lord. D: Mervyn LeRoy. SC: Erwin S. Gelsey, James Seymour – based on the play (1919) by J. Avery Hopwood - additional dialogue: David Boehm, Ben Markson. DP: Sol Polito. AD: Anton Grot. Cost: Orry-Kelly. Makeup: Perc Westmore. Choreography (numbers created and directed by): Busby Berkeley. M: Harry Warren. Al Dubin. Conductor (Vitaphone Orchestra): Leo G. Forbstein. The production numbers: "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're In the Money)", “Pettin’ In The Park”, “The Shadow Waltz”, “Remember My Forgotten Man”. [Production number cut before release: “I’ve Got To Sing A Torch Song” - in the released film played during the opening credits, sung by Dick Powell, and played as dance music]. ED: George Amy. C: Ruby Keeler (Polly Parker, the ingenue), Joan Blondell (Carol King, the torch singer), Aline MacMahon (Trixie Lorraine, the comedienne), Dick Powell ("Brad Roberts" = Robert Treat Bradford, singer and songwriter), Warren William (J. Lawrence Bradford, Brad's brother), Guy Kibbee (Fanuel H. Peabody, the Bradford family lawyer), Ned Sparks (Barney Hopkins, the producer), Ginger Rogers (Fay Fortune, the glamour puss), Clarence Nordstrom (Don the juvenile lead ["I've been a juvenile for 18 years"], suffering from lumbago), Robert Agnew (balettimestari), Tammany Young (Eddie), Sterling Holloway, Ann Hovey, Barbara Rogers, Pat Wing, Loretta Andrews, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Etta Moten (soloist in "Remember My Forgotten Man"), Billy Barty (the baby in "Pettin' In The Park"). Helsinki premiere: 25.12.1933 Kino-Palatsi, Astoria, Tähti, distributor: Warner Bros. – classification: 18100 – K16 – 96 min. A Cinematek (Brussels) print of a French edition (Chercheurs d'or) with title cards in French only, viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (History of the Cinema), 13 Dec 2013
    Previous film adaptations: The Gold Diggers (1923), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929).
    Sequels: Gold Diggers of 1935, Gold Diggers of 1937, Gold Diggers in Paris (1938).

Wikipedia: "The "gold diggers" are four aspiring actresses: Polly the ingenue (Ruby Keeler), Carol the torch singer (Joan Blondell), Trixie the comedienne (Aline MacMahon), and Fay the glamour puss (Ginger Rogers)."

Immediately after the success of 42nd Street Warner Bros. produced another musical in the same vein. This time Dick Powell plays the songwriter. His Boston blue blood family threatens to disinherit him if he marries the showgirl played by Ruby Keeler. Berkeley tops himself in four pathbreaking production numbers: Ginger Rogers clad only in silver coins ("We're In The Money"), loving couples drenched by rainstorm ("Pettin' In the Park"), a moving neon violin pattern formed by dancers in the dark ("The Shadow Waltz"), and the history of America from the Great War till the Great Depression ("My Forgotten Man").

A capitalist musical with a social conscience. I would list Gold Diggers of 1933 among the essential films about World War I, the Great Depression, and class society.

"We're In The Money" is an exposé about the fetishism of money, identifying money with sex, with a focus on Ginger Rogers's It.

"Pettin' In the Park" is a weird and wicked number which broadens in scope as it extends to cover the four seasons, including autumn storms and snow blizzards.

"The Shadow Waltz" is a phantasmagoria, an abstract study in extasy, based on spiral formations and stunning patterns of neon-lit violins in the dark.

"My Forgotten Man" is the climax that has been prepared since the beginning, an anthem "all about the depression", after having been "watching those men on the breadline", "the big parade of tears". The number starts as a march, reflecting the devastation of World War I, but it is also a blues, sung with a full throttle blues voice by Etta Moten and Ruby Keeler. We see military parades, wounded men, dead men, soup lines, streetwalkers, and homeless, unemployed, hungry bums.

Busby Berkeley's production numbers are brilliant, showing his range from abstraction to social commentary. The crew and the cast are terrific, but Mervyn LeRoy is not handling the romantic comedy scenes very well. All three good-hearted showgirls get married with Boston blue blood. Only the single real gold digger (Ginger Rogers) stays single. The token narrative is little more than a frame for the engrossing production numbers.

A duped safety print of a used print of the vintage French edition of the film with a duration of 92 min, yet offering a nice cinema experience of the great musical.

Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Innin rannikkorosvot / Vräkplundrarna på Jamaica Inn.
    GB © 1939 Paramount Pictures. PC: Mayflower Pictures Corporation. P: Erich Pommer, Charles Laughton.
    D: Alfred Hitchcock. SC: Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison – based on the novel (1936) by Daphne du Maurier – continuity: Alma Reville – dialogue: Sidney Gilliat – additional dialogue: J. B. Priestley. DP: Harry Stradling, Bernard Knowles. AD: Tom N. Morahan. Scenic artist: Albert Whitlock. SFX: Harry Watt. VFX: W. Percy Day. Makeup: Ern Westmore. M: Eric Fenby, conducted by Frederic Lewis. S: Jack Rogerson. ED: Robert Hamer.
    C: Charles Laughton (Sir Humphrey Pengallan), Maureen O’Hara [special credit: introducing Maureen O'Hara] (Mary Yellen [Mary Yelland]), Leslie Banks (Joss Merlyn), Emlyn Williams (Harry the pedlar), Robert Newton (James "Jem" Traherne [Trehearne]), Wylie Watson (Salvation Watkins), Marie Ney (Patience Merlyn, Mary's aunt), Horace Hodges (butler Chadwick), Hay Petrie (groom), Frederick Piper (agent), Morland Graham (sea lawyer Sydney), Edwin Greenwood (dandy), Mervyn Jones (Thomas), Stephen Haggard (nuorukainen), John Longden (Captain Johnson), Herbert Lomas, Clare Greet (tenants), Jeanne de Casalis, A. Bromley Davenport, Mabel Terry Lewis [Mabel Terry-Lewis], George Curzon, Basil Radford (friends of Sir Humphrey).
    Studio: Elstree. Loc: Cornwall.
   Helsinki premiere: 17.12.1939 Savoy, released by Paramount Pictures – Finnish classification number 23023 – K16, reclassified for shortened vhs release S12 – original duration 108 min – current duration of the latest restoration 99 min.
    A BFI Distribution print of the latest restoration (with a Raymond Rohauer source credit) viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Alfred Hitchcock), 12 Dec 2013
  Alfred Hitchcock Opus 23.

