Tweet

Kino Video has been supplementing the DVD market with wonderful presentations from the silent era. Their big holiday boxed set is a collection of D.W. Griffith’s work, including four features, a selection of Biograph shorts, and over six hours of extra material.

THE BIRTH OF A NATION is indisputably one of the most important films of all time. Not one of the best. Even before it was derided for its racist throughline, it was probably on few ‘great’ lists. But in the expanse of this collection it’s a treat to own it. And there are some wonderful extras – seven Civil War shorts directed by Griffith, information documenting the battles over the film’s 1922 release, including protests by the N.A.A.C.P. You know, as recently as ten years ago, the NBR Awards were known as The D.W. Griffith Awards. Then, one year, while I was co-producing the show, Spike Lee and Morgan Freeman were on hand as presenters, and Freeman made a friendly but pointed comment about the questionability of an award in this day and age bearing Griffith’s name, let alone his being asked to present it. The audience laughed and, I seem to remember, even applauded, such was the diplomacy with which he voiced his misgivings. However, the following year, the ceremony, and the awards, bore a new and politically correct name.

INTOLERANCE, now there’s another one that is so important it towers above most other films of its time. The blending of the four stories, the slow build of the editing over the three hours until finally it’s racing toward its conclusion, the staggering sets that Griffith couldn’t afford to tear down and were left standing for years (much as I hear Scorsese’s sets from GANGS OF NEW YORK are still standing in Italy [and being used by other enterprising filmmakers like the Taviani brothers]). Excerpts are included from European films which preceded it and clearly influenced Griffith, as well portions of two pamphlets published by the director around the time of the film’s release espousing free speech.

BROKEN BLOSSOMS is half the length of either of the previous epics, and suitably smaller in scope, an interior romantic-drama starring Griffith fave Lillian Gish. Like the previous two, it is color tinted, and there are impressive extras such as a Gish intro, the complete text of Thomas Burke’s original story, the1919 song of the same name, etc.

My favorite, ORPHANS OF THE STORM, is a two-and-a-half hour epic about the French revolution released in 1921, with a filmed introduction by Orson Welles. For me, more than the preceding three, this film stands the test of time. Beyond the distinctive anomalies of the silent period, it feels remarkably modern. The editing, particularly the cross-cutting in the third act – a race to the plaza of the guillotine to save Gish’s life – has only been incremently improved upon in the last eighty years. Camera placement, coverage, editorial choices, all of them are superb. In addition there is footage taken at Griffith’s funeral, a radio eulogy for the director read by Erich von Stroheim, and more.

And finally twenty-three shorts on two discs represent Griffith’s tenure at Biograph Studios from 1909 to 1913. You see the director hone his skills in a number of different genres including the Western, Social Commentary, and Crime. Some of these shorts have appeared before on DVD, as have the features, and some of the features aren’t here and I wish they were. But this treasure trove of material has never appeared in one box, and it’s a sumptuous collection. You’d be acquiring a Griffith library with one grand gesture. And don’t think you’re saddled with boring chunks of antiquity. There’s so much to be found in these discs of real awe, you hardly have to put yourself in the frame of mind to enjoy them. The fine condition of the print materials and transfers draws you into their era, and since Griffith was as interested in humanity as he was in spectacle, the stories and many of the performances will still move you.

From HBO we have THE SOPRANOS, SEASON 3. Satisfying, with some riotously funny or riotously brutal interludes. But I don’t think I’ll be jumping on this bandwagon again; Season four, which just concluded, was a dour affair. Two or three energized episodes, but the rest were in the vein of GODFATHER 3. Let’s take this family down, and kick them while they’re down. That’s not the trajectory we needed; we’ve seen it already courtesy of Coppola.

And then there are books. And of that there is too much to mention, but let me name just a few.

FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG is an unusual idea which succeeds much because of a loving layout by Santa Monica Press. The book examines Alfred Hitchcock’s affection for the San Francisco Bay area through several of his films (obviously VERTIGO, but others such as REBECCA, PSYCHO, and SHADOW OF A DOUBT as well) by tracing his camera’s steps, and the book is laid out horizontally, like a VistaVision frame. I was hooked, took valuable time off from my editorial duties and perused the pages, reliving the films through maps, well-chosen stills (some that were new to me), visuals from the time which show how things really looked without the camera’s romanticized eye. The authors are Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal, and there’s a foreword by Hitchcock’s daughter, Pat. This is a nice coffee-table piece for film lovers.

And in true nepotistic fashion, I must inform you that SHOOT ME: INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING FROM CREATIVE CONCEPT TO ROUSING RELEASE is now in rousing release, either in your favorite bookstore or over the internet at this very site. An inside story on indie filmmaking problems in the age of digital, it was penned by myself and my writing partner Rocco Simonelli, and was published by Allworth Press.
I had fun writing it, contrasting my style with Roc’s, whose focus is on the day-to-day horrors of directing, while my chapters are lighter, I think, though equally cynical, reflecting my slightly removed position in relation to the production of our new film, THE SWEET LIFE, as producer.

Happy Holidays, and a Glorious New Year!

Continue to page: 1 2 3 4 5