Sight and Sound's Top 10 Greatest Films

While I'm still composing my thoughts about the films of the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, I wanted to write a little about Sight and Sound's Greatest Film survey.  Published by the British Film Institute (BFI), Sight and Sound conducts a survey of critics, academics, etc. regarding the greatest films.   The survey is conducted every decade (2012, 2002, 1992, etc.).  I won't comment on the films which made the list or their relative ranking or even the films omitted.  Instead, I was amazed at how many of the top 10 films are available for viewing in the near future or have been screened in the recent past.

The Top 10 Greatest Films according to Sight and Sound are:

10.   8½
 9.   The Passion of Joan of Arc
 8.   Man With a Movie Camera
 7.   The Searchers
 6.   2001: A Space Odyssey
 5.   Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
 4.   The Rules of the Game
 3.   Tokyo Story
 2.   Citizen Kane
 1.   Vertigo

At the Castro Theater alone, you can see four of the top 10 this month!  Citizen Kane screens tonight at 8 PM.  Sunrise plays next Sunday (August 12) at 3:20 PM and 7 PM.  2001 has a two day run on August 26 and 27.  Vertigo plays over the Labor Day Weekend in 70 mm.

The Rules of the Game screens November 27 at the PFA as part of their Grand Illusions series.

I saw The Searchers last summer at the Castro.  I saw Tokyo Story two summers ago at the Viz.  I've seen The Passion of Joan of Arc twice in the past few years, most recently in December 2010 at the Paramount Theater in Oakland.

Man With a Movie Camera was accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra at the 2010 SF Silent Film Festival. I can still remember that memorable performance as the frenetic pace of the music perfectly matched Vertov's quick editing technique.

I seem to recall 8½ playing at the Castro in the last year or so.  If there was a screening at the Castro, I didn't attend it nor a 2009 screening at the PFA.

I've seen all 10 of the films; 6 of them since I started this blog.  I know I've seen Vertigo & Citizen Kane on the big screen prior to starting the blog.  The two films I have not seen on the big screen are 2001 and 8½.  I remember 2001 as one of the first films I watched when my family got a VCR in the 1980s.  I was fascinated by it and have watched it several times since then.  I can't recall when I saw 8½; I suspect it was on television.  

The entire Top 50 film list can be seen here as well as the Top 10 list from a survey of 358 directors including "Woody Allen, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Quentin Tarantino, the Dardenne brothers, Terence Davies, Guillermo del Toro, Martin Scorsese, Olivier Assayas, Michael Mann, Guy Maddin, Francis Ford Coppola, Mike Leigh, Aki Kaurismäki..."

Napoléon

On April 1, I attended what I have heard called "the cinematic event of a lifetime." I am referring to the long anticipated screening of Napoléon at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

Napoléon starring Albert Dieudonné; directed by Abel Gance; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Oakland East Bay Symphony conducted by Carl Davis; (1927)

There are many published accounts of the film and the making of the film. The version screened in Oakland was the result of a lifetime's work by noted film historian Kevin Brownlow. In preparation for the screening, I read Brownlow's Napoleon: Abel Gance's Classic Film (1983). I recommend the book to anyone with an interest in the making of the film, Brownlow's association with Gance and Bronwlow's reconstruction of the film. Subsequent to publication, Brownlow edited a version of the film with approximately 20 more minutes of material which was screened in Oakland.

Originally, Gance was going to make a hexalogy on Napoleon Bonaparte's life. He spent all the money on the first film and never made the other five. In many ways, the first film is like three films in one. Presented with three intermissions, Napoléon consisted four acts of 2:00, 1:00, 1:50 and 0:45 in length, totaling to 5 hours, 35 minutes in runtime. The intermissions totaled 2 hours, 35 minutes. The entire event took over 8 hours.

Napoléon was epic if ever there was an epic film. Armed with the knowledge glommed from Brownlow's book, I was on the lookout for many of the innovations pioneered by Gance. There was the snowball fight when Napoleon was a boy which caused the children so many discomforts during filming. Apparently, Gance filmed or was prepared to film a shot from the perspective of the snowball which has been lost. There was a scene above the assembly during which Gance mounted the camera to a swing or trapeze to get the camera motion to match the swells on the ocean which Napoleon was floundering upon. There was a scene where the camera is in front of Napoleon as he gallops on a horse. I assume the camera was mounted to a truck bed but I didn't seen any dust being kicked up by it. Of course, there is the finale in Polyvision where three projectors are use to show synchronized images on three full size screens. At the Paramount, the left & right screens appeared as curtains opened to the cheers of the audience. It was supremely impressive.