Wikipedia: "The film is a period piece set in Cornwall in 1819. The real Jamaica Inn still exists, and is a pub on the edge of Bodmin Moor." The story of the shipwrecking gang is reportedly based on historical evidence.

Revisited Jamaica Inn, Alfred Hitchcock's most spectacular British film, and commercially one of the most successful of them. It has also always been considered one of Sir Alfred's worst films, and there is no need to rehabilitate it, although Jamaica Inn now looks better than before in a newly restored (digitally remastered?) version.

Jamaica Inn was a Charles Laughton vehicle. Hitchcock wanted to withdraw from the project, but Laughton persuaded him to stay as a favour to the great producer Erich Pommer, whose magnificent Ufa productions Hitchcock had observed at Babelsberg in the 1920s and for whom Hitchcock had already worked in Die Prinzessin und der Geiger / The Blackguard, directed by Graham Cutts.

Jamaica Inn is a Gothic pirate film. There is hardly any Hitchcock touch in the movie, relevant for him mostly as a first exercise in adapting a work by the best-selling novelist Daphne du Maurier. Like in Rebecca, the protagonist is an orphaned young woman who enters a house of doom. The same fairy-tale structure is repeated in Rebecca and The Birds.

Jamaica Inn, a story of peril at sea and horrible shipwrecks, can also be seen as a Hitchcock rehearsal for the Titanic project which he was planning for Selznick.

The horror association becomes evident from the start when the coach driver refuses to stop at Jamaica Inn. The driver's reaction to the very name of the inn resembles the attitude of the tavern guests when Jonathan Harker asks for directions to the castle of count Dracula. Mary and her trunk are dumped unceremoniously at a safe distance from the dread inn.

The macabre performance of Charles Laughton dominates the film and throws it off balance. Laughton plays the Justice of the Peace, Sir Humphrey Pengallan, who inhabits the house of magistrate and entertains prominent guests there. He also lives a double life as the leader of ship wreckers, coast pirates and smugglers who lure ships to their doom on the stormy Cornwall coast by manipulating coast beacons. There are aspects of a mad Roman emperor in Laughton's performance: he orders his horse to his banquet hall during a distinguished society dinner. There are also aspects of a monster in his character, particularly in the conclusion when Laughton kidnaps Mary to be his consort and when he climbs to the top of the mast and falls to his death like King Kong. "The monster at the top of the world" image is also central to the Quasimodo character.

Jamaica Inn provided the first starring role for Maureen O'Hara whose talent had been discovered by Laughton for her previous film, My Irish Molly. Laughton also advised her to change her name from Maureen FitzSimons to Maureen O'Hara. O'Hara also co-starred with Laughton in her next film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, her first Hollywood film: she was Esmeralda, and Laughton was Quasimodo. Jamaica Inn can also be seen as a rehearsal for Laughton and O'Hara in a "beauty and the beast" tale.

Maureen O'Hara is an attractive and active protagonist ("I've been riding since I was a child"), a fighter and a survivor rather than a victim (she saves Jem from hanging, and she lifts the burning cloth to save the ship, thwarting the final act of piracy), to be compared with Nova Pilbeam in Young and Innocent, or Ingrid Bergman in Spellbound. Jamaica Inn offers a fine leading role for O'Hara, who according to her memoirs got along with Hitchcock well.

Joss Merlyn, the active leader of the pirates, is played by Leslie Banks, best-known as Count Zaroff in The Most Dangerous Game.

The male hero, the law officer Jem Trehearne, a double agent masquerading as a pirate, is played by Robert Newton, whose signature roles include Long John Silver in Treasure Island.

Heikki Nyman (in Hitchcockin kosketus. Alfred Hitchcockin elokuvat, osa 1: Englannin kausi [The Hitchcock Touch. The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Part 1: The English Period], 1994, p. 327-339) comments that Hitchcock's approach to the work of an actor always had a peculiar sordino effect; his attitude might be called "expressionistic minimalism". For Hitchcock, the actor belonged to an ensemble, and there was little room for solos. Such an idea of "negative acting" was alien to Laughton. Nyman argues that Laughton was so flamboyant that Hitchcock retreated to the background and let Laughton steal the show. There is not even a Hitchcock cameo appearance in Jamaica Inn. Yet Neil Sinyard sees Hitchcockian aspects in the Sir Humphrey character, itself, incorporated by Laughton. Laughton hired J. B. Priestley (familiar to him from The Old Dark House, among other projects) to add juicy dialogue for his character. There is a perverse pleasure of transgression in his performance. Although Sir Humphrey is both a pillar of society and the mastermind of the gang of pirates, he is living beyond his means and has such bad credit everywhere that he is planning to elope. There is a scene where Sir Humphrey throws away a fat stack of bills which fall down to the hall like snowflakes.

Jamaica Inn, Waltzes from Vienna, and Under Capricorn are the three period films, costume films, made by Hitchcock, none of them highly regarded, except by Frenchmen who rate Under Capricorn highly and see Jamaica Inn as a preparation for it. Heikki Nyman comments that a characteristic limitation of Hitchcock is a lack of an ability to move in history. For Nyman Hitchcock is a modern artist, a contemporary of Freud, Kafka, Joyce, Picasso, and Stravinsky. A historical touch is missing in Hitchcock, he is insecure outside his own period, and his sense of humour seems paralyzed, states Nyman.

Although there is a composer in Jamaica Inn, his music was used only during the opening credits and the end of the film. Yet Heikki Nyman remarks that the soundscape of Jamaica Inn is powerful. When Mary approaches the inn, the house sounds like crying. Elisabeth Weis in The Silent Scream has commented that Hitchcock uses the sound of the wind like music. Especially powerful, according to Nyman, is the sound of the stormy sea, recorded by Jack Rogerson. "In no other Hitchcock film has the crushing elementary force of the ocean been realized as impressively by purely auditive means" (Nyman).

The production values, the production team, and the cast are impressive, with many talents familiar from previous Hitchcock films, and many interesting new, young names of the future. There are some interesting moments of viewpoints in the vertical dimension, such as Mary's spying on the pirates from a hole in the ceiling. Typically Hitchcockian is the structure (not in the novel) of the couple on the run (as in 39 Steps and Young and Innocent), but there is no chemistry between Jem and Mary. Also typically Hitchcockian (like in The Lodger, Blackmail, and Shadow of a Doubt) is a romance between the woman and a policeman. But there is no compelling force of conviction in the film. Hitchcock lets Laughton run rampant and goes through the motions of directing.

