Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2005 Sommario / Contents

esemplare su un film che già andava mostrando segni di
deterioramento – una-due sequenze sono oscurate dalla nebbia
scintillante di un'emulsione irrimediabilmente rovinata. La pellicola è
stata copiata sia con il metodo tradizionale, ricavando un negativo
duplicato a 35mm, sia mediante tecniche digitali, che permettono la
correzione dei difetti d'immagine dovuti a polvere od altri danni.
Mirando al pubblico più vasto delle sale cinematografiche, il Filmmuseum
ha realizzato anche una versione “stretched”, in modo che
potesse essere proiettata alla normale velocità di 24 fotogrammi al
secondo invece che a 16 oda 18, come nel 1922. Ciò ha reso possibile
l’aggiunta di una colonna sonora, con l’accompagnamento musicale
del compositore olandese Henny Vrienten, che ha anche aggiunto
effetti sonori di sottofondo: passi, porte che sbattono, fruscio di
giornali.
La versione muta classica è stata presentata nel luglio scorso al festival
del Cinema Ritrovato di Bologna. Abbiamo scelto di proporre a Sacile
la versione “stretched”, con la colonna sonora di Henny Vrienten,
anche come spunto di discussione in una sessione speciale del
Collegium imperniata sulle modalità di presentazione dei film muti ad
un pubblico non specialistico. Questa versione è stata scelta anche per
la prima della pellicola restaurata, al Pathé Tuschinski Theatre di
Amsterdam, l'8 aprile 2005. – DAVID ROBINSON
Theodora Fitzgerald (Gloria Swanson) is an English rose, who marries an
elderly millionaire for the sake of her impoverished family, but really loves
the handsome Lord Bracondale (Valentino). Her feeling is hardly
surprising, since Bracondale twice saves her life, first when she falls into
the sea and later when she falls off a mountain precipice.They endeavour
to suppress their illicit though fervent passion.When Theodora’s husband
discovers the truth he decides to sacrifice himself on a dangerous North
African expedition, where he is obligingly assassinated by bandits. As he
dies he tenderly joins the hands of Theodora and Bracondale.
Some of the elaborations of the film script were too much even for
Madame Glyn, who told journalists in 1929, “I was so disgusted with the
changes made to the picture that I went back to Europe ... I will never
make another picture with somebody else’s ideas disrupting the clarity of
my characters. I object to comic opera being put where it does not belong.
It is up to the director to get over the psychology of the characters and
not place a totally false interpretation on them.”
Paramount advertised the picture as “an enthralling procession of stirring
incidents, marvellous gowns and startling settings”. Reviewers of the time
were not kind; Photoplay dismissed it as “garish ... a glynish tale of true
love, baronial halls, and the treacherous Alps”. It was reported that
audiences laughed and jeered when Valentino saved Gloria’s life just once
too often, on the pasteboard Alps.The New York Times was severe: “If
the leading characters do little else but wear clothes, and if, also, much
of the action takes place on apparently artificial mountains and before
what seem to be painted backdrops, can the result be called an
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interesting photoplay? Not by those who want a little character and a
little truth in their entertainment, anyhow.”
For all that, the rediscovered film proves remarkably watchable. What
strikes a modern viewer most is that, tosh though it may be, Beyond the
Rocks is played with skill and sincerity which actually compel respect for
the story.Valentino is the great discovery, with a sensitive, restrained, and
thoroughly modern acting style. Swanson is occasionally misled into silent
diva excess (“We had faces then,” said Norma Desmond), but at her best
is a wonderfully expressive actress – and an incomparable clothes horse.
The electricity between these attractive and charismatic young beauties is
still real. And the rediscovered print brings a special bonus. As Gloria
Swanson recalled, the love scenes were all shot twice – appropriately
chaste for the American version, a good deal more voluptuous for
continental distribution. The restored print is from the continental
negative, so in 2005 we can congratulate ourselves that we have at last
the less restrained – if not actually unrestrained – amorous encounter of
the superstars.
Much of the excitement over the film’s rediscovery is undoubtedly
generated by the romance of buried treasure. In 2000 the Nederlands
Filmmuseum inherited the collection of the 87-year-old Joop Van Loiempd,
which turned out to consist of 2000 rusty cans of film. Few were labelled,
and those that were, were generally wrongly identified. The process of
identifying and cataloguing the cans was slow; but at an early stage
researchers were intrigued to find one or two reels of the long-lost
Beyond the Rocks. It was almost three years, however, before the rest –
comprising almost the entire film – finally came to light, and the laborious
and costly process of restoration – handsomely sponsored by the
Amsterdam financiers ING – could begin.
The Nederlands Filmmuseum carried out an exemplary job of restoration
on a film that was already showing signs of deterioration – one or two
sequences are obscured by the scintillating fog of irretrievably decaying
film emulsion. The film was copied both by the traditional method of
making a duplicate 35mm film negative, and also by digital techniques,
which permit the correction of image defects from dust or damage.Aiming
to reach a wider audience through theatrical release, the Filmmuseum
made another version, “stretch”-printed so that it could be projected at
the now-conventional 24 frames per second instead of the 1922 standard
of 16 or 18 frames per second.This made it possible to add a soundtrack
with musical accompaniment by the Dutch composer Henny Vrienten,
who has also introduced incidental sound effects - every footfall, slammed
door, or rustling newspaper.
The conventional silent version was shown at Bologna's Cinema Ritrovato
festival this past July.We have chosen to screen the “stretched” version,
with Henny Vrienten's soundtrack, as a theme for discussion in a special
session of the Collegium on “How to introduce silent films to a nonspecialized
audience”.This was also the version chosen for the premiere
of the restored film at the Pathé Tuschinski Theatre,Amsterdam, on 8 April
2005. – DAVID ROBINSON