Napoléon was a supremely impressive film. Even if I had not read the book, the technical advances in filmmaking techniques by Gance would be obvious. Gance and/or his assistant director had a talent in managing crowd scene. On the battlefield, schoolyard, assembly hall, military camp, etc. the chaos through which Napoleon found clarity is richly presented.

The film assumed the audience had a knowledge of the French Revolution and Napoleon's life which was beyond me. I probably lost some of the meaning of certain events. More knowledge on Robespierre's life would have been helpful. For the most part, Napoléon was historically accurate. The only character who I'm certain was fictionalized was Violine (Annabella), an innkeeper's daughter and house servant who becomes obsessed with Napoleon.

My admiration for the film is not blind though. Gance was terribly self-indulgent in making the film. Some scenes drag on for too long as if Gance wanted the audience to see his genius on display. In particular, the Siege of Toulon could have been edited.

During the dinner break, the hordes of filmgoers (the Paramount can seat 3,000 and it was sold out) descended onto Broadway. I wasn't sure if we could be seated, dine and return in time for Act 3. We decided on Mua which was staffed for the crowd. At the foot of Webster St. where Webster, Broadway & 25th St converge, Mua was quite a find. The large space has a warehouse feel and was playing Beatles songs in the background. The owner even looked a little like John Lennon. Scanning the crowd of diners, I spotted Czar of Noir Eddie Muller three tables away.

While walking back to the Paramount, I noticed Mua it is close to the proposed location of the New Parkway Theater on 24th between Broadway and Telegraph. With any luck, I'll be returning to Mua when I go to the New Parkway which I think they are calling the Uptown Parkway now.

I appreciated the grandeur of Napoléon and feel fortunate to have seen the film with full orchestral accompaniment, with Carl Davis conducting and full Polyvision projection. Given the size of the audience, several other people took advantage of the opportunity.

Napoléon has crossed into the realm of myth and legend. Gance's first version of the film ran over 9 hours (not including intermissions if there were any). Even when the film was being made, it seems to have been destined for greatness. How much of my (or the 2012 audience's) reaction to the film was conditioned by what I've heard and read vs. what I actually saw? I suspect a fair amount.

Books Read and Movies Seen - The Hedgehog, the Aliens, the Maniac, the Beachball, the Corsican and The Help

Before I was a cinephile, I was a bibliophile. I still read more than my friends but it is impossible to read as much I used to since I'm a slave to the rep house schedule. There is a common perception that books are "better" than films. Books stimulate the imagination while films force feed mental pablum to the masses. I can't argue that stereotype given much of what comes out of Hollywood. If nothing else, I hope the reader of this blog will appreciate my attempts to sample a wide range of "serious" cinema...although I may have to go through a pile of horse manure to find the pony.

When I read fiction, I frequently don't fill in the details. For example, faces become blurred when I read fiction. I don't imagine the faces of the characters. I imagine the characters in an abstract and noncorporeal sense. I certainly don't imagine soundtracks to enhance the story. So when I see a well-made film, it gives detail where there would have been none if I had read the story. Beyond that, the best films are made by creative types who can enhance the story in clever and ingenious ways. In short, a well made film can trump my imagination; I'm not sure if that is high praise for certain filmmakers or an embarrassing revelation of my infertile mind.

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I have a friend who used to be an English teacher. When we were in high school, I read much more than her so it was a bit of surprise that she became an English teacher. After college, she overtook my reading pace. She has subsequently moved on to be a guidance counselor but she still seems to read voraciously as she sends me books to read periodically. I have my own reading list so the books pile up.

One of the books she gave me was The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I read it about 18 months ago and greatly enjoyed it. It was with great anticipation that I awaited the film adaption. Originally written in French, the novel was made into a French language film in 2009. I watched the film earlier this month at the Landmark Bridge.

The Hedgehog starring Josiane Balasko, Garance Le Guillermic & Togo Igawa; directed by Mona Achache; French with subtitles; (2009) - Official Website

The plot centers around Renée Michel (Balasko), the concierge at a luxury apartment building in Paris. I'm only familiar with concierges in upscale hotels who get tickets for the guests at sporting and entertainment events. Mme. Michel is more of a building superintendent - she cleans the commons areas, puts the trash cans on the street, signs for packages and lives in the ground floor apartment. Mme. Michel plays the part of a concierge quite well - soap operas always on the television, curt, efficient and vaguely ignorant. However, she is concealing a secret. Mme. Michel is an autodidact, quite intelligent and possessing an enviable library of classic literature and philosophy which she hides from the tenants.