Charles Barr remarks that in butler Chadwick's final presence we can see an ironic farewell to Hitchcock's English period.

"What are you all waiting for? A spectacle? You shall have it and tell your children how the great age ended. Make way for Pengallan!" (Sir Humphrey Pangallan's final words).

The print was clean, with a duped look like the film has been patiently mastered from often difficult source materials (apparently via a Raymond Rohauer print), with special difficulties in scenes of dark imagery. At 99 minutes much shorter than the official duration of 108 minutes.

Heikki Nyman's magnum opus Hitchcockin kosketus / [The Hitchcock Touch], 1841 pages, available only in an extremely limited edition in key libraries, should be generally published at least online. It would deserve to be translated into English.

Il boom / The Boom

Högkonjunktur. Italia (c) 1963 Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica. P: Dino De Laurentiis. D: Vittorio De Sica. SC: Cesare Zavattini. DP: Armando Nannuzzi – b&w – 1,85:1. AD: Ezio Frigerio. Set dec: Emilio D'Andria. Cost: Lucilla Mussini. Make-up: Guglielmo Bonotti. Hair: Elda Magnanti. M: Piero Piccioni. S: Biagio Fiorelli. ED: Adriana Novelli. C: Alberto Sordi (Giovanni Alberti), Gianna Maria Canale (Silvia Alberti), Ettore Geri (Bausetti), Elena Nicolai (Ms. Bausetti), Silvio Battistini (Riccardo), Mariolina Bovo (Ms. Faravalli), Antonio Mambretti (Faravalli). 97 min. Not released in Finland. A Cinecittà Luce print with English subtitles viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Vittorio De Sica), 13 Dec 2013
    The title refers to Italy's economic miracle which transformed the country from the 1950s to the 1970s.

What price the boom?

A merciless comedy, much grimmer than almost any serious drama, as was habitual in the remarkable phenomenon of la commedia all'italiana from the 1950s to the 1960s.

The movie starts in an atmosphere of crushing banality, with annoying muzak themes, and a general sense of heartlessness whether we find ourself on a freeway or on a horse track. There are moments of dangerous accidents: when Alberto Sordi trips on the stairs of the racetrack, when the show jumping horse falls, and when in the background we hear that a construction worker has fallen from a height of five meters. This is a time of hectic financial growth at any cost.

Sordi is the protagonist, an inept businessman whose main endeavour is to keep up appearances and placate his wife accustomed to a jet set lifestyle. He leaves rubber cheques all over the place, and all Rome knows about it. He has not even a baker's credit anymore. He is a master of empty credit, but now no one will help him anymore.

Until there is an unexpected proposal. Sordi's eyes are brilliant, and now he makes a deal to sell one of them at top price as it's illegal.

Tables turns, there is a big banquet, and everybody wants to be a friend again. Even his wife comes back. But Sordi's jokes are not funny, he gets drunk and insults everybody.

In the first part of the film the soullesness, the joyless partying, and the lack of gravity make the movie embarrassing to watch. This is a comedy of anxiety, of fear. The satire borders on misanthropy.

Alberto Sordi's character is a paragon of dishonesty to begin with, but in the second part he carries his character even further, to deep dimensions of despair. His inferno is also reflected in the sequence of the barefoot religious pageant. The utter horror of his distress resembles somehow John Frankenheimer's Seconds, starring Rock Hudson.

Il boom is an Alberto Sordi vehicle, a unique and amazing work. We cannot sympathize with the character, but we start to care, and there is enormous psychological wealth in this satirical study. Il boom is a special case of horror comedy.

The richness of the performances of the other characters becomes also evident in the secondo tempo. Especially memorable is Elena Nicolai as the formidable Mrs. Bausetti.

The visual quality seems flat and banal in the beginning but becomes better and richer towards the end, including in the terrifying long shot of Alberto Sordi being escorted to the eye clinic from which he has tried to escape.

Sodankylä ikuisesti: Ensimmäisen elokuvamuiston kaiho (1/3) / Sodankylä Forever, Part One: The Yearning for the First Cinema Experience AND Sodankylä ikuisesti: Valon draama (3/3) / Sodankylä Forever, Part Three: Drama of Light

Series credits: Sodankylä ikuisesti, neljä elokuvaa: Elokuvan vuosisata ja Trilogia: 1: Ensimmäisen elokuvamuiston kaiho, 2: Ikuinen aika, 3: Valon draama / Sodankylä för evigt, fyra filmer: Filmens århundrade och Trilogin / Sodankylä Forever, four films: The Century of the Cinema and the Trilogy.
    Suomi © 2010–2011. PC: Nosferatu Oy / Bufo Film Production Company. P: Ilkka Mertsola, Mark Lwoff. Yle Yhteistuotannot: Erkki Astala. Co-producers: Lapin Liitto, Sodankylän Elokuvajuhlat Oy. D+SC: Peter von Bagh. DP: Arto Kaivanto, Juice Huhtala. S: Martti Turunen. ED+colour timing: Petteri Evilampi. Digitization: Jukka Reitmaa, Mikko Sippola. Photographers: Lauri Yli-Tepsa, Malla Hukkanen, Marja Niskanen, Santeri Happonen, Tuula Alajoki. Digitization of photographs:  Jaana Rannikko. Translations: Mikko Lyytikäinen, Outi Kainulainen. Multi-lingual, colour & b&w ‒ total duration of the four movies 270 min

There was a programme change as Sodankylä ikuisesti: Elokuvan vuosisata had not arrived, but the trilogy had. We screened the first and the third film of the trilogy, introduced by Peter von Bagh. Yle Export digibeta, Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Peter von Bagh), 11 Dec 2013

Sodankylä ikuisesti: Ensimmäisen elokuvamuiston kaiho (1/3) (2010) (2012) / Sodankylä ikuisesti osa 1/3 / Sodankylä Forever, Part One: The Yearning for the First Cinema Experience. FI 2012. Production year: 2010. First telecast: 8.7.2012 Yle Teema ‒ 59 min
    Featuring: Maud Linder, Jean Dréville, Roy Ward Baker, Francesco Rosi, Costa-Gavras, Claude Goretta, Victor Erice, Vincent Sherman, Val Guest, Jean Rouch, Dino Risi, Jerry Schatzberg, Bob Rafelson, Wim Wenders, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Stanley Donen, Andrei Konchalovsky, Francis Ford Coppola, Irvin Kershner, Richard Fleischer, Emir Kusturica, Claude Chabrol, Agnès Varda, István Szabó, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jacques Demy, Terry Gilliam, John Boorman, Milos Forman, and Manoel de Oliveira.

