In the rush to fall over each other’s opinions we forget
that there can be no winners in a war of words or of bombs. In the battle to
persuade, we hurl our arguments across the internet like ordnance from a 4.5
inch Howitzer and yet, whilst the enemy’s lines may be pockmarked with damage, their
response only gains in ferocity with the momentum of the attack. It is quiet
something to bring a silence to this discourse and to give us all pause for
thought, to defuse the fatuous mechanics of action and reaction but that’s exactly
what both the late-night films today did for me. They did so in different and
equally powerful ways.
The most effective statements are often the ones that simply
let you work out the message yourself… not in an abstract way like the Belgian avant-garde
cinema of Tuesday – but in the force of images and or music that show a truth
we might never have seen conveyed in a moving image before. If the original aim
of the Ukrainian/Soviet propaganda we’ve seen this week, as well as tonight’s
British propaganda, was to create a specific response in the audience, the
musical context of both scores held us away from that original intent and gave
us that pause and somewhere between thought and expression lies the truth. Not
surprisingly some of us were a little short on words for a while...
Palestine - A Revised Narrative (LB, 2024)
Cynthia Zaven’s sparse electronica and piano accompaniment
for her compilation of Imperial War Museum clips of Palestine during the Great
War enabled a presentation of documents devoid of polemic. She turned British
propaganda into a neutral statement that simply reminded us that one of the
World’s most intractable problems was different before 1917. In the
clips we see Gaza, Jaffa, lush farmlands and seafront towns, there’s Nazareth,
Bethlehem and a Jerusalem in which Muslims, Jews and Christians intermingle,
going about their daily lives – talking together and worshipping their God with
his common roots. Clearly not everything is perfect – the Commonwealth forces
have just pushed the Turkish forces out of the area, it’s a warzone.
What happened next is of course where the real debate starts
and were further reading is essential. The Balfour Declaration and the
decisions of a flawed British regime with a romanticised view of The Holy Land
played their part but as a historian I must advise caution and cross-referencing:
for myself and everyone else, we must investigate not reach for simple
conclusions. As a starter, I would heartily recommend three episodes of the Empire
podcast with William Dalrymple and Anita Anand which cover the Arab Revolt
(Lawrence of Arabia) and the Sykes-Picot agreement to “carve up” the countries
of the middle east. All of these were recorded in 2023 before the current war but
main essential as History doesn’t change based on what is happening now does
it? It helps us understand why what is happening … and silent film is both
history as primary sources and secondary interpretations.
The German Retreat and Battle of Arras (GB 1917), Laura Rossi
Made when the Great War looked like it might be winnable and has a propagandist purpose beyond earlier films in showing the changed momentum of the conflict to those back home. It is also historically significant for the events it memorialises, the techniques it uses to do this and its intent.. Geoffrey H. Malins was director of photography as he had been for the two Somme films but even though the first was certainly ground-breaking and a phenomenon, Arras doesn’t carry the sense of excitement ad revelation possibly because the enemy was in retreat and more of a known quantity. It’s still a great technical achievement and awe-inspiring in the greater context but it didn’t feel triumphant, more grimly determined to help complete the job.
Laura Rossi has scored for the other films and was on hand
to hear her new composition played in the Teatro Verdi by the Orchestra di
Pordenone & Coro del Fruili as conducted by Andrej Goričar. Le Giornate is
always the warmest of homes for international collaboration! Rossi’s music acted
as with Zaven’s compilation and composition in allowing us to really see
the film, devoid of any contextualisation that was connected to the original
intent or and deliberate contemporary re-contextualisation. She allowed us a
bit of both but underscoring the documentation on display to allow our own
interpretation – a most historical musical agenda, incredible effective and
created.
Elements of poetry and songs of the period, from all sides,
were used as connective themes but also providing contrapuntal lines to neutralise
more pointed segments. There was more ground to cover than in the Palestinian
film given this was a complete creation of the time, but it enabled us that
more conscious consumption of the film than might otherwise have been possible.