The novel delved into class issues and the personal reasons for Mme. Michel's behavior but the movie glossed over much of it. Mme. Michel's youth and late husband were discussed at length in the novel while they were barely mentioned at all in the film.

Whereas the film gave short shrift Mme. Michel's character development, it enhanced the character of Paloma Josse. Paloma is the 12 year old daughter of one of the families in the building. Precocious and morbid, Paloma has decided to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. She is tired of the hypocrisy and meaninglessness of life. This might be dismissed as teenage angst but Paloma also possesses a keen mind and impressive artistic skills (I don't recall this from the novel).

Despite living in the same building and have similar interests in literature and philosophy, Paloma and Mme. Michel's lives barely intersect until Kakuro Ozu, a Japanese diplomat moves in. Ozu immediately senses that Mme. Michel is much more than she appears. He quickly grows bored with the other tenants and begins friendships with Mme. Michel and Mlle. Josse, the only two interesting tenants. Ozu, with the help of Paloma, begin the slow process of drawing Mme. Michel out of her shell. I won't give away the ending.

In the book, Ozu claimed to be a distant relative of director Yasujirō Ozu but in the film, he denies any relationship. One of the pivotal points in the book and film is when Mme. Michel brings a DVD (or was it VHS) of one of her favorite films, Ozu's The Munekata Sisters (1950). There has been a spate of Ozu screenings in the Bay Area over the past two years. I'm hoping some programmer teams up The Hedgehog with The Munekata Sisters.

Despite enjoying the book more than the film, I still was entertained by the film and recommend it.

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By chance, I learned that the novel Starship Troopers is on the official reading lists of the US Marine Corps and US Navy. I didn't now the service branches had official reading lists and I certainly didn't think the source material for a universally panned 1997 film would make the lists. It turns out Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein won the prestigious Hugo Award in 1960. Curious about a novel could be so respected but the film adaptation so reviled, I read Starship Troopers.

The novel has long passages about the state of society in the future. The main change from present is that to be a citizen in the future, one must volunteer in the military for two years. Civilians have all the rights as citizens except only citizens can vote and hold elected office. The book goes deeper into the main character's indoctrination into the mobile infantry. Heinlein uses the novel to promote individual sacrifice for the greater good of society. This is somewhat lost in the film.

I had had Starship Troopers on my To Read list for awhile but when I saw it was being screened at Midnites for Maniacs I obtained a copy. It was a quick read. I've seen parts of Starship Troopers on television for many years but still couldn't piece together the plot.

Starship Troopers starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer & Denise Richards; with Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown & Neil Patrick Harris; directed by Paul Verhoeven; (1997)

Starship Troopers roughly follows the plots from the novel. A few scenes are added that weren't in the book, a few scenes from the book were deleted from the film, a few characters were merged, etc. All this could have been dealt with satisfactorily. However, the criticism of the film is probably directed at the satirical tone the film took. Host Jesse Hawthorne Ficks stressed before the film that it was a satire. I'm not sure how anyone could miss that point after watching it. Perhaps some reviewers were looking for something closer to the novel.

The novel was intended for young adults but was earnest; as if Ayn Rand had tried her hand at science fiction. Now that I think about it, she did. The result is Anthem which was the basis for Rush's 2112. When I was a teenager, I was a huge Rush fan. I have found that statement ("I was a huge Rush fan") to be provocative and people make assumptions about me based on it. So I put it out there and let the reader believe what he or she will - in my youth, I listened to Rush and read Ayn Rand.

Starship Troopers wasn't a great film but I'm not as negative about it as others. Perhaps fans of the book resented Verhoven's treatment. Being the director of RoboCop, Basic Instinct and Showgirls probably hurt the reputation of his subsequent films. I note that Ficks has screened RoboCop before so Verhoven is becoming a staple of the Maniac's canon.

I preferred the book to the movie. The book was serious but aimed at young adults. The film was satirical and aimed at young adults. There was no co-ed shower scene in the book. However, the film had great supporting actors; particularly Clancy Brown and Michael Ironside. Not coincidentally, Brown & Ironside were closest to what I imagined for their characters while reading the book. Dina Meyer turned in the best performance (the gender of her role was switched from the book) of the three leads.

I can't recommend Starship Troopers (the film) but I have to admit there was some guilty pleasure at time (perhaps the shower scene has some merit).

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The Midnites for Maniacs' triple feature that night was Aliens, Starship Troopers and Dark Star. I passed on Aliens but stuck around for Dark Star.