Sodankylä ikuisesti: Valon draama (3/3) / Sodankylä Forever, Part Three: Drama of Light. FI 2012. Production year: 2011. First telecast: 22.7.2012 Yle Teema ‒ 57 min
    Featuring: Ettore Scola, Bob Rafelson, Robert Parrish, Víctor Erice, Gianni Amelio, Francis Ford Coppola, Francesco Rosi, Enzo Serafin, Vincent Sherman, John Boorman, Sergio Sollima, Chantal Akerman, Laslo Benedek, Roger Corman, Milos Forman, Samuel Fuller, István Szabó, Roy Ward Baker, Claude Sautet, Claude Goretta, Jerry Schatzberg, Terry Gilliam, Jean Rouch, Jafar Panahi, Samira Makhmalbaf, Abbas Kiarostami, Ivan Passer, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Stanley Donen, Alberto Lattuada, and Gian Vittorio Baldi.

In memoriam Eleanor Parker (1922-2013).

I blogged about this series last year.

Touched by magic: the magic of the first film, and the magic of light.

The four engrossing movies about the Midnight Sun Film Festival keep growing. They are tapestries of multiple associations. Watching them, we are in good company. In the one about the first film, we reflect on childhood from the vantage point of today. In the one about the drama of light, we compare the light on the screen with the light of the midnight sun.

Sylvie et le fantôme / Sylvie and the Phantom

Claude Autant-Lara: Sylvie et le fantôme / Sylvie and the Phantom (FR 1946) starring Odette Joyeux.

FR 1946. PC: L'Écran français / André Paulvé. P: André Paulvé.
    D: Claude Autant-Lara. SC: Jean Aurenche – based on the play (1942) by Alfred Adam. DP: Philippe Agostini – 35 mm – 1,37:1 – b&w. PD: Jacques Krauss. AD: [Lucien] Carré. Set dec: Gallaud, Ravaud. Cost: Christian Dior. M: Rene Cloërec. S: Jacques Lebreton – mono. ED: Madeleine Gug.
    C: Odette Joyeux (Sylvie), François Périer (Ramure, the burglar), Pierre Larquey (Baron Eduard), Claude Marcy (la comtesse des Vertus), Jean Desailly (Frederick, the shy suitor), Paul Demange (The Counsellor, party guest), Marguerite Cassan (Marthe), Rognoni (Damas, the antique dealer), Lise Topart, Gabrielle Fontan (Mariette), Anne-Marie Paillard, François Paillard, Pierre Houssier, Michel Houssier, Jacques Tati (The Ghost of Alain de Francigny), Louis Salou (Anicet, the actor), Julien Carette (Hector, the majordomo).
    102 min
    Not released in Finland.
    AFF / CNC print screened with e-subtitles in Finnish by Lena Talvio, Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Le Cinéfantastique Français), 6 Dec 2013

Wikipedia: "Sylvie is fascinated by the portrait of long dead Alain de Francigny and she is upset when her father, Baron Eduard, is forced to sell the painting. The Baron hires an actor to appear as Alain's ghost on the eve of Sylvie's 16th birthday, as a joke. Two admirers of Sylvie decide to also appear as ghosts. All this annoys the actual ghost of Alain de Francigny, and he too makes an appearance..."

"The special effect of the ghost appearing was achieved by filming through a glass pane and using two identical sets. Through the glass, the primary set would be visible. This was a regular set where all actors appeared, except the ghost (Tati). At the same time the reflection would be visible of the second set, placed at a ninety degree angle to the primary set. This set was covered entirely in black velvet, and the only actor on this set was Tati (see Pepper's ghost)."

AA: Claude Autant-Lara was already a veteran of the film industry when he finally established himself as a film director in films signed by himself, no longer hiding behind the name of Maurice Lehmann, in four films starring Odette Joyeux (Le Mariage de Chiffon, Lettres d'amour, Douce, and Sylvie et le fantôme). The touch is assured in the final film of the cycle, the ghost comedy Sylvie et le fantôme.

The ghost film was a special phenomenon in the 1940s and the 1950s in many countries that had experienced the war, also in our country (Linnaisten vihreä kamari), and also including masterpieces such as The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Ugetsu monogatari. The devastation of the war had been overwhelming. The presence of the absent ones was a shared feeling among the survivors. The approach to the ghost stories was often humoristic.

In France, great auteurs appeared as ghosts: Jean Cocteau in Le Baron fantôme, and Jacques Tati in Sylvie et le fantôme, both starring Odette Joyeux. Like in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, there is a love affair between the female protagonist and the male ghost.

Sylvie et le fantôme starts with the sale of the beloved painting, but the ghost remains in the castle all the same. Comedy ensues when three fake ghosts are hired to the midnight ball as a special treat to Sylvie. One of them is played by a professional ghost actor, seasoned in performances of Hamlet, among others.

The grand finale, the great revelation, is supposed to be that the ghost is an illusion, but instead, the true ghost appears for one last time, before ascending to the heaven, wearing the ring, accompanied by his faithful hound dog.

For me, the sense of these ghost stories is about the transitoriness of being, and in this sense there is a general affinity even with the post-war films of John Ford (My Darling Clementine) and the entire late oeuvre of Yasujiro Ozu.

Sylvie et le fantôme is a genial film but it does not yet have the brilliance of comedy timing such as in Occupe-toi d'Amélie. There are even scenes which feel long drawn out.

The special effects, based on the Pepper's ghost concept, are impeccable, and the ghost belongs to the most impressive in the history of the cinema, comparable with Victor Sjöström's Körkarlen / The Phantom Carriage.

For Jacques Tati aficionados this his first appearance in a feature film (with a special credit title card) is a must.

The print looks like it has been constructed with great care from partially very challenging (even 16 mm?) sources.

Our projection was unfortunately not perfect as the mirrors of the second projector are still being adjusted. Also the reflection from the subtitling projector is distracting.

Sampling Vuosi 1952 / The Year 1952

Paavo Nurmi lights the Olympic fire in Helsinki in 1952.

