2016 Cambridge Film Festival Brochure

Silent
Cinema
Rediscoveries
The Early Years
AROUND CHINA WITH A MOVIE
CAMERA: A JOURNEY FROM
BEIJING TO SHANGHAI | PG
UK/China 1900–48. 68 mins.
Cinematic time travel at its most magical: this marvellous
compendium of rare travelogues, newsreels and home
movies from the collections of the BFI National Archive
offers a fascinating insight into the lost world of prerevolutionary
China. Scenes range from the bustling street
life of cosmopolitan Shanghai in 1900, to footage shot by
missionaries in remote rural Yunnan Province in the late 1940s.
An atmospheric soundtrack by Ruth Chan is inspired by a
wide range of Chinese music blended with western classical
influences, electronica and jazz. Whether or not you have
visited China, this remarkable filmic journey is a must.
The screening will be introduced by BFI curator Edward
Anderson and composer Ruth Chan.
Director Various
PRINT SOURCE BFI
Emma Mon 24 | 6.30
APH Sun 23 | 4.20
SALOMÉ | CFF PG
USA 1922. 72 mins. Russian intertitles with English subtitles.
Salomé is a provocative silent film adaptation of an Oscar
Wilde play considered so risqué it was banned on the English
stage. Starring (and largely directed by) the Russian star Alla
Nazimova, this film portrays the fatal consequences of a
young Salomé’s violent love for John the Baptist, held captive
by her father, Herod. Wilde made Salomé’s ‘dance of the seven
veils’ infamous and Nazimova's adaptation gives it a playful
1920s update. With androgynous art nouveau costumes, this
is a startlingly modern work that challenged received wisdoms
about gender and sexuality upon its release.
We are delighted that the screening will have live musical
accompaniment by The Hermes Experiment.
Director Charles Bryant
Starring Alla Nazimova, Mitchell Lewis, Rose Dione, Earl
Schenck, Nigel de Brulier
PRINT SOURCE Filmverleih Deutsches Filminstitut
Emma Sat 22 | 6.15
ARSENAL | PG
Soviet Union 1928. 86 mins. Russian intertitles with
English subtitles.
One of the early giants of Soviet cinema, Oleksandr Dovzhenko
is renowned for his radical, strikingly poetic style of filmmaking.
His anti-war masterpiece Arsenal, set in his native
Ukraine, follows events leading to the Bolshevik uprising of
January 1918. Timosh, a recently demobbed soldier, returns
to his hometown of Kyiv and challenges the local authorities
by calling for the Soviet system to be adopted. With its stark
symbolic imagery, stylized acting and expressionistic lighting,
Arsenal viscerally evokes the chaos and horror of war.
With thanks to the National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre and
the State Film Agency of Ukraine.
We are delighted that the screening will have live musical
accompaniment by Bronnt Industries Kapital.
Director Oleksandr Dovzhenko
Starring Semen Svashenko, Amvrosii Buchma, Dmytro
Erdman
PRINT SOURCE Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre
APH Sun 23 | 6.00
TWO TIMID SOULS | U
Les Deux Timides
France 1928. 87 mins.
A diffident young lawyer suffers professional and amorous
frustrations as a result of his shyness, but he eventually
secures the object of his affections and even succeeds in
producing some firmness of purpose in his future father-in-law,
an equally timid soul.
Two Timid Souls harks back to an earlier age of film comedy,
reworking the styles of Max Linder, Charlie Chaplin and
Mack Sennett into something new and elegant. At the same
time, the restoration of this sublime farce reveals it as a silent
classic in its own right. SIGHT & SOUND
We are delighted that the screening will have live piano
accompaniment by Neil Brand.
Director René Clair
Starring Pierre Batcheff, Jim Gérald, Véra Flory
PRINT SOURCE BFI Archive
Emma Fri 21 | 6.30
DESTINY | PG
Der müde Tod
Germany 1921. 98 mins. German intertitles with English subtitles.
Fritz Lang’s first real masterpiece is a ballad-like tale of Death
and the Maiden, inspired by German Romanticism. A young
woman, suddenly widowed, pleads with Death (the memorably
sinister Bernhard Goetzke) to return her husband. She is led into
a vast hall of flickering flames, each of which represents a human
life. Three of these are close to extinction, but if she can succeed
in saving just one of them, Death will grant her wish. Destiny is
justly renowned for its spooky gothic imagery, its magical special
effects, and the witty, exotic creations of Germany’s foremost set
designers. Now that the film’s original tints and tones have been
restored, we are at last able to see it as Lang intended.
We are delighted that the screening will have live piano
accompaniment by Stephen Horne.