Dark Star starring Dan O'Bannon; directed by John Carpenter; (1974)

Dark Star was Carpenter's directorial debut. Ficks mentioned the movie was Carpenter's film school thesis. He also mentioned that many people who attended the screening during the original run were under the influence of recreational narcotics. I believe it.

Let me start by saying that Ficks needs to do a better job starting the films on time. Starship Troopers started around 30 minutes late. He then made up some time but the 11:59 screening of Dark Star started around 12:20. So you can guess what happened - I fell asleep about 45 minutes in. The last scene I remember is Pinback (O'Bannon) escaping the elevator shaft by climbing through the floor plate of the cab of the elevator.

Did I fall asleep because of the late hour or because the film was bad? Yes.

The main special effect was an alien which was a beach ball with a clawed hands as feet. The synthesized music and sound effects were annoying. Finally, the aforementioned elevator shaft scene went on and on.

While awake, I didn't enjoy what I watched. Carpenter borrowed generously from 2001: A Space Odyssey and inserted a lot more humor than in the films he would later become famous for. I read they were considering a remake of Dark Star. The best I can say is that I would consider seeing the remake.

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The evening's theme for Midnites for Maniacs was Colonizing 'R Us. The three films had a number of connections. When James Cameron was writing the screenplay for Aliens, he was inspired by Starship Troopers (the novel) when imagining the space marines. The space beach ball was the partial inspiration for the alien in Alien, the predecessor film of Aliens. O'Bannon was credited with the screenplay for Alien. So the beach ball in Dark Star begat Alien which begat Aliens which begat Alien vs. Predator and so forth and so on.

The most famous marine from Aliens was Pvt. Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein). Her character was so popular that Gene Rodenberry and the creators of Star Trek The Next Generation based a character on her. Lt. Tasha Yar was originally named Macha Hernandez and Marina Sirtis was cast in the role. Denise Crosby and Sirtis switched parts before production and Macha Hernandez became Tasha Yar. Sirtis (who is of Greek descent, I believe) could pass for Latina but not Crosby.

I also have to give kudos to Ficks who has really stepped up his stage presence. I'm not sure how much is rehearsed and how much is extemporaneous but Ficks is very composed and articulate on stage. He has his tag line down to a tee - "I'm Jesse Hawthorne Ficks. Thank you for coming." It's a very simple exit line but he hits it with the solemnity of a Shakespearean actor.

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I just completed Kevin Brownlow's Napoléon: Abel Gance's Classic Film about his love affair with the film, the making of the film, his relationship with director Abel Gance and his lifelong efforts to reconstruct the film. At times, Bronwnlow is prone to quote from multiple critics and trade publication on the reviews for various versions Napoléon. That's about the only criticism I can muster. Of course, I read the book because Napoléon will be screening at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on March 24, 25, 31 and April 1, 2012.

The making of Napoléon was epic and Brownlow's efforts to reconstruct the film were no less impressive. Alternately fighting with and cooperating with such legendary figures as Abel Gance, Francis Ford Coppola and Henri Langlois, Brownlow used all methods at his disposal in his search for scraps of the original film. He's like Ahab except his white whale is the definitive version of Napoléon. Published in 1983, Brownlow has restored an additional 35 minutes since then which is the version that will be screened in Oakland next year. Brownlow's praise of the film and description of audience reactions has set a high standard that I hope can be achieved at the Paramount. I'm particularly looking forward to the triptych finale and the snowball fight.

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As I was going through the stack of books I've accumulated from my friend, I noticed one was The Help by Katheryn Stockett. I'll start that book tomorrow. I'm curious as to the differences between the novel and film by the same name. The film was a comedy which was part of my criticism. I'll be eager to see if the novel strikes the same tone.

2011 San Francisco Silent Film Festival (Part 1 of 2)

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival ran from July 14 to 17 at the Castro Theater. They screened 18 programs; I saw 12.

The biggest news of the festival is that the San Francisco Silent Film Festival is presenting (in association with American Zoetrope, The Film Preserve, Photoplay Productions, and the British Film Institute) four performances of Napoléon, Abel Gance's 1927 masterpiece. The performances will be on March 24, 25, 31 and April 1 at the Paramount Theater in Oakland.

Many people can recount the controversy surrounding this film better than I can. The gist of the problem is that Francis Ford Coppola owns the rights to the film.