Vuosi 1952 / År 1952 / L'Année 1952 / [The Year 1952]. FI 1980. PC: Yleisradio / TV1. P: Pertti Klemola. D+SC: Peter von Bagh. DP: Antero Virta, Hannu Lundström, Pauli Laalo, Kari Mattson ‒ 16 mm. FX: Jussi Olkinuora. S: Pekka Heinonen, Juha Silander. ED: Risto Salo. Script girl: Leena Bäckström. First telecast: 1.1.1980 Yle TV1 ‒ col & mv, 1,37:1 ‒ 120 min
    "The topic of the compilation film is one year in Finnish history: what really happened in the minds of people in that year of Helsinki Olympics, Armi Kuusela the Miss Universum and the final war reparations. Materials include fiction films, radio programmes, phonograph records, newsreels and other documentary sources made in the year 1952. Moreover there are almost 30 people from different walks of life as narrators."
    Featuring: Jussi Mikkonen (gold-digger), Pelle Kankainen (gold-digger), Niilo Raumala (gold-digger), Ritva Arvelo (director, actress), Hannes Tiainen (agronomist, minister), Pentti Holappa (writer, minister), Esa Pakarinen (singer, actor), Paavo Rintala (writer), Sylvi Saimo (farmer, paddle racer), Onni Kähkönen (lumberjack), Veikko Lavi (singer), Björn Westerholm (technical director, vuorineuvos), Armas Jokio (actor), Paavo Noponen (sports journalist, sports commentator), Kauko Kare (journalist), Yrjö Lintunen (professor), Vilho Hassinen (electrician), Eeva Mäkinen (weaver), Leo Kalervo (odd job man, writer), Arvo Hautala (district secretary, trade union leader), Matti Kuusi (researcher), Tauno Lukkarinen (settlement farmer, writer), Jörn Donner (journalist, film director), Eero Tuomikoski (film director), Kauko Käyhkö (entertainer, artist), Sulo Kivinen (journalist).
    Released on vhs: 1985 Yleisradio / Tallennemyynti and Finnkino Oy.
    Yle Export digibeta screened at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Independence Day, Peter von Bagh), 6 Dec 2013.

In memoriam Ritva Arvelo (1921-2013), a great personality of the Finnish theatre and cinema.

Sampled the ending of Vuosi 1952, for me Peter von Bagh's first masterpiece. I voted it for the best Finnish film of the decade at the time. It's an account of the transitional year when the period of hardship and suffering was coming to an end, and a period of a more optimistic and relaxed reconstruction was starting. The compilation film is a genial symposium of a variety of voices. The interviewees relish reminiscing. The sense of relief is palpable in their memoirs.

There are no photographs, no stills. There is no newly written music, no commentary. The movie is a work of material aesthetics: the material is original from the period, and the witnesses testify of their own personal experience.

It's rich, it's crazy, it's exhilarating.

The visual quality of the digibeta was not hot, and the sound was slightly out of synch. Engrossing all the same.

Salpa / The Latch

Spärr. FI 2013. Production company: Filmfly Oy. Producer: Mete Sasioglu. Director and screenwriter: Zagros Manuchar. Cinematography: Arttu Peltomaa - shot on 35 mm - colour - 1,78:1 - released on 2K DCP. Color Grading: Marko Terävä. Production Design: Juha-Matti Toppinen. Costume Design: Laura Malinen. Make Up: Karoliina Purala. Sound Design: Antti Onkila - mono. Editing: Oskari Korenius, Zagros Manuchar.
    Gaffer: Kari Niemi. Lighting Technicians: Joonas Niemi, Antti Savolainen, Jeremias Nieminen. 1. Camera Assistant: Jenni Kaunisto, Outi Ylä-Outila. 2. Camera Assistant: Sofia Palillo, Hannu Käki. Costume Designer's Assistant: Maria Rosenqvist. Sound Recording: Antti Onkila, Timo Kari, Tuomas Vauhkonen. Boom Operators: Charlotte Strömberg, Tuomas Onttonen. Making Of: Toni Heiskanen. Production Secretary: Juha Laine. Foley Artist: Toivo Kallio. Still Photography: Noora Lehtovuori. Graphic Design: Pate Pesonius. Visual Effects: Heikki Ulmanen. Horse And Riding Consultants: Julia Nurminen, Mia Majuri. Production Manager: Ilkka Peltola. Production Assistants: Bal Parkash, Eetu-Pekka Heiskanen. Poster: Janne Kuisma. Trailer Editing: Maria Palavamäki. Webpage Layout: Vesa Hänninen. Distribution: Miika J. Norvanto / Black Lion Pictures.
    Cast: Elis Lindfors (Henri), Eero Enqvist (dad), Elena Leeve (hevostenhoitaja / groom).
    107 min. Viewed at Kinopalatsi 4, Helsinki, 5 December 2013, released on 2K DCP by Black Lion Pictures with Swedish subtitles by Janne Nyström.

The official presentation:

Motto: "The distance from the nearest star to Earth is 150 million kilometres. The distance to reach another human being can seem as long."

Official synopsis: "The Latch is a story about the loneliness of a young boy with a speech impediment, the necessity of being loved and the longing to be seen."

"Henri (Elis Lindfors) suffers from severe stuttering and is transferred to homeschooling. He is going through a stage in his life which will decisively define his relation to the world. He looks for warmth and security, but the person closest to him, his father (Eero Enqvist), is not able to respond to his needs. As the situation becomes unbearable, even a frail connection to another person (Elena Leeve) can become significant."

"The dreamlike movie, whose mode of narration resembles that of poetry, sketches a portrait of a young boy groping to get a hold of life. Silence, long takes and a lack of big gestures contribute to a world into which the viewer is invited."

"Already before its Finnish premiere the film, written and directed by the 23-year-old Zagros Manuchar, has been seen at many international festivals, including one in the director's native country, Iraq. It has also been short-listed for the 2013 international competition series at the Entrevues Belfort Film Festival in France."

"The Latch is a timeless, thoughtful and hopeful account of a world in which true human presence is sometimes illusory." (Official translation modified by AA.)

A distinguished debut feature film by the 23-year-old Zagros Manuchar.

I like the gravity and the dignity of this film. I like the intensity of the visual approach and the focus on painting with light. The season is autumn. There are autumn colours but there is also autumn rain and autumn grayness. The quality of the light in the cinematography is often eloquent. There is a culture of light in the imagery.

