Birds Eye View Festival, 8-17 March 2011

January 26, 2011 PH 3 Comments

• I updated this post on 8 February with the revised times and dates for the Sound and Silents screenings.

To say that Silent London has a whole lotta love for the Birds Eye View Film Festival would be an understatement. This event, which has grown in size and scope since it was launched in 2005, excels in several areas, but silent film programming has been a particular strength. This year is no exception, with an exciting range of films in its Bloody Women horror strand being screened with live, specially commissioned scores at the BFI Southbank and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The festival, which is set up to celebrate and support international female film-makers, begins on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day – and its Opening Night Gala is a marvellous way to mark the occasion. Over to Birds Eye View:

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Theatrical release

Battleship Potemkin in UK cinemas from 29 April 2011

January 25, 2011 PH 4 Comments

It’s official. According to the BFI website, the newly restored version of Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1926) with the original score by Edmund Meisel, will get its UK theatrical release on 29 April. Watch this space!

When Eisenstein heard the score that had been such an incendiary success in Germany, he worried that Meisel’s powerful music overshadowed the film. But Potemkin was already proving inspirational and few images remain as potent as a pram careering down a staircase, still widely referenced today, at the climax of the massacre of Odessa’s civilians. Potemkin’s perennial freshness owes much to Eisenstein’s improvisation when he realised the potential of those steps, and of the battleship itself, as a cockpit for the stirring of revolutionary emotion, and with Meisel’s music it’s as powerful as ever. – Ian Christie

Festival, Screening

Silent films at the Glasgow Film Festival

January 24, 2011 PH 2 Comments

The schedule for the Glasgow Film Festival has just been released and as expected there are plenty of great films old and new being screened as part of the event next month. Of special interest to this blog is the Music and Film Festival strand, which comprises documentaries about music and musicians as well as films shown with live scores. Not all of the films with live musical accompaniment are silents, but of course some are – and they look very exciting.

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Poll

The Silent London 2010 poll – the results

January 21, 2011 PH 6 Comments

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)

The Silent London End of Year Poll was never going to rival the ones you read in Sight & Sound and the broadsheets, I suppose. But I was heartened that so many of you did respond to my call for the best silent film show of 2010 – and fascinated by your choices, too. The big surprise was that no one mentioned Metropolis. There were a few votes for freshly restored Chaplin films, one for Natalie Clein’s sensitive cello score for The Temptress at Kings Place in May, a tantalising description of Stephen Horne’s soundtrack to La Princess Mandane as “genius” from Pam Cook on Twitter, a shout-out for the witty The Golden Butterfly (both shown as part of the Fashion in Film festival) and a “riotous” village-hall screening of Seven Chances (1925). Luke McKernan picked two films, both of which he described as “wildly obscure”: an anthropological documentary called Rituals and Festivals of the Borôro that screened at Pordenone and another vote for Stephen Horne, with his reconstruction of the score for The Battle of the Ancre and the Advance of the Tanks (1917). Not seen those? Never mind – I’m sure you’ll sympathise with McKernan’s conclusion that the first film: “reminded me of why film is the most compelling medium, and silent film especially so”. But finally, with a whopping two votes (one on Twitter and another by email), the winner is the East End Film Festival’s screening of Hitchcock’s The Lodger, soundtracked by Minima. Congratulations – I was there as well and I thought it was a marvellous evening.

Continue reading The Silent London 2010 poll – the results →

Screening

The General and The Music Box, Crystal Palace Pictures, 14 April

January 20, 2011 PH 1 Comment

Crystal Palace Pictures is a thriving local film society, which shows a film every other Thursday on a 17ft screen in the Gipsy Hill Tavern, near Gipsy Hill station. Residents of Crystal Palace are currently embroiled in a long-running campaign for a cinema, so it’s good to see that there is an alternative in the local area. Ideally, there would be room for both, but until then, Crystal Palace Pictures is doing sterling work, showing a hugely diverse range of films.