Noted film historian Kevin Brownlow has spent most of his life restoring the once lost epic. In 1980, Brownlow presented the 4+ hour restoration at the Telluride Film Festival which is currently run by the Balboa's Gary Meyer. Later in 1980, Francis Ford Coppola released a re-edited version of Napoléon with a Carmine Coppola (his father) score. In the ensuing years, Brownlow has continued assembling previously lost footage. At present, Brownlow has reconstructed 5½ hours of the film. Legal disputes with Copolla have prevented this version from screening except for a December 2004 engagement in London. That version with musical score arranged by Carl Davis will be performed in Oakland next year with Carl Davis conducting the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

I have purchased my tickets. As befitting an epic film like Napoléon, the ticket prices are in a range I am more accustomed to seeing at the opera. If I recall correctly, prices ranged from $35 to $120. Silent Film Festival members receive a discount on up to two tickets. The tickets are sold through Ticket Master which tacked on the most exorbitant service and handling charges (yes plural) for any event I've ever paid for. It was hard to swallow but I eventually pried open my wallet.

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The 12 programs I watched were:

Upstream starring Nancy Nash; directed by John Ford; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Donald Sosin Ensemble; (1927)
Huckleberry Finn starring Lewis Sargent; directed by William Desmond Taylor; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Donald Sosin; (1920)
I Was Born, But...; directed by Yasujirô Ozu; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Stephen Horne; (1932)
The Great White Silence; documentary; directed by Herbert G. Ponting; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Mattie Bye Ensemble; (1924)
Il Fuoco starring Pina Menichelli; directed by Giovanni Pastrone; silent with Italian intertitles and reader (Frank Buxton); accompanied by Stephen Horne; (1916)
The Blizzard; directed by Mauritz Stiller; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Mattie Bye Ensemble; (1923)
The Goose Woman starring Louise Dresser; with Jack Pickford and Constance Bennett; directed by Clarence Brown; silent with intertitles; accompanied by Stephen Horne; (1925)
Mr. Fix-It starring Douglas Fairbanks; directed by Allan Dwan; silent with intertitles; accompanied by Dennis James; (1918)
The Woman Men Yearn For starring Marlene Dietrich; directed by Curtis Bernhardt; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra; (1929)
The Nail in the Boot directed by Mikheil Kalatozoz; silent with intertitles; accompanied by Stephen Horne; (1932)
He Who Gets Slapped starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and John Gilbert; directed by Victor Sjöström; silent with intertitles; accompanied by the Mattie Bye Ensemble; (1924)

The 12th program was Wild and Weird, a collection of short films accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra.

Wild and Weird
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend; (1906)
Le Spectre Rouge; (1907)
The Acrobatic Fly; (1908)
The Thieving Hand; (1908)
Princess Nicotine, or the Smoke Fairy; (1909)
Arthème Swallows His Clarinet; (1912)
The Cameraman's Revenge; (1912)
Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend: The Pet; (1921)
Filmstudie; (1925)
Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra; (1928)

Before several of the feature films, the festival screened silent "orphan" short films. What are orphan films? According to the Orphan Film Symposium, "It's a motion picture abandoned by its owner or caretaker."

The orphan films I saw were

Mrs. Harding, "Cameraman"?; (1922)
Coolidge Trapshooting; (1928)
St. Louis to Chicago Airmail; (1926)
Origin of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"; (1909)
The Tribal Law; (1912)
Chumming with Chipmunks; (1921)
Madison News Reel; (1932)

Non-orphan films that were paired with features include

Why Men Flirt; (1918) paired with Upstream
Chess Fever; (1932) paired with The Nail in the Boot

At 18 minutes, Chess Fever was over ⅓ of the length of The Nail in the Boot and the two were listed as co-features in the festival program guide.

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A few festival observations: the Silent Film Festival is notorious for starting their programs late and they did it again this year. I started Saturday and Sunday with the 2 PM screenings and they were already running behind schedule. Despite the hard work of the sound techs, they have an extremely difficult time finishing the sound checks between shows.

The festival pass was approximately $20 higher than last year. The festival lasted the same number of days as last year so I don't know the cause of the increase. I don't begrudge the increase as much as I wish they could get the shows started on time. I'd pay another $20 if they can improve their on-time performance by 50%.

This year, Poesia was not selling sandwiches in between shows. Those were great sandwiches and they aren't on their restaurant menu. Perhaps the Castro did not like the competition for concessions.

The attendance seemed off slightly from last year. The festival also seems to give out more press passes and guest passes than any other I attend.

Melissa Chittick and Stephen Salmons sat in front of me for a four or five films throughout the festival. Stephen is sporting a beard with a little more pepper than salt. He looked a little like the Most Interesting Man in the World. He was also carrying what looked suspiciously like a man purse. They looked quite content in their roles as audience members.

