CHARLES DICKENS, 1812-2012
CINEMA ITALIANO/ITALIAN REDISCOVERY
LA COLLEZIONE KOMIYA/THE KOMIYA COLLECTION
I FILM MUTI DI ANNA STEN/THE SILENT FILMS OF ANNA STEN
CINEMA D'ANIMAZIONE TEDESCO/GERMAN ANIMATION
IL CANONE RIVISITATO/THE CANON REVISITED - 4
CINEMA DELLE ORIGINI/EARLY CINEMA: The Corrick Collection - 6
IL BICENTENARIO DI DICKENS/THE DICKENS BICENTENARY
During the silent era about a hundred films were made from the works of Charles Dickens. These were produced, not only in his native country and in the USA, unsurprisingly, but also by companies from Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia and, especially, in Denmark. What further proof is needed of the international popularity of these stories and characters, the importance of these writings on the development of cinematic story-telling and the influence of this work on the greatest of film-makers: Griffith, Chaplin, Eisenstein? For Dickens has been adapted for cinema and subsequently for television arguably more than any other great writer. Many of these early productions are now, unfortunately, lost; nevertheless, nearly a third of the silent films can still be found in archives throughout the world.
Dickens was born in 1812 and, during his bicentennial year, the continuing significance of the greatest English novelist will be celebrated throughout the world. So it is entirely appropriate that in 2012 Le Giornate del Cinema Muto should present a programme dedicated to silent versions of this great body of work. An extensive retrospective will include both rarely seen films and some that have recently been restored. The earliest extant adaptation is Scrooge, Or Marley’s Ghost,R.W. Paul’s version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ made in 1901, in which cinematic ‘special effects’ had to be mobilised to represent the temporal and psychological complexities of the original story. The last Dickens silent was The Only Way, Herbert Wilcox’s version of ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’ made in 1925, providing today’s spectator with an insight into the acting and staging techniques of late 19th century theatre. In between there are films from companies such as Gaumont, Vitagraph, Edison, Thanhouser, Hepworth and from directors such as Walter Booth, J. Stuart Blackton, Maurice Elvey, Marton Garas, Frank Lloyd. Some might object that these are of varying quality. Taken together, however, they chart a history of developing approaches to cinematic adaptations of literary texts. Perhaps the most exciting revelation in this bicentennial year will be long-awaited restorations of A. W. Sandberg’s Danish films for Nordisk which lovers of both Dickens and the silent screen will finally be able to assess. Eisenstein went so far as to claim that the very prose style of Dickens somehow prefigured the language of cinematic narration. In 2012 we look forward to engaging with this fruitful, contentious assertion.
CINEMA ITALIANO/ITALIAN REDISCOVERY
The 31st Giornate del Cinema Muto will further pursue its mission to retrieve long lost masterworks of Italian cinema. Italian film history is documented better than any other, but a comparatively small proportion of the actual works are known to audiences. We are working both with Italian archives and the great international collections to retrieve works that have lain, often unrecognized, in the vaults. Last year Pordenone audiences saw hitherto unseen Italian films restored by the archives of Amsterdam, Rome and Turin. This year we are privileged to have the first sight of the Italian treasures from the Komiya Collection of Tokyo, opened up to the West for the first time in Porxenone, and a further instalment of the extensive Italian holdings of the Desmet Collection of Amsterdam
LA COLLEZIONE KOMIYA/THE KOMIYA COLLECTION
Dopo quasi vent’anni di attesa, la Collezione Komiya presso il National Film Center di Tokyo verrà finalmente presentata nella sua totalità alle Giornate del Cinema Muto in un programma pluriennale comprendente oltre 200 film provenienti da tutto il mondo. L’evento è di particolare importanza per le Giornate, perché la Collezione Komiya non è mai stata mostrata in forma completa dall’epoca del suo ritrovamento negli anni Ottanta. Tomijiro Komiya (1897-1975) era un appassionato di cinema che teneva a casa propria diverse centinaia di bobine in nitrato e ne controllava scrupolosamente le condizioni fisiche, provvedendo a riparare da sé le perforazioni rotte ed eventualmente a tagliare i pezzetti di pellicola che mostravano i primi segni di decomposizione del supporto. Gli “oggetti del desiderio” di Komiya erano soprattutto i film europei, in particolare quelli francesi, tedeschi, danesi e italiani. Al momento della donazione dei film al National Film Center di Tokyo, gli eredi Komiya posero come condizione che i film non fossero mai mostrati al di fuori del Giappone senza la loro autorizzazione; ciò è avvenuto solo in speciali occasioni, e per pochissimi titoli. Il programma inaugurale della retrospettiva completa della Collezione Komiya avrà come tema dominante il cinema italiano, con titoli quali Addio giovinezza! (nella versione del 1918), Il richiamo (Gennaro Righelli, 1921), e I cavalieri di Rodi (Mario Caserini, 1912).