Henri the teenager is lonely. The family has been broken. The mother is away. The father is true blue reliable and responsible, but emotionally challenged, unable to react to the despair of the boy.

Henri suffers terribly from his stuttering. He does not always stutter, so it must be psychological. The father is not sensitive enough to seek help. He thinks it will pass anyway. There is no easy clue to the psychological roots of Henri's stuttering. It remains a mystery.

Salpa is a story about the difficulty of learning. Henri is emotionally blocked, and somehow this emotional blocking is related to his challenges of learning mathematics. For dad, math is too easy, and he cannot at all understand Henri's learning difficulties.

Nature is central in the vision of the film. The world of the horses, the stables and the paddocks is essential for Henri's connection to life. At the stables Henri also keeps seeing a group of five girls but he never dares to speak to them. Instead, they approach her, and in a funny scene, a matchmaker amongst the girls takes the initiative and informs Henri that one of them is interested in him and volunteers to be the messenger. But Henri is still too distraught for dating.

Instead, Henri still needs a mother figure. He talks with his mother on the phone. When the incomprehension of his father gets too much for him, he approaches the groom of the horse stables (Elena Leeve) who lets him stay for a while and helps him enter a peer support group of stutterers.

Salpa is an account of the anxiety of youth, of Weltschmerz, of solitude, and of marginalization. It is also about not surrendering to fate.

Stuttering is a powerful image and a thought-provoking symbol about the difficulty of communication.

Elis Lindfors's performance is convincing. Elena Leeve is subtle as the alternative mother-figure. Eero Enqvist has the thankless role as the emotionally challenged father.

Salpa is an image-driven film. It might be even more powerful if it were edited to a Bressonian duration (80 minutes or so). Because Salpa is also a study about les chemins de la solitude.

Salpa ends with a close-up of Henri's face. Then there is darkness and silence. No end title, no end credits. Instead, at the door we receive a handsome illustrated brochure with the production information. There is no music in this film which is all about the significance of the sound of spoken communication.

Shot on photochemical 35 mm film, Salpa is released on 2K DCP. No problem with close-ups and interiors, but there is a slightly denatured digital look in the nature footage of this work in which nature is the essential counter-image.

Programmes at La Cinémathèque française

La Cinémathèque française - Musée du cinéma. 51, rue de Bercy, 75012 Paris. http://www.cinematheque.fr/

"La culture est une résistance à la distraction"
- Pier Paolo Pasolini

PROGRAMMATIONS RÉGULIÈRES
Histoire du cinéma: Histoire permanente du cinéma - Séances spéciales - La Cinémathèque de la danse - Séminaire Gilles Deleuze - Ateliers et stages
Jeune public: - Les enfants des villes. Autour de Aniki-Bobo de Manoel de Oliveira. - Into the West (Mike Newell, GB 1992), Aniki-Bobo, Katia a krokodyl (Vera Plivova-Simkova, CZ 1965), Le ballon blanc (Jafar Panahi, IR 1995), Zazie dans le métro, Mon oncle, Sidewalk Stories (Charles Lane, US 1989), The Window (Ted Tetzlaff, US 1949), Le ballon rouge, Hue and Cry, Ayneh (Le Miroir, Jafar Panahi, IR 1997), Hugo, La petite vendeuse de soleil, Ladri di biciclette, The Little Fugitive, Le Cerf-volant du bout du monde (Roger Pigaut, Kia-Yi Wang, FR/CN 1957)
- Stages et ateliers
Séances: Jeune public
Le Cinéma dans tous ses états: - Voir Revoir le cinéma d'aujourd'hui - Cinéma d'avant-garde, contre-culture générale - Cinéma Bis - Cinéma de poche (c.m.) - Ciné-club Jean Douchet - Le Conservatoire des techniques cinématographiques
Activités permanentes: - Le musée - La bibliothèque du film - La librairie - Le bâtiment de Frank Gehry

PROGRAMME DÉCEMBRE 2013 - FÉVRIER 2014

FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL
TOUTE LA MÉMOIRE DU MONDE (Pauline de Raymond)
Invité d'honneur: William Friedkin
Ouverture: Sorcerer (US 1976), restauration 4K par Warner Bros. (2013), 122 min
Carte blanche à William Friedkin
Restaurations et incunables
Hommage à la Cinémathèque de Bologne
Les couleurs du cinéma muet
Raj Kapoor, le showman
Rencontres
Les activités pédagogiques
Hors les murs
Nuit Fantômas 1-5 (FR 1913-1914), DCP, durée totale 300 min, restauré par Gaumont et le CNC en collaboration avec La Cinémathèque française (2013)
Shoah (FR 1985) DCP, restauré par Why Not Productions (2012), 570 min
Couleurs naturelles - Segundo de Chomón - Georges Méliès (films rares peints à main en copies restaurées par La Cinémathèque française en 2013) - Couleurs & féminité

EXPOSITIONS
Pasolini Roma
Jean Cocteau & Le Cinématographe

RÉTROSPECTIVES
Pier Paolo Pasolini
João César Monteiro. Horreur du social, splendeur du désir (Fabrice Revault)
Bernadette Lafont
Panoptismes: une histoire de la visibilité (Jean-François Rauger) - programme Alain Declercq
Henry Hathaway. L'aristocrate roturier (Jean-François Rauger)
Jean-Charles Fitoussi. À ciel ouvert (Bernard Benoliel)
James B. Harris (Jean-François Rauger)
Caroline Champetier: aux aguets (Bernard Payen)

Programmes at Arsenal (Berlin)

Arsenal (Berlin). - Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. - Filmhaus, Potsdamer Strasse 2, 10785 Berlin. - http://www.arsenal-berlin.de/

REGULAR FEATURES
Forum = Das Internationale Forum des Jungen Films (Berlinale = Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin) (February)
Magical History Tour
Living Archive
Die DEFA-Stiftung präsentiert
Filmspotting: Erkundungen im Filmarchiv der Deutschen Kinemathek
UdK-Seminar
Filmmakers' Choice
Der Standpunkt der Aufnahme - the cinema's connection with history
Vaginal Davis präsentiert: Rising Stars, Falling Stars - We Must Have Music!
FilmDokument
Kino Polska
Klassiker nicht nur für Kinder
Die Basis des Make-Up
Neu im Verleih / Wieder im Verleih