Throughout the FIFA Women's World Cup Tournament, I had become enamored with the Japanese team; also known as the Nadeshiko. It was my intent to watch the World Cup Final between Japan and the US on Sunday, July 17. I watched through the 70something minute when the US were up 1-0. The US had dominated the match up until that point and should have been up 3-0 or 4-0. I admit that I gave up on the Nadeshiko and left to make it in time to the 2 PM screening of Wild and Weird. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I found out Japan won the match on penalty kicks. I deserve what I got for not keeping the faith. So although I saw 12 programs this year, I sadly wish it would have only been 11. Does anyone know where I can get an Homare Sawa jersey?

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In conjunction with the SFSFF, the San Francisco Public Library has an exhibit on the 4th and 6th floors of the Main Branch at 100 Larkin Street. The exhibition is called Shhhhh! Silents in the Library. I viewed the exhibits yesterday. To quote from the library's website,

Explore the silent film era through displays of rare books, ephemera and photographs. The Silent Screen in the City looks at the Bay Area’s role in silent film production, while Downtown Movie Palaces of the 1920s evokes a visit to San Francisco's lost theater landmarks. Reading the Stars showcases vintage books about the movies published during the era. Included is a nod to The San Francisco Silent Film Festival, one of the world’s largest silent film festivals, now in its sixteenth year.

All except one of the exhibits were on the 4th floor. I counted five wall-mounted display cases and a rack of SFSFF posters dating back to Year 1 on the 4th floor and one display case on the 6th floor. It was interesting for me to see some of the early SFSFF posters. When I first started attending the festival, it had expanded to three days but in the early days, the festival was a one day event and then expanded to two. I believe this is the second year the festival has run four days.

The exhibit was nice but a little disappointing to a cinephile like me. It was interesting to see the cue sheets and display on musical accompaniment. I would have like to have seen more on the Downtown Movie Palaces of the 1920s. I didn't know there was a Pantages Theater in SF. It was located on a presently boarded up block of 900 Market (odd number side of the street). The St. Francis Theater (where I saw the remake of Shaft) was on that same block.

Shhhhh! Silents in the Library will be on display until August 28. On August 7 at 2 PM, Diana Serra Cary better known by her stage name "Baby Peggy" will talk about her life as a child star in the 1920s. Her talk will be in the Koret Auditorium in the basement of the Main Library. At 1 PM on the same day, the curators of Shhhhh! Silents in the Library will give a special guided tour of their exhibit. If you are interested, meet in Steve Silver Room on the 4th floor of the Main Library.

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This post has grown to unwieldy proportions and I have yet to discuss any of the films so I'll split the post in two. I'll share my thoughts on several of the films in my next post.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

In November 2008, I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc. I recall the event well. The theater was near sellout. I had to sit in the front of the theater. I was one row behind the choral singers. There was an orchestra and a hundred or so choral singers. They took up the the first three or four rows of the theater. They performed Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light which was specifically composed to accompany The Passion of Joan of Arc. I cannot recall which organization the singers were from.

They had a program handout which was very informative. The front page gave some background on Einhorn and his composition. The other side talked about the history of the film. The Passion of Joan of Arc was thought to be a lost film. The original version was thought lost when a fire destroyed the master negative. Director Carl Theodore Dreyer reassembled the film from outtakes. This was the only extant version until the early 1980s when a copy of the original version was found in a Danish mental assylum.

At the time, I was very impressed with the film and score even though I didn't write about it. That has more to do with time constraints than enthusiasm.

On December 2, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival partnered with the PFA to present The Passion of Joan of Arc at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. The live accompaniment was conducted by Mark Sumner, performed by the women of UC Berkeley’s Perfect Fifth as the voice of Joan of Arc, tenor soloist Daniel Ebbers, baritone Martin Bell, the University of California Alumni Chorus, UC Men’s and Women’s Chorales, and a twenty-two piece orchestra.

The Passion of Joan of Arc starring Maria Falconetti; directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer; silent with intertitles; with live accompaniment; (1928)

Let me start by saying that I think the Paramount is the most elegant theater I've been in. Built in 1931, the Paramount was designed by Timothy Pflueger who also designed the Castro Theater in San Francisco (built in 1922). Whereas the Castro has a Spanish Baroque theme, the Paramount is Art Deco which is more to my personal taste. The Paramount also has a larger seating capacity than the Castro so the interior is more imposing. The Paramount was completely rennovated in early 1970s so the interior is more modern than the Castro which has been in continuous use since its opening. The Paramount doesn't have daily events so it gets a lot less wear and tear than the Castro.