Continue reading The General and The Music Box, Crystal Palace Pictures, 14 April →

Festival, Link

International silent film festival diary from The Bisocope

January 19, 2011 PH Leave a comment

You undoubtedly know The Bisocope, an exhaustive, eloquent blog about everything related to silent film, and much more besides. If by some chance you aren’t already familiar with the site, you can expect to lose the next few hours to exploring its scholarly articles. Enjoy. However, I wanted to draw your attention to one particular post, which will definitely be of interest, and may also have the power to change your holiday plans. The Bioscope has compiled a calendar of the 2011’s silent film festivals – from Kansas to Finland. The list includes some very exciting events and all of them are worthy of your support. You can find the post here – but if you find yourself buying plane tickets, don’t blame me, blame The Bisocope.

If, on your travels, you are looking for silent film screenings outside London, let me point you towards the Nitrateville Silent Screenings forum and the US website Silents in the Court.

Lecture, Screening

The Birth of a Nation, BFI Southbank, 24 January – postponed

January 18, 2011 PH Leave a comment

Due to technical difficulties, the screening of The Birth of a Nation (DW Griffith, 1915) at the BFI Southbank on 24 January has been cancelled, but it will be rescheduled for later in the year. Hopefully, the rearranged screening will also benefit from an introduction from Kevin Brownlow as originally planned. Of course, we’ll pass on the details as soon we know more.

Photo, Screening

Hamlet (1920) at the BFI, 27 January – a change to the advertised programme

January 17, 2011 PH 3 Comments

Asta Nielsen as Hamlet, Lilly Jacobson as Ophelia in Hamlet (1920)

Look what I found tucked into my copy of Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History by Robert Hamilton Ball. It’s not a “vintage” postcard, but was bought for me by relatives on holiday in Berlin when I was writing a dissertation on silent Shakespeare. Asta Nielsen as Hamlet also graces the cover of the book, and looking at these pictures again I am reminded why I am so excited about the BFI screening of Hamlet next week. I’ve not seen this 1920 film directed by Sven Gade before, as it was not available on DVD when I was at university, and it still isn’t.

The BFI screening will be a chance to see a restored print of the film, and this event was also to be the premiere of a new score by Claire van Kampen – but unfortunately, that is no longer the case. However, I’m sure that Neil Brand’s improvised piano accompaniment will be up to his usual high standards.

Hamilton Ball says of the film that: “by adaptation and acting appropriate to pictures in motion, the least Shakespearean Hamlet becomes the best Hamlet film in the silent era”. He also quotes from a contemporary review in the periodical Exceptional Photoplays:

Rare is it indeed to see so complete a suggestion of all physical means – appearance, gesture, even the movement of an eye-lid – to the sheer art of showing forth the soul of a character as that which Asta Nielsen accomplishes in her role of Hamlet … For here is a woman whose like we have not on our own screen. Asta Nielsen’s art is a mature art that makes the curly headed girlies and painted hussies and tear-drenched mothers of most of our native film dramas as fantastic for adult consumption as a reading diet restricted to the Elsie books and Mother Goose … It is well … to put Shakespeare resolutely out of mind in seeing this production and take it on its own merits, though that is a mental feat made harder than it need have been by the frequent use of Shakespeare’s words in subtitles … Taken all in all, Hamlet reaches a level not often seen in our motion pictures.

Hamlet (1920) screens at the BFI Southbank on 27 January at 6.45pm. There are still a few tickets available here.

Link

Blog: The Sound of Silents

January 16, 2011 PH Leave a comment

You may be interested in a piece I wrote for the Spectator’s Touching From a Distance arts blog last week. It’s a general introduction to where you can see silent films in London, and a few highlights of the forthcoming year. Here it is.

Screening

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Festival Hall, 27 March 2011

January 14, 2011 PH Leave a comment

Carl Davis is back, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, to perform his score for The Phantom of the Opera (1925). You’ll be pleased to know that this film, which stars Lon Chaney, and the score, have nothing at all to do with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

More than 80 years after its première, Lon Chaney’s extraordinary performance as the Phantom – a crazed escapee from Devil’s Island, formerly imprisoned in a torture chamber on the site of the Paris opera – still has the power to shock; and the film is also notable for its sumptuous set-piece scenes, including a masked Ball in which the Phantom appears as the Red Death on the Grand Stairway.

The Phantom of the Opera screens at 3pm on 27 March 2011. Tickets range from £8-£38 and are available here.