Director Fritz Lang
Starring Bernhard Goetzke, Lil Dagover, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
PRINT SOURCE Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
Eureka
Emma Sat 22 | 9.15
WONDER OF CREATION | U
Wunder der Schöpfung
Germany 1925. 92 mins. German intertitles with English
subtitles.
A trip to the stars 1925-style, this ground-breaking
documentary is 'the nearest we have to a silent forerunner of
2001: A Space Odyssey' (Bryony Dixon). Fifteen special effects
experts and nine cameramen were involved in the production
of this beautifully tinted and toned film which combines
documentary scenes, fiction elements, animation sequences
and historical documents.
Presented with live performance of a new score by Stu Brown
and Paul Harrison aka Herschel 36.
The score is a HippFest commission supported by Falkirk
Community Trust and Creative Scotland. This performance is
supported by Film Hub Central East.
Director Hanns Walter Kornblum
Starring Paul Bildt, Willy Kaiser-Heyl, Theodor Loos
PRINT SOURCE Munich Film Museum
Emma Mon 24 | 4.15
HARMONIOUS RHYTHMS:
DANCE AND SILENT FILM | CFF PG
France/USA 1922–1945. 90 mins.
Attempting to articulate her vision for the cinema in an
essay of 1927, the French director Germaine Dulac wrote:
‘I conjure up a dancer! A woman? No. A leaping line of
harmonious rhythms.’ In different but interconnected
ways, the two female directors showcased in this
screening use the idea of dance to make films driven
by movement and rhythm. Dulac’s three abstract short
films construct a visual music based on the compositions
of Chopin and Debussy, creating a beautiful
choreography of machines, bodies, and nature. Similarly,
in her Ritual in Transfigured Time, Maya Deren stages a
transfixing encounter between camera and performer by
tracing the fluid movements and gestures of the human
body New York Times critic John Martin coined the term
“choreocinema” to describe this kind of filmmaking,
which delights in the musicality of silent images.
We are delighted that the screening will have live piano
accompaniment by John Sweeney.
THÈMES ET VARIATIONS
France 1929. 11 mins.
PRINT SOURCE
Director Germaine Dulac Light Cone
With Lilian Constantini
UNE ÉTUDE CINÉGRAPHIQUE
SUR UNE ARABESQUE
France 1929. 8 mins.
PRINT SOURCE
Director Germaine Dulac Light Cone
With Marie-Anne Malleville
DISQUE 957
France 1929. 6 mins.
Director Germaine Dulac
PRINT SOURCE
Light Cone
RITUAL IN TRANSFIGURED TIME
USA 1946. 14 mins. PRINT SOURCE
Director Maya Deren Lux Artists' Moving Image
With Maya Deren, Rita Christiani,
Anaïs Nin, Frank Westbrook
Ingrid Bergman is world-renowned for her starring roles in Casablanca, Notorious and Journey to
Italy, but the films of her formative, pre-Hollywood years – made in Sweden and Germany – remain
little known. Only 18 when she abandoned drama school to go into movies, Bergman was rapidly
acclaimed as Sweden’s most promising young actress. Stardom, however, held little attraction
for her compared with the opportunity to play a range of complex and demanding roles. Even at
this early stage, Bergman’s performances reveal remarkable subtlety and psychological depth,
especially in the portrayal of multi-layered characters with mysterious pasts. Also already
evident is her trademark naturalness, fostered by Gustaf Molander, the director credited with
her discovery. He conceived Intermezzo as a vehicle for her, a heart-rending love story which
brought her to the attention of Hollywood producer David O. Selznick. The rest, as they say, is
history, but Bergman’s early work – represented here by three of her finest Swedish films plus
her one German-speaking role – also deserves the spotlight.
APH Sat 22 | 2.00
INTERMEZZO | PG
Sweden 1936. 96 mins. Swedish with English subtitles.
A promising young pianist (Bergman) embarks on a passionate
affair with a celebrated concert violinist (Gösta Ekman), much
to the distress of his devoted wife who has long played second
fiddle to her brilliant, egotistical spouse. The 20-year-old
Bergman was greatly in awe of her distinguished co-star,
now best remembered for his role as Faust in F.W. Murnau’s
silent masterpiece. But it was Bergman’s engagingly natural,
exquisitely understated performance that caused a sensation
at home and abroad. David O. Selznick bought up the rights
to the script, and three years later Bergman appeared in her
first Hollywood film, a remake of Intermezzo co-starring Leslie
Howard. Although the two versions have much in common,
the Swedish original is distinctly edgier – a beautifully crafted
romance with a hard inner core of realism.
Director Gustaf Molander
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Gösta Ekman, Inga Tidblad, Erik
Berglund, Hasse Ekman
PRINT SOURCE Swedish Film Institute
' I've gone from saint
to whore and back to
saint again – all in
one lifetime.'