The Passion of Joan of Arc is universally acknowledged as one of the most influential films of all time. The plot condenses the trial of Joan of Arc into a 90 minute film. The film looks unique today but must have been particularly revolutionary in 1928. The first thing I noticed were the extreme close-ups. Dreyer had the actors who played Joan inquistors not wear make-up so you see the flaws in the complexion and craggy faces. Sergio Leone would use the same technique to great effect in his Spaghetti Westerns. I remember reading that Oliver Stone used the same trick when shooting JFK. In The Passion of Joan of Arc, the close-ups and lack of make-up give the actors a grotesque and ominous appearance to match their actions.

In addition, Dreyer frequently filmed Joan of Arc (played by Maria Falconetti) from a down camera angle to convey to the audience the submissive position she was in. Dreyer would force Falconetti to kneel for hours on hard stone floors until her knees ached and she was exhausted. Through this "proto-method" acting device, Falconetti physical anguish and fatigue showed in her portrayal of Joan.

The film had a noticeable dearth of establishing shots and long shots. Combined with the sparse sets, the effect was to give the film an austere look which focused the audience's attention on the actor's faces. The ordeal of Joan's scourging was made more personal that way. The title not only refers to Joan's inner passions to serve God and defeat the British but also call to mind the Passion plays depicting Christ's final days.

Everyone raves about Falconetti's performance and rightly so. Her eyes convey fear and confusion as well as anything I recall seeing on celluloid. However, Falconetti needed someone to play against. This was the true inspiration on Dreyer's part. The actors cast as Joan's judges and prison guards were outstanding in conveying their malevolence and contempt. There weren't any scenes to establish the character's names so I cannot single out any of the credited actors. That's just as well since all their performances were worthy of praise.

In 2008, I was most impressed by Einhorn's score. It had sufficient gravitas for the trial of Joan of Arc. Slightly evocative of Carmina Burana, Voices of Light was less robust than the Gregorian chants. It perfectly conveyed the inner turmoil of Joan. At the Paramount performance, Voices of Light was still effective but not quite as impressive as before. Perhaps it was due to having heard the performance before.

I'm glad to report that The Passion of Joan of Arc stood up well to a second screening. I wonder how the film would fare with an alternate score.

Roxie Mondays, Castro Tuesdays, Paramount Fridays and FoFF Sundays

I previously mentioned that the Roxie is having a Monday special - $5 admission for all shows on Mondays. The Castro is following suit. Starting on April 14, the Castro is instituting a $5 admission policy on Tuesdays.

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The Film on Film Foundation has announced their next screening. It's April 5 at 8:30 PM at the PFA. It's Accident (1967) directed by Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter with a screenwriting credit.

Accident stars [Dirk] Bogarde and [Stanley] Baker as at-one-time-close Oxford dons in the midst of excruciating and calamitously competitive mid-life crises, Jacqueline Sassard as the incredibly beautiful student with whom they both fall in love, to the detriment of their respective spouses, and the young Michael York as her fiance, in one of his first screen roles.

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On April 3, the Paramount Theater in Oakland screens An American in Paris (1951). I've had a crush on Leslie Caron since I saw her in Gigi 25 years ago. That's the film where Maurice Chevalier sings "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember it Well" with Hermione Gingold.

In An American in Paris, Gene Kelly plays an American ex-G.I. in Paris who just wants to paint (though he’s obviously the best hoofer in Europe). Caught between two women (Nina Fochs and Leslie Caron), he finds that sometimes all an artist can do is just... dance! The combination of George Gershwin’s music, Gene Kelly’s dancing, and Vincente Minnelli's direction is irresistible! This Technicolor song-and-dance extravaganza swept the Academy Awards for 1951, with Oscars for best picture and the major technical categories: screenplay, score, cinematography, art direction, set design, and even a special Oscar for the choreography of its epic 18-minute closing ballet.

Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount Theater

I have to admit that I've never seen Phantom of the Opera. I haven't read the book by Gaston Leroux. I haven't seen the 1940's remake with Claude Rains. I haven't seen Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage adaptation. I haven't seen the 2004 film adaptation of Webber's musical.

When I saw that the 1925 silent version (starring Lon Chaney) was playing on Halloween at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I've never seen Phantom nor have I been in the Paramount.

After watching DocFest’s Bunnyland at the Shattuck in Berkeley, I took BART to Oakland. It was raining so I hoped that it wouldn’t be too crowded in the theater. It wasn’t crowded but there was good turnout. On the Paramount’s website, the seating capacity is listed at over 3000. I’m not good at estimating crowds but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were over 1,000 people in attendance.