ANNA STEN (1908-1993)
Swedish actress who was known as “the Russian Garbo”. With a startlingly photogenic beauty and a wide dramatic range that easily took in comedy and high drama, she was lucky or shrewd in always choosing fine directors and highly original subjects. This complete retrospective includes her debut in Boris Barnet’s classic comedy The Girl with the Hatbox, and Yakov Protazanov’s The White Eagle, in which Sten appears alongside two of the most legendary figures of Russian theatre, Vasili Kachalov and Vsevolod Meyerhold. Most remarkable is the international premiere of the rediscovered My Son, for 80 years believed lost, and directed by Yevgeni Chervyakov, long forgotten but now recognized as one of the most original and influential masters of the Soviet cinema. Sten’s last silent film, Lohnbuchhalter Kremke was shown, to an enthusiastic critical reception, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in January 2011. Sten was subsequently taken to Hollywood by Sam Goldwyn, who planned to make her a star to eclipse Garbo and Dietrich. Her accent was against her, and though it lasted until 1964, her Hollywood career was undistinguished.
CINEMA D'ANIMAZIONE TEDESCO/GERMAN ANIMATION
At the 2012 Giornate del Cinema Muto, the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin will present two programs of German silent animation films. In Germany, animation received its initial boost with propaganda films made to support the war effort in World War I. The post-war period saw a proliferation of animation artists, and in the 1920s the variety of animation techniques used was greatly extended: hand-drawn, stop-motion with models, cut silhouette, experiments with molten wax… Avant-garde artists like Walter Ruttmann and Hans Richter used animation techniques for groundbreaking abstract films. Most animation films however were made for a rather baser reason: to sell things. Yet the illustrators involved in making animated commercials succeeded in creating elegant, humorous little masterpieces that often quite transcend their original purpose. The Pordenone programs illustrate a wide selection of animation and colouring techniques, with work by the famous masters like Hans Fischerkoesen and Lotte Reiniger alongside lesser-known but no less gifted graphic artists.
IL CANONE RIVISITATO / THE CANON REVISITED - 4
Non è un caso che uno dei programmi di maggior richiamo delle Giornate del Cinema Muto sia “Il Canone Rivisitato”, un’esplorazione pluriennale dei capolavori che hanno decretato la fama dell’immagine silenziosa presso intere generazioni di appassionati: benché famosi, i film proposti in questa retrospettiva sono oggetto di rinnovata attenzione ogni volta che vengono portati sul grande schermo in copie restaurate secondo le tecnologie più all’avanguardia. Per la quarta edizione del “Canone Rivisitato” si proporrà uno tra i film “iconici” per eccellenza del cinema sovietico, Tempeste sull’Asia (Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1928), ambientato nei suggestivi paesaggi delle steppe dell’Asia Centrale. “Classico” non vuol dire soltanto “celebre”: il dramma proletario Die Weber di Friedrich Zelnik (1927) è uno dei massimi esempi del cinema di Weimar; per molti anni lo si è considerato un film “imperdibile”, ma è pochissimo noto agli studiosi delle nuove generazioni. Lo stesso vale in certa misura per Ménilmontant (1925), diretto in Francia dall’esule russo Dimitri Kirsanoff. Non mancherà inoltre un tributo ai capolavori della commedia muta con la nuova copia (a cura del Museum of Modern Art di New York) di Hands Up! di Clarence Badger (1926) interpretato da Raymond Griffith, la cui statura di attore è pari a quella di Keaton, Chaplin e Harold Lloyd.