A sobering and to the day and brilliant work from all
concerned.
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Meanwhile, back in the Land of Fiction…
Following on from the top… There’s so much “debate” in the
UK right now about “our” “national culture” and surely the fact that Betty Balfour
was termed Britain’s Queen of Happiness highlights “our” ability to put fun
before fear and jokes at our own expense ahead of others. Anyone who forgets
this, is nowhere near as British as they believe themselves to be. Betty
doesn’t need a flag, she needs silk clothes, fizzy wine and a good time, but
she’s also kind and is an equal opportunities irritator!
Betty featured in Syd Chaplin’s A Little Bit of Fluff
(1928) which was presented in gorgeous-looking 35mm and featured a host of GB
good ‘uns, including arguably the third-best looking McLaglen, Clifford as
Betty’s boxing boyfriend Henry “One Round” Hudson, Nancy Rigg as Syd’s wife and
Edmund Breon as his mate John. It’s a hoot with near-Hollywood production
values and a remarkably high gag rate. Syd’s very much his own Chaplin but he
does have the speed of thought and instincts of his brother as well as that
most comedically crucial quality: timing!
Syd loves his wife but less so her Aunt Agatha – the
brilliant Annie Esmond - who even after two weeks of wedded “bliss” is pushing
him around. As the girls go off to see Agatha’s sister, Syd gets persuaded to
go out by John and the wheels start to come off for the entirety of the rest of
the film.
It’s fast and furious but remember this even if you forget
everything else: a small dog may be used to lick stamps if held at the correct
angle and provided with the right incentives> I shall take this lesson
forward.
Accompaniment was from dog-loving Donald Sosin and cool
cat Frank Bockius on the sticks (just don’t throw them for the dogs…)
Quick-fire round...
Danza Serpentina (US? FR?, 1896-1905?) – who can resist this
dance, especially colourised? The images are also being projected on the Teatro
Verdi and in one of the squares.
L’Innamorata (IT 1920) with Stephen Horne
Time for some more Italia Almirante Manzini and this starts
with a pure visual Diva power play as the man waiting to see her has to await
her full preparation and we see her in close-up glimpses, lipstick being
finished, hair checked, full-glam eye-shadow… before she is revealed in her
full glory.
Sadly, this film doesn’t quite support her in the way that Zingari
(1920) did and has a lumpy plot not helped by missing sections but with Stephen
Horne to fill the experience with fulsome flourishes and expert under-scoring
it was inevitably entertaining!
Die Dame mit der Maske (DE 1928) Günter
Buchwald, Frank Bockius
When a young socialite has to undertake work as an exotic
dancer to convince her father that his books are still being published, she has
no option but to wear a mask as she shows far more flesh than she would prefer.
A good cast – including dynamo Dita Parlo – and some fine
set pieces are let down by a slightly wayward narrative in which some characters
are inactive when really they could save the day with more gumption. Apparently
a number of different endings we filmed and you could see anyone of them
working… a reflection of the lack of internal logic and depth behind the main
characters and their motivation perhaps?
Günter Buchwald and Frank Bockius are on fire this week and
their mix of classical, folk and jazz served this Weimar treat very well!
Louis, Musidora & Léontine with Meg Morley
Another clutch of excellent Louis Feuillade shorts including
L’HOMME AIMANTÉ (Un Monsieur aimanté) (FR 1907), LYSISTRATA OU LA GRÈVE DES
BAISERS (FR 1910) and LAGOURDETTE GENTLEMAN CAMBRIOLEUR (FR 1916).
This last was my favourite and featured a reunion of the
three key cast members of Les Vampires… Musidora is reading a novelisation of
the series and Marcel Lévesque tries to impress her by pretending to be a super
thief. It’s daft fun and even Édouard Mathé pops up as a reveller at the club
where his former colleague is “committing” his made-up crimes.
Meg Morley joined in the proto-jazzed mayhem. (that would
make a good t-shirt slogan surely?)
À bientôt!
PJ
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| Musi et Mathé! |
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