Documentary

Silent film on Radio 4: Hollywood – the Prequel, 18 January

January 13, 2011 PH 1 Comment

In 2011, many people use Hollywood as a synonym for the film industry as a whole, but in the early days of cinema, California was a long distance from the heart of the action. Hollywood – the Prequel traces the geographical shifts of the silent film industry across Europe – at different times, Britain, France, Denmark and Italy could all claim to be the centre of the cinematographic world. This absorbing documentary is presented by Francine Stock and features contributions from film historians including Kevin Brownlow, Ian Christie, Kristin Thompson, Neil Brand (with his piano) and Frank Gray. The experts take a chronological approach to early cinema, but focus on different genres in turn:

If you think the stick-em-up, the rom-com and the sword-and-sandal epic began life in the United States, then think again. The French gave the world a kinetic form of film comedy, and not only did the Danes perfect the art of the thriller, they gave the world its first bona fide movie star, Asta Nielsen, who scandalised cinema-goers everywhere with her erotic dance in 1910’s The Abyss.

Continue reading Silent film on Radio 4: Hollywood – the Prequel, 18 January →

Screening

The City Symphony – Part 2, Barbican, 13 March

January 12, 2011 PH Leave a comment

Following on from February’s double-bill of Berlin, Symphony of a City and Manhatta, the Barbican brings us a triple-bill of films about French cities. The second City Symphony event comprises À Propos de Nice (Jean Vigo, 1929), Rien Que Les Heures (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926) and Paris Qui Dort (René Clair, 1923), with piano accompaniment from Neil Brand.

Vigo’s dawn-to-dusk documentary uses montage to celebrate the vitality of Nice, but also to highlight social divides in the glamorous resort. Cavalvanti’s Paris film Rien Que Les Heures is an experimental attempt to paint a real portrait of the city, as opposed to the gloss of paintings and picture postcards. In René Clair’s surreal Paris Qui Dort, a Parisian is shocked to discover that everyone in the city has fallen into a trance – apart from him.

The City Symphony – Part 2 is on Sunday 13 March at 4pm. Tickets are available from the Barbican website and box office on 0845 120 7500. The third event in the strand, a screening of Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929), will take place on 29 May. Details to follow.

Screening

Exotic Europe, The Cinema Museum, 14 January

January 12, 2011 PH Leave a comment

DURCH DIE VOGESEN [GERMANY 1911] aka THROUGH THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS — Exotic Europe

There are several interesting events lined up in the first half of the year at the Cinema Museum in Kennington. The first one to catch our eye is a screening of archive films and London Film School students’ responses called Exotic Europe. There will be a chance to see restored travelogue films from the Exotic Europe project, dating from between 1909 and 1921, and then to watch the students’ filmed responses, which they will introduce themselves. After the screenings, there will be a Q&A.

Exotic Europe is at the Cinema Museum on 14 January at 7pm. For more details, check out the Cinema Museum website.

Screening

Aelita: Queen of Mars and Minima at the Prince Charles Cinema

January 11, 2011 PH 1 Comment

The February silent film at the Prince Charles Cinema in London is well worth a watch. The group Minima, who have written and performed scores for several silent films, will accompany Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) at the PCC on 24 February. You might have seen this show at the BFI last year, but if you missed it then, this is a great opportunity.

The film is a piece of Soviet science-fiction, with fantastic constructivist sets and costumes. The hero of the film, Los, travels to Mars, where he will lead a popular revolution against the planet’s ruling class, with the help of queen Aelita, who has fallen in love with him. But all is not quite as it seems …

Minima have soundtracked Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and The Lodger, among others. If you’re a fan of their scores, you might enjoy this interview with Alex Hogg from the band, in which he talks about how they set about scoring a silent film:

Films from the 1920s have a different pace, and for the uninitiated it can be hard work, so a contemporary interpretation by musicians can really help. You can make people laugh, cry and jump out of their seats but we only do this in the name of accompanying the film and helping people to watch the film.

Aelita: Queen of Mars is screened on 24 February at 8.45pm. Tickets are £10 or £6 for members and you can buy them here.

Quote

Buster Keaton on pantomime

January 9, 2011 PH Leave a comment

They say pantomime’s a lost art. It’s never been a lost art and never will be, because it’s too natural to do.