THE CORRICK COLLECTION - 6
La prima retrospettiva completa dei film delle origini raccolti dall’artista neozelandese di vaudeville Leonard Corrick all’inizio del ventesimo secolo giunge finalmente alla sua fase conclusiva. Il completamento della serie alle Giornate del Cinema Muto è un’indiretta dimostrazione del legame che esiste fra le Giornate e la comunità internazionale delle cineteche: è infatti grazie all’iniziativa di Pordenone che il National Film and Sound Archive of Australia ha deciso di restaurare tutti i 135 film della Collezione Corrick, autentici incunaboli del cinema delle origini. Gli spettacoli della famiglia Corrick comprendevano musica strumentale, canto, brevi intermezzi teatrali e proiezioni cinematografiche, nello spirito del vaudeville; i film proiettati in quelle occasioni erano prescelti e acquistati dallo stesso Corrick, che ha conservato ogni copia affidandola infine – tramite i suoi eredi – alle cure della cineteca nazionale australiana, che sta ora prendendo in considerazione l’idea di pubblicare tutti i film Corrick in un cofanetto di DVD. Il quinto e ultimo programma Corrick a Pordenone comprende cortometraggi prodotti negli Stati Uniti, in Inghilterra, in Francia e in Italia fra il 1900 e il 1912. Al pari degli scorsi anni, la retrospettiva Corrick coinciderà inoltre con l’assemblea generale del Domitor, la principale associazione internazionale dedicata allo studio del cinema dei primi tempi (1892-1915).
PROGRAMMA/PROGRAMME 2011
Schede catalogo per sezione/Programme notes by section:
EVENTI MUSICALI/MUSICAL EVENTS
SHOSTAKOVICH & FEKS
CINEMA ITALIANO/ITALY: RETROSPECT AND DISCOVERY
CINEMA GEORGIANO/GEORGIAN CINEMA
KERTÉSZ PRIMA DI/BEFORE CURTIZ
TESORI WESTERN/TREASURES OF THE WEST
LA CORSA AL POLO/THE RACE TO THE POLE
IL CANONE RIVISITATO/THE CANON REVISITED
CINEMA DELLE ORIGINI/EARLY CINEMA
CINEMA D’ANIMAZIONE GIAPPONESE/THE BIRTH OF ANIME
DISNEY'S LAUGH-O-GRAMS
RISCOPERTE E RESTAURI/REDISCOVERIES& RESTORATIONS
RITRATTI/PORTRAITS
MUTI DEL XXI SECOLO/21ST CENTURY SILENTS
EVENTI MUSICALI/MUSICAL EVENTS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- 01.10.2011 | 20.30 | Serata inaugurale/Opening event
NOVYI VAVILON [La nuova Babilonia /New Babylon] (Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid
Trauberg, USSR 1929). Partitura di/Score by Dmitri Shostakovich diretta da/
conducted by Mark Fitz-Gerald; eseg ue/performed by FVG Mitteleuropa Orchestra
- 02.10.2011 | A colpi di note/Striking a New Note
OH, TEACHER (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; Walt Disney, US 1927)
Orchestra della Scuola primaria "Carlo Collodi" di Pordenone
THE ELECTRIC HOUSE (Buster Keaton Productions, US 1922)
Orchestra della Scuola Media Centro Storico di Pordenone
- 02.10.2011 | 20.30 | Chaplin à la Spilimbrass
EASY STREET (Charles Chaplin, Mutual, US 1917)
THE ADVENTURER (Charles Chaplin, Mutual, US 1917)
Accompagnamento musicale/Musical accompaniment: SpilimBrass
- 03.10.2011 | 20.30
EL DORADO (Marcel L'Herbier, FR 1921)
Partitura originale di / Original score by Marius-François Gaillard
eseguita al pianoforte da / performed at the piano by Touve Ratovondrahety
- 4.10.2011 | 16.30
An audience with Jean Darling
- 04.10.2011 | 20.30
SHINEL [Il cappotto/The Overcoat] (Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, USSR 1926)
Partitura di/Score by Maud Nelissen; eseguono/performed by: Lucio Degani (violino/
violin), Francesco Ferrarini (violoncello), Fábian Pérez Tedesco (percussioni/ percussion), Maud Nelissen (piano).