With thanks to the Swedish Film Institute, the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and the
Bundesarchiv Berlin.
APH Sun 23 | 2.00
A WOMAN'S FACE | PG
En kvinnas ansikte
Sweden 1938. 100 mins. Swedish with English subtitles.
In this dark psychological drama, Bergman stars as Anna
Holm, a cold-blooded blackmailer whose terrible facial
disfigurement is the result of a childhood accident. Deeply
emotionally damaged, she envies ‘normal’ people (especially
women) and ruthlessly exploits their weaknesses, not least
those connected with passion and lust. Unexpectedly, she has
the opportunity to change her life but can she change how she
feels inside? Throughout her career, Bergman fought to avoid
being typecast as an innocent beauty, and here she distorts
her features with a painful brace designed by her dentist
husband. It could have been over-the-top, but Bergman’s
portrayal of Anna’s spiritual journey is subtle and credible,
revealing her remarkable versatility. Suspenseful and stylishly
shot, Molander’s film was later remade by MGM, with Joan
Crawford in the starring role.
Director Gustaf Molander
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Tore Svennberg, Anders
Henrikson, Hilda Borgström
PRINT SOURCE Swedish Film Institute
INGRID BERGMAN:
IN HER OWN WORDS | PG
Jag är Ingrid
Sweden/Germany/The Netherlands/Finland/Norway
2015. 114 mins.
Director Stig Björkman
Starring Isabella Rossellini, Ingrid Rossellini, Roberto
Rossellini, Pia Lindström, Liv Ullmann
PRINT SOURCE Soda, UK
Cine
EMMA
Mobile
Fri 21
Mon 24
4.15
12.45
APH Mon 24 | 2.30
THE FOUR COMPANIONS | PG
Die vier Gesellen
Germany 1938. 95 mins. German with English subtitles.
Bergman had a German mother and she was fluent in the
language, having spent many summers with her relatives in
Hamburg. This, her only film made in Nazi Germany, casts
her as one of four female students of graphic design who,
upon graduation, find themselves unemployed owing to male
prejudice against women in the workplace. So the four set
up their own advertising agency and, by dint of concealing
their gender, manage to win commissions. They are talented
and ambitious, yet increasingly feel the pressure to conform
to feminine stereotypes, especially when romance comes
calling. An intriguing portrait of pre-war Berlin with some great
location shooting, this slick and charming comedy gives little
hint of the poisonous political atmosphere which Bergman
found so oppressive.
Director Carl Froelich
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Hans Söhnker, Carsta Löck,
Sabine Peters, Leo Slezak
PRINT SOURCE Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin
JUNE NIGHT | PG
Juninatten
Sweden 1940. 89 mins. Swedish with English subtitles.
Described by Swedish film historian Jon Wengström as ‘the
closest Swedish cinema ever got to film noir’, June Night stars
Bergman (who had just made her Hollywood debut) as a
small-town girl who tries to escape her scandalous past and
deranged former lover by moving to Stockholm and adopting
a new identity. Though desperate to keep a low profile, she
attracts the attention of all sorts of men whose fascinated
curiosity threatens to blow her cover. Her air of mystery is
simply irresistible, her face a barometer of complex, cryptic
emotions. Combining romantic, thrillerish and comic elements
– and featuring some of the most ravishing close-ups of
Bergman ever filmed – June Night was her last Swedish film
before embarking on her long-term Hollywood career.
Director Per Lindberg
Starring Ingrid Bergman, Marianne Löfgren, Olof Widgren,
Gunnar Sjöberg, Hasse Ekman
PRINT SOURCE Swedish Film Institute
‘I’ve gone from saint to whore and back to saint again – all in one lifetime.’ Making use of newsreel
footage, TV clips, screen tests and, most remarkably, Bergman’s own home movies (including
fascinating scenes of her childhood), Stig Björkman offers a uniquely intimate insight into the
controversial star whose glittering Hollywood career erupted into scandal when she left her husband and
child to enter into a turbulent romantic and professional relationship
with director Roberto Rossellini. Extracts from her diaries and
letters are supplemented by engagingly frank interviews with her
four children, while Michael Nyman’s lyrical score tugs at our
heartstrings. Most striking, ultimately, is Bergman’s voracious
appetite for work and life, best expressed in her own words:
‘I don’t demand much, I just want everything …’
Please see page 21 for special screening of Casablanca (US 1942) starring Ingrid Bergman in her most famous role.
APH Tue 25 | 7.30
18 | CambridgeFilmFestival2016 | Silent Cinema Rediscoveries
www.camfilmfest.com Box office: 0871 902 5720 Ingrid Bergman: The Early Years | CambridgeFilmFestival2016 | 19