DEZEMBER 2013
Zwischentöne der Geschichte: Werkschau Goran Devic und Zvonimir Juric - Croatia - Crnci etc.
Hommage à Catherine Deneuve - in person
Retrospektive Howard Hawks
Magical History Tour: Malerei in Bewegung
Film- und Vortragsreihe: Filmästhetische Forschung (2)
KinoPolska: zu Gast Pawel Borowski
Buchpräsentation Béla Tarr: Die Zeit danach von Jacques RancièreFilmDokument: Amateurfilme der NS-Zeit
Kunst und BegriffBauhaus spiralgebunden telehor: László Moholy-Nagy
EXPOSED. Selbstporträts von Frauen
Öffentliche Sichtung: Erosu + gyakusatsu / Eros plus Massacre

NOVEMBER 2013
Wie Film Geschichte anders schreibt. Frieda Grafe - 30 Filme (3)
Elio Petri - Aufzeichnungen eines Unbequemen
Film- und Vortragsreihe: Filmästhetische Forschung (1)
AFRIKAMERA präsentiert: REIMAGING-AFRICA 2013
The Space between Us Africa transcultural and transcontinental
Magical History Tour - Zäsuren der Filmgeschichte (2) - moments of technical change, political turmoil and aesthetical crisis
Visionary Archive - Recherchen zum translokalen afrikanischen Kino
DAAD-Stipendiat Felipe Braganca
Spekulantenwahn
Buchpräsentation: Filmischer Realismus - Roma, ore 11
UdK-Seminar: plansequenz / performative / tableau vivant
Kinotournee Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2013
Filmmakers' Choice: Napoléon (1927)
FilmDokument: Die Sorben im DDR-Film
Filmkritik im Fokus
Claude Lanzmann: Le dernier des injustes - in person: Claude Lanzmann
Film und Podiumsdiskussion: Eksmisja
Buchpräsentation: Ton. Texte zur Akustik im Dokumentarfilm
DAAD-Stipendiat João Viana
50 Jahre Literarisches Colloquium Berlin
Neu im Verleih: Al-khoroug lel-nahar / Coming Forth by Day (Hala Lofty, EG 2012)

OKTOBER 2013
Retrospektive Jacques Rivette - including Out 1 at 773 min / 13 h, the longest feature film
Magical History Tour - Zäsuren der Filmgeschichte
Wie Film Geschichte anders schreibt. Frieda Grafe - 30 Filme (3)
Spekulantenwahn. Zwischen ökonomischer Rationalität und medialer Imagination
Künstlerinnenprogramm
Once I Entered a Garden. Avi Mograbi zu Gast
Berliner Premiere: Norte, the End of History von Lav Diaz
Living Archive
FilmDokument: Bagnold - Dorf zwischen schwarz und rot (BRD 1964)
Buchpräsentation: Backstage - Konstellationen von Theater und Kino
Klassiker nicht nur für Kinder: Modern Times
Neu im Verleih: Hélio Oiticica (Cesar Oiticica Filho, BR 2012)

SEPTEMBER 2013
Kim Ki-duk
Sights of Memory - 8 Filme aus dem Libanon, in the presence of Eliane Raheb, Ghassan Salhab, Rania Rafei, Raed Rafei
Magical History Tour - Farbe im Film
Redaktion Inge Classen
Die Hamburg-Trilogie von Gerd Kroske
Kolloquium der Deutschen Kinemathek
FilmDokument: Entwicklungspolitik
Living Archive - Die Fortsetzung!
Living Archive: El golpe
50 Jahre Arsenal. Ziegelsteine. Zu Gast: Harun Farocki
KinoPolska
Ulrike Ottinger
Filmmakers' Choice: The Interchange of Cinematography
Der Standpunkt der Aufnahme
Neu im Verleih: Hélio Oiticica (Cesar Oiticica Filho, BR 2012)

AUGUST 2013
The Real Eighties - Neo Noir
Wie Film Geschichte anders schreibt. Frieda Grafe - 30 Filme (2)
Magical History Tour - Musik im Film
Magical History Tour - Kino im Plural (2) - ensemble films, stories of collectives, interlinked character constellations, complex networks of relationships, acting ensembles, hosts of stars
Andrej Tarkowskij / Andrei Tarkovsky
Seijun Suzuki
Les Blank
Neu auf Dvd: Riddles of the Sphinx - Amy! - Filme von Philip Scheffner - Kya hua is shahar ko? - Sheila McLaughlin & Lynne Tillman - Riki Kalbe
50 Jahre Arsenal: Asynchronitäten der Erinnerung - (nostalgia), Hollis Frampton, US 1971
Arsenal Summer School
DAAD-Stipendiat Sandro Aguilar

JUNI 2013 - JUBILÄUMSMONAT 50 JAHRE ARSENAL - Milena Gregor, Birgit Kohler, Stefanie Schulte Strathaus
50 Jahre Arsenal: Living Archive - Archivarbeit als künstlerische und kuratorische Praxis der Gegenwart
Dorothy Arzner ass Chili con Carne im Arsenal-Café (und andere Geschichten)
Alles auf Anfang
Avi Mograbi - Harun Farocki, Wendelien von Oldenborgh - Darryl Eis - Winfried Pauleit - Joel Pizzini - Constanze Ruhm - Madhusree Dutta, Ines Schaber - Stefanie Schlüter - Anselm Franke - Marcel Schwierin - Florian Wüst - Tobias Hering - Angela Melitopoulos - Senta Siewert - Stephan Geene - Filipa César - Sabine Schöbel - Nicole Wolf, Nanna Heidenreich - Hito Steyer - Ala Younis - Martin Ebner, Florian Zeyfang - Oksana Bulgakowa, Dietmar Hochmuth - Marc Siegel - Madeleine Bernstorff - Sabine Nessel - Eunice Martins - Entuziazm - John Blue, Axel Scheele, Daniel Grinstead - Vaginal Davis - Martin Ebner - Johannes Paul Raether - Susanne Sachsse - Dorothee Wenner mit Erika und Ulrich Gregor
Lebendige Archive - Take It Like a Man, Madame! - Living Data - On to the Past - Back to the Future. Die technische Seite von Living Archive - Between Art and Film: 5 Conversations about the Shifting Space of Production - Sunday afternoon dvd launches - Arab Shorts - Wieder im Verleih / Neu im Verleih

MAI 2013
19. Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam
Terrence Malick
Magical History Tour: Special und Visual Effects
Der Standpunkt der Aufnahme
Vorstellung
KinoPolska
UdK-Seminar: "FilmFilm"
UdK-Seminar: Kino und Malerei
Was macht das Medium?
b-books präsentiert: Kinematographisches Handeln & Public Sphere by Performance
Neu im Verleih: Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, US/GB/FR 2012)