- 05.10.2011 | 20.30
THE CIRCUS (Charles Chaplin, US 1928)
Partitura di/Score by Charles Chaplin diretta da/conducted by
Günter A. Buchwald; esegue/performed by Orchestra San Marco, Pordenone
Replica/Repeat Show: 9.10.2011 | 17.00 | Teatro Zancanaro, Sacile
- 08.10.2011 | 20.30 | Serata finale/Closing event
THE WIND (Victor Sjöström, cast: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson; MGM, US 1928)
Partitura scritta e diretta da/Score composed and conducted by Carl Davis
Esegue/performed by FVG Mitteleuropa Orchestra
- 09.10.2011 | 17.00 | Teatro Zancanaro, Sacile (replica/repeat show)
THE CIRCUS (Charles Chaplin, US 1928)
Partitura di/Score by Charles Chaplin diretta da/conducted by
Günter A. Buchwald; esegue/performed by Orchestra San Marco, Pordenone
SHOSTAKOVICH & FEKS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- CHYORTOVO KOLESO (Moryak c “Avrorvrii”) [La grande ruota; Il marinaio
dell'"Aurora"/The Devil’s Wheel; The Sailor from the “Aurora”]
(Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg; USSR 1926)
-
SHINEL [Il cappotto/The Overcoat] (Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, USSR 1926)
- S.V.D. - SOYUZ VELIGOVO DELA [L'Unione per la Grande causa/The Club of the
Great Deed] (Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg; USSR 1927)
- NOVYI VAVILON [La nuova Babilonia /New Babylon]
(Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg; USSR 1929)
- ODNA [Sola/Alone] (Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg; USSR 1931)
-
SKAZKA O POPE I EGO RABOTNIKE BALDE [Storia del pope e del suo servo
Baldà/The Story of the Priest and His Servant Balda] (frammento/fragment)
(Mikhail Tsekhanovsky, 1934)
- YUNOST’ MAKSIMA (The Youth of Maxim) [La giovinezza di Massimo]
(Lenfilm, USSR 1934) (estratto/extract)
- SKAZKA O GLUPOM MYSHONKE [La fiaba del topolino sciocco/
The Story of the Silly Little Mouse] (Lenfilm, USSR 1940)
CINEMA ITALIANO: RARITÀ E RITROVAMENTI
ITALY: RETROSPECT AND DISCOVERY
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- UN AMORE SELVAGGIO (Cines, 1912)
- PADRE (Itala, 1912)
- PIÙ CHE LA MORTE (Cines, 1912)
- SANTARELLINA (Ambrosio, 1912)
- TRA LE PINETE DI RODI (Savoia, 1012)
- LA RUPE DEL MALCONSIGLIO (Cines, 1913)
- UNA TRAGEDIA AL CINEMATOGRAFO (Cines, 1913
- IL VELENO DELLE PAROLE (Celio Film, 1913)
- LE ACQUE MIRACOLOSE
(Ambrosio, 1914)
- LA MOGLIE DI CLAUDIO (Itala, 1918)
- LA SERPE (Caesar Film/Bertini, 1920)
- MADDALENA FERAT (Caesar Film/Bertini, 1921)
- LA GRAZIA (A.D.I.A., 1929)
+ comiche con/comedies with Cretinetti, Fringuelli, Robinet, Polidor, Kri Kri
CINEMA GEORGIANO / GEORGIAN CINEMA