Allow me to vent for a moment. I was sitting in the Orchestra Front Stage Right section. There was a woman in the Orchestra Front Center section. She was wearing earrings with blinking light. What the hell! Who wears blinking earrings to a movie theater? Prior to the show, I was wondering if she would turn them off when the film began. She kept the earrings blinking through the newsreel before the film! I was wondering what to do. They were in my line of sight and very distracting. Not an usher to be seen. I would have had to step over a dozen people to ask her to turn off her earrings. I could have yelled which is what I felt like doing but I was too meek. Thankfully, someone sitting in the row behind tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to turn them off. She politely obliged. I’ve never seen flashing earrings in a theater but a first cousin to them is cell phones. I hate when people check the time on the phone or even send text messages. The phone lights up like a beacon in a dark theater.

Back to the program…first was a newsreel about horses – trotting horse, fox hunts, female harness racers. I couldn’t get into it. That damn woman’s earrings! By the time she turned them off, the film was half over. The topic was not something that interested me though.

That was followed the cartoon which was Mysterious Mose, a Betty Boop/Bimbo film by the Fleischer Brothers. Bimbo was a cartoon dog that the Fleischers were trying to make a star out of. Indeed, Bimbo received above-the-title billing in this film even though Betty goes topless (she was scared out of her nightgown). Eventually, they found that Popeye and Betty Boop were more popular so Bimbo faded to the background.

The title may not be familiar but if you have watched films from or documentaries about the 1930’s, you may recognize the song. Like “Minnie the Moocher” by Cab Calloway, “Mysterious Mose” has a catchy refrain. You can view the cartoon on YouTube.

Then they brought the lights up and a man in a tuxedo and a woman (Bianca) in a tight gown rose from the orchestra pit on a mechanical platform. There was a roulette wheel between them. Bianca spun the wheel a few times and provided exaggerated spokesmodel gestures (imagine Barker’s Beauties from The Price is Right high on coke). Actually Bianca was quite entertaining. The numbers the wheel landed on corresponded to the last three digits of someone(s) ticket stubs. Winners received gift certificates to local restaurants.

Next up was organist Jim Riggs. He gave some historical notes about the film that I found interesting. The film was released three times in 1925. Carl Laemmle, founder of Universal Pictures, produced the film. The original version didn’t test well so they re-shot parts of the film to include some comedic elements. That version (which premiered at the Geary Theater in San Francisco - current home of the American Conservatory Theater) didn’t test well either. So a third version was shot which was the “final” version. In 1929, talkies were becoming the rage so Laemmle decided to re-release Phantom with sound. He re-filmed 40% of the film with some color film and a soundtrack. By 1929, Chaney was no longer under contract to Universal so the new footage didn’t include him. In 1929, many theaters had not installed a sound system so the re-release had a sound version and silent version. The silent version was the film the screened at the Paramount.

I’m familiar with the general plot of Phantom - psychotic musical genius lives in the underground passages beneath the Paris Opera House. He becomes infatuated with Christine, an apprentice singer. He helps her become a star. She is disgusted by his facial deformity. She plots an escape with her lover. The phantom discovers her plans and kidnaps her. From there, I’m little unclear what happens.

In the introduction, Riggs said the original version followed the novel. The Phantom dies after kissing Christine. In the version the screened, an angry mob chases the Phantom from his underground lair. They chase him through the streets of Paris before he jumps (presumably to his death) into the Seine. It was a very abrupt ending. The formula ending would have been that Christine’s love/kindness/beauty reforms the Phantom and he gives permission to Christine to marry her lover. Either the Phantom lives in peace afterwards or tragically dies as a result of past transgressions or misunderstanding.

In this version, the Phantom kidnaps Christine to marry her but is separated from her by the angry mob. The mob chases him and jumps in the river. There is no redemption scene. Christine never feels remorse for spurning the Phantom. The Phantom never sacrifices his love for Christine by letting her go. As a result, the film seems to end prematurely. I was disappointed in the film. Given the number of re-shoots, I can’t help but think the essence of the film was lost in the process. As for Chaney, his make-up was still ghoulish after 80 years. I preferred Chaney in The Unknown and The Unholy Three which I saw at the 2008 and 2006 San Francisco Silent Film Festivals, respectively.

The Paramount Theater was magnificent. It has an art deco exterior and a huge lobby. Once in the theater, there are bas-relief carvings on the walls. The motif switches to ancient Greek in the theater. The restrooms are in the basement, which has a huge lounge.

I been past the Paramount many time but never been inside. They have guided tours at 10 AM on the first and third Saturdays of each month. I’m going to try to take the tour one day. The cost is $5. That reminds me, the ticket price for Phantom was only $5 also. That is the cheapest evening showing I’ve seen in many years.