APRIL 2013
Cyd Charisse, Hollywood's Dancing Queen of the 1950s
Denis Côté, No Comfort Zone
Wie Film Geschichte anders schreibt. Frieda Grafe - 30 Filme - her list of 30 favourite films compiled for the magazine steadycam in 1995
50 Jahre "Das kleine Fernsehspiel"
FilmPolska: Kamerakunst
Magical History Tour: Schrift in Bewegung
FilmDokument: Erwin Leiser
White Noise
Neu im Verleih: Bestiaire (Denis Côté, CA/FR 2012)

MÄRZ 2013
China. Ein Lied um Mitternacht. Chinesische Filmgeschicte von 1929 bis 1964
Magical History Tour: Rauminszenierungen
Berliner Premiere: Heimwärts
FilmDokument: Filme der Sammler Walter Jerven und Ferdinand Althoff
Film und Buchpräsentation: Satan Crucified
Umwege - Die Filmemacherin Susanne Beyeler
DAAD-Stipendiatin Marie Losier zu Gast

FEBRUAR 2013
43. Forum
8. Forum Expanded
Days of India - Indisches Gegenwartskino
Keisuke Kinoshita - 11 films
In Erinnerung an Gerhard Schoenberner
Perret in Frankreich und Algerien
Filmmakers' Choice: Aufbruch
FilmDokument: Wir fahren nach Amerika
Shirley Clarke: Portrait of Jason

JANUAR 2013
Larissa Schepitko / Larissa Shepitko
Martin Scorsese (2)
Magical History Tour: Land in Sicht - Landschaften im Film
Meer der Dünste: Filme und Sound von Sylvia Schedelbauer und Jeff Surak
FilmDokument: Ein Farblehrfilm für Filmschaffende
Film als körperhafte Exposition
"It's More Than TV": Film und Buchpräsentation
UdK-Seminar: Kino und Malerei
Happy Birthday, Heinz!
bauhaus & film: Schule des Sehens - Wissenschaft des Sehens - László Moholy-Nagy - Thomas Tode book-length edition Bauhaus & Film in the magazine Maske und Kothurn - Filme von Gropius, Moholy-Nagy, Ella Bergmann-Michel, Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack, Kurt Schwerdtfeger, Werner Graeff, Heinrich Brocksiepet, und Kurt Kranz.
Neu im Verleih: Das schlafende Mädchen (Rainer Kirberg, DE 2011)

DEZEMBER 2012
Martin Scorsese - context: Martin Scorsese exhibition in the Berlin Film Museum
Dans Paris - Paris im Film
Magical History Tour. Bühne frei: Theater und Film - The Connection, Bronenosets Potyomkin, Dogville, Mon cas, Variété, Le dernier métro, A Star Is Born (1954), Opening Night, Gori, gori, moya svezda (Alexander Mitta, SU 1969), Les Enfants du paradis, Vanya on 42nd Street
Filmgespräch mit Berlinale-Residency-Regisseuren
Kino Polska
Berliner Premiere: Gesicht und Antwort
Stummfilm mit elektronischer Live-Musik: Po sakonu / Po zakunu / By the Law
FilmDokument: Die Stadt und das Werk
Filmmakers' Choice: Und am Ende das Leuchten
Rückblick 2012 und Vorschau auf das Verleihprogramm 2013

NOVEMBER 2012
Tales of Cinema - Retrospektive Hong Sang-soo
Living Archive. Gespenster der Freiheit: Kino und Dekolonialisierung
Afrikamera 2012: African Women on and behind the Screen
One World Berlin
EUNIC präsentiert: 60 Jahre Goldene Bären
Rosa von Praunheim zum 70. Geburtstag
Russische Filmwoche
Magical History Tour: Production Design (2)
Christian von Borries zu Gast
FilmDokument. Buchpräsentation Das Prinzip Neugier. DEFA-Dokumentarfilmer erzählen

OKTOBER 2012
Think:Film. International Experimental Cinema Congress 2012
Marco Bellocchio - in person
Katalanische Filmtage
Zum Symposium. An den Grenzen - Werner Herzog
Gleichgewichtsübungen. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Rolf Richter
EUNIC präsentiert: 60 Jahre Goldene Bären
Magical History Tour: Production Design (1)
Hommage an Peter Przygodda
FilmDokument: Gesundheitsfilme zwischen 1946 und 1949
Film und Podiumsdiskussion: Revision
Finale: Kinotournee Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2012
Kino Polska
Nina Menkes zu Gast
Früheste Tonfilme und Neuheiten von einst aus dem Archiven der Deutschen Kinemathek
Helden & Klassiker nicht nur für Kinder

SEPTEMBER 2012
Alain Resnais
Magical History Tour: Rebels with a Cause - Halbstarke im Film
EUNIC präsentiert: 60 Jahre Goldene Bären
FilmDokument: Es war ein Mensch...
Mensch 2.0
Happy Birthday, Ulrich Gregor! - Ulrich Gregor 80 J - F. W. Murnau-Preis an Aki Kaurismäki - Film: Valehtelija (FI/DE 1981)
DAAD-Stipendiat Sebastián Lelio
Der Standpunkt der Aufnahme
Kinderausstellung Helden

JULI AUGUST 2012
Arab Shorts (Arab Shorts Festival 2009-2011, Goethe Institute Cairo)
Blaxploitation
Heinz Emigholz: Die Architekturfilme
Magical History Tour: Niemandsländer, Parallel- und Halbwelten im Film
Andrej Tarkowskij / Andrei Tarkovsky
Curator in Residence: Joel Pizzini
Magical History Tour: Sound im Film
Cinema Storytelling from New Zealand
Kinderausstellung Helden
Arbeitswelten im Film
Das Gesicht als Ereignis
Der Standpunkt der Aufnahme
DAAD-Stipendiatin Bouchra Khalili
Buchpräsentation: Schriften zum Kino
Deutschlandpremiere: Bete & Deise
Filmmakers' Choice: La batalla de Chile, selected by Angelika Levi
- films by Ernie Gehr, Larry Gottheim, Peter Hutton, Pat Sullivan (selected by Martin Ebner)
Doppelprojektion: Torse
Arsenal Summer School
Buchpräsentation: Untot. Zombie Film Theorie