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- TARIEL MKLAVADZIS MKVLELOBIS SAQME (Delo Tariela Mklavadze) [L’affare Tariel Mklavadze / The Case of Tariel Mklavadze ] (Ivan Perestini; Georgia SSR, 1925)
-
AMERIKANKA [L’americana/The Jobbing Press] (Leonard Esakya, Georgia SSR, 1930)
- ELISO (Nikoloz [Nikolai] Shengelay, Georgia SSR, 1928)
- MZAGO DA GELA [Mzago and Gela] (Shalva Khuskivadze, Lev Push; Georgia SSR,
1930; data uscita/rel. 1934)
- GANTSIRULNI (Obrechennye/Russkie vo Frantsii) [I condannati/The Doomed; Russi
in Francia/Russians in France] (Lev Push, Georgia SSR, 1930)
- KHABARDA [Chabardà / Khabarda] (Mikheil Chiaureli; Georgia SSR, 1931)
KERTÉSZ PRIMA DI CURTIZ
KERTÉSZ BEFORE CURTIZ
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- A TOLONC (HU 1914)
- AZ UTOLSÓ HAJNAL (HU 1917)
- JÖN AZ ÖCSÉM [My Brother Is Coming] (HU, 1919)
- DER JUNGE MEDARDOS (AT 1923)
- EINSPÄNNER NR 13 (AT 1925)
- DIE SKLAVENKÖNIGIN (AT 1924)
- DAS SPIELZEUG VON PARIS (AT 1925)
NATIONAL FILM PRESERVATION FOUNDATION
TESORI WESTERN /TREASURES OF THE WEST
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- SALOMY JANE (Lucius Henderson, William NighCalifornia, US 1914)
- THE BETTER MAN (Rollin S. Sturgeon; Vitagraph, US 1912)
- MANTRAP (Victor Fleming, US 1926)
- DESCHUTES DRIFTWOOD (Robert C. Bruce, US 1916)
- LADY OF THE DUGOUT (W.S. Van Dyke, US 1918)
LA CORSA AL POLO/THE RACE TO THE POLE
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- THE SCOTTISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION (GB, 1902-04
- DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION FROM
LYTTELTON N.Z. 1ST JAN. 1908 (NZ 1908)
– ROALD AMUNDSENS SYDPOLSFERD 1910-12
(Roald Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition) (NO 1912)
- PATHE'S ANIMATED GAZETTE NO. 14 (GB 1911)
Esquimaux dogs with Dr. Mawson’s Australian Antarctic Expedition on the deck
of the SS Aldenham, Sydney, November 1911
- CAPTAIN SCOTT AND DR. WILSON WITH “NOBBY” THE PONY (Gaumont, GB 1912)
- CARDIFF: THE SHIP “TERRA NOVA” LEAVING HARBOUR TOWARDS THE SOUTH POLE (Pathé Animated Gazette, GB 1912)
- NIHON NANKYOKU TANKEN (The Japanese Expedition to Antarctica)
(M. Pathé Shokai, JP 1912)
- [THE FILM OF THE MAWSON AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION]
(AU, 1911-1912) (1914-1916 lecture version)
- SOUTH – SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON’S GLORIOUS EPIC OF THE ANTARCTI
(Regia/dir., f./ph: Frank Hurley; Imperial Trans-Antarctic Film Syndicate, GB 1919)
- EL HOMENAJE DEL URUGUAY A LOS RESTOS DE SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON
(Henry Maurice, UY 1922)
- THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE (Herbert Ponting, GB 1924)
IL CANONE RIVISITATO/THE CANON REVISITED - 3