Buster Keaton

Festival, Screening

Branchage Proposes Marriage, Shoreditch Church, 12 January

January 8, 2011 PH 1 Comment

His Wooden Wedding (1925) starring Charley Chase

Going to the chapel and we’re, gonna get mar-ar-arried … Silent London loves a good wedding, and the Branchage Proposes Marriage night in Shoreditch on Wednesday is definitely an event worthy of a new hat. This is a festival-crossover, hosted by the Branchage (pronouned Bron-carge) Film Festival as part of the London Short Film Festival. The night promises everything you would expect at a wedding: cake, a string quartet, a DJ, even Uncle Dennis (AKA comedy writer Freddy Syborn) telling jokes.

From Kusturica-esque gypsy weddings to lavish Royal Affairs; dazzling Bollywood affairs to a quickie in Las Vegas; all wedding ceremonies have their own theatricality. Branchage will be exploring the spectacular traditions and superstitious customs of weddings in an evening of silent film, performance, found footage, music and surreal wedding treats. Pull up a pew to hear something old and something new, all brought together with live-scoring from classical and contemporary folk musicians, as well as some found footage.

So, what will the film screenings be? Well, Branchage obviously doesn’t want to let the groom see the wedding dress before the big day, so they are keeping their cards close to their chest. However, they have revealed that they will be showing comedy short His Wooden Wedding (1925) directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charley Chase, accompanied by James Keay on the piano. Duo Plaster of Paris are also slated to appear “scoring a wedding vignette”, which might be found footage … or it might not.

Full details are available on the Branchage website here. Branchage Proposes Marriage is at 7pm on 12 January, at Shoreditch Church. As far I know there’s no wedding list, but tickets are £10 and they’re available from See Tickets.

Screening

The Passion of Joan of Arc at Alexandra Palace, 24 July

January 6, 2011 PH 1 Comment

Well, I couldn’t be certain initially, but now all is clear. Adrian Utley from Portishead and Will Gregory from Goldfrapp will be performing their score for Dreyer’s magnificent film The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) in London this summer. The show is scheduled for Sunday 24 July 2011, as part of the I’ll Be Your Mirror festival at Alexandra Palace, which is curated by Portishead. The full lineup (such as it is, so far) is here and tickets, including single Sunday tickets (£63.15) are available here. The initial blurb for the festival promised a cinema – so would it be too much to hope that there will be further silent film screenings at the festival? Possibly.

Festival, Screening

News from Bristol: The Extra Girl, slapstick and beer

January 5, 2011 PH Leave a comment

As Bristol gears up for its annual Slapstick Festival (reported on these pages elsewhere), I thought I would share with you a couple of interesting events they’ve got lined up before the main attraction, which kicks off on 28 January. First off, the Bristol Silents club is screening The Extra Girl (1923) starring Mabel Normand, on 12 January, 7.30pm at the Old Picture House. The screening is totally free and will be introduced by film historian David Robinson. Full details are available on the Bristol Silents Facebook page.

Continue reading News from Bristol: The Extra Girl, slapstick and beer →

video

The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema

January 4, 2011 PH Leave a comment

I thought you might enjoy this elegant documentary about the history of The Phoenix cinema in East Finchley. It’s a charming film, tracing the cinema from its earliest days in the 1910s and through its several reincarnations, crises and successes. You might remember that the cinema celebrated its silent era origins with a programme of Paul and Acres shorts last November. What this films reminds us, ultimately, is just how crucial independent cinemas such as the Phoenix are to the cultural life of the city, and to individual film lovers. You never forget where you first saw your favourite film, after all.

The film was made by On Par Productions and features a soundtrack by The Last Dinosaur.

Predictions

Silent film in 2011 – a new vintage trend?

January 3, 2011 PH 4 Comments

If we have our way, silent film is only going to get bigger in 2011. There are lots of great screenings coming up in London and elsewhere and it feels like there is a lot of enthusiasm out there for this fantastic art form.

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that Battleship Potemkin, in its new restored 35mm print, courtesy of Kino International, will be the big silent film hit of the year. I have watched this great film more times than I care to remember but I will inevitably be back in the cinema to watch it this year. If I’m honest, I prefer to go to one-off events with live music rather than to listen to a recorded soundtrack, but if this re-release gets more people watching Battleship Potemkin, and stimulates their interest in silent cinema, it’s all good with me. Continue reading Silent film in 2011 – a new vintage trend? →