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- ASPHALT (Joe May, DE 1929)
- BORDERLINE (Kenneth Macpherson, UK 1930)
- THE CIRCUS (Charles Chaplin, US 1928)
- EL DORADO (Marcel L’Herbier, FR 1921)
- DIE HINTERTREPPE (Leopold Jessner, Paul Leni, DE 1921)
- KLOSTRET I SENDOMIR (Victor Sjöström, SE 1920)
- OBLOMOK IMPERII [Un frammento d'impero/Fragment of an Empire]
(Fridrikh Ermler, USSR 1929)
CINEMA DELLE ORIGINI/EARLY CINEMA
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- THE SOLDIER’S COURTSHIP (Robert William Paul, GB 1896)
- VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (Georges Méliès, FR 1902)
- The Corrick Collection - 5
- Thanhouser
PIONIERI DEL CINEMA D’ANIMAZIONE GIAPPONESE
THE BIRTH OF ANIME: PIONEERS OF JAPANESE ANIMATION
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
DISNEY'S LAUGH-O-GRAMS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
RISCOPERTE E RESTAURI/REDISCOVERIES& RESTORATIONS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- Hitchock!
THE WHITE SHADOW (dir: Graham Cutts, asst dir: Alfred Hitchcock; GB 1924)
- Garbo!
THE DIVINE WOMAN (Victor Sjöström, US 1928) (frammento/fragment)
- Perils of the Pictures
AL CINEMATOGRAFO, GUARDATE, MA NON TOCCATE (Itala Film, IT 1912)
LOST AND WON (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1911)
AT THE HOUR OF THREE (Clarendon, GB 1912)
AMOUR ET SCIENCE (Éclair, FR 1912)
ARTHÈME OPÉRATEUR (Eclipse, FR 1913)
MUTT AND JEFF IN THE MOVIES (Bud Fisher Films Corporation, US 1920)
- ItalianAmericans
MOVIE ACTOR (Bruno Valletty; Roman Film Co., US 1932)
SANTA LUCIA LUNTANA: MEMORIES OF NAPLES (Harold Godsoe, US 1931)
- Selznick/Haghefilm Fellowship 2011
ROSALIE FAIT DU SABOTAGE (Roméo Bosetti; Pathé Frères, FR 1911)
- THE CANADIAN (William Beaudine, 1926)
- THE INDIAN WOMAN’S PLUCK (Frank Wilson; Hepworth, GB 1912)
- THE LITTLE MINISTER (Penrhyn Stanlaws; Famous Players-Lasky, US 1921)
- DAS SPREEWALDMÄDEL (Hans Steinhoff, DE 1928)
- TONAUFNAHMEN BERGLUND
[Berglund sound recordings] (Ernemann AG, DE 1922)
RITRATTI/PORTRAITS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- SANTOS DUMONT PRÉ-CINEASTA? (Carlos Adriano; BR 2010)
- BABY PEGGY, THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (Vera Iwerbor; NL 2011)
- JANOVICS JENÖ, A MAGYAR PATHÉ (Bálint Zágoni; Romania 2011)
MUTI DEL XXI SECOLO/21ST CENTURY SILENTS
[Schede sezione - Programme notes]
- THE BLIND DATE (Patrick McCarthy, US 2010)
- A HOLE IN THE BUCKET (Rex Harsin; Songshine Entertainment, US 2010)
- THE FORCE THAT THROUGH THE GREEN FIRE FUELS THE FLOWER (Otto Kylmälä; Fargone Films, GB 2011)
Calendario/Daily schedule 2011
Flyer Giornate 2011
Catalogo/Catalogue 2011
