Just four months after blowing everyone away with the awesome spectacle that was Abel Gance’s Napoleon, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) returns for its 17th annual event at the Castro Theatre from July 12 to 15. When the line-up was first announced I heard a few people grouse about it having a”greatest hits” vibe. But the reality is only two of this year’s 17 programs are repeats – Wings from back in 1999 and Pandora’s Box, shown in 2003. Personally, I’ve never seen any of them on a big screen andam therefore completely psyched. Big Names from the silent era are much in evidence, both in front of the camera (Clara Bow, Emil Jannings, Felix the Cat, Pola Negri, Louise Brooks, Douglas Fairbanks, Roland Colman, Buster Keaton) and behind it (Ernst Lubitsch, Victor Fleming, Georg Wihelm Pabst, Josephvon Sternberg, William A. Wellman). There are several tempting, unfamiliar rarities as well. I searched for films I might skip out on – if only to get a breath of air and a decent meal – but came up empty handed.

An issue that’s sure to be a subject of discussion this year – and it’s one the festival isn’t shying away from – is that of digital exhibition. SFSFF dipped its toe in the digital waters two years ago with the restoration of Metropolis, saying it was the only option available. This year they’re wading ankle deep with two DCP presentations, Lubitsch’s The Loves of Pharaoh and Wellman’s Wings. The latter is SFSFF17′s opening night film, which isclearly making a statement. The great digital vs. 35mm divide is also the focus of this year’s Amazing Tales from the Archivespresentation (see below for details). So no matter which side you’re on – if a side needs to be taken at all – there should be plenty here to chew on.

Plain and simple, if you’ve never attended the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, you owe yourself the experience of seeing a silent film the way it was meant to be seen, in a landmark 1922 movie palace with accomplished live musical accompaniment. What follows is a stroll through SFSFF17′s line-up with some hopefully interesting facts, figures, gossip and trivia – a bit more than what’s available on the festival’s website and brochure, but considerably less than what we’ll find in the scholarly essays that appear in the complementary program guide during the festival. Read More…

This is enormous news; I alluded to it in a Silent Film Festival post, but it well-deserves its own mention.

Abe Gance’s epic film, Napoleon, is to be shown as never before seen in its complete restoration by famed film historian Kevin Brownlow. This includes, so I gather, its entire 5 and a half hour runtime AND the epic battle scenes which require three projectors to run simultaneously.

It is running for four showings only, March 24, 25, 31, April 1, 2012.

Tickets are on sale now, and range from 40 dollars to 120 dollars.  Click on jump to purchase tickets and see some scenes with a review from youtube user Spartacus007. Read More…

Program 1: Russian program

Chess Fever by Pudovkin

I was surprised to see that the Russians, in their Soviet era filmmaking, were able to have just as many funny gags as the American comedians of the time. Chess fever is about Russia mad with chess, specifically focusing on one man who allows chess to take over his mind and destroy his marriage-to-be. Very funny overall – by the director of Mother. Read More…

The third day continued to deliver high quality accompaniment to high quality prints of high quality films.

Program 1

Orphan Film – Tribal Law

This film was an interesting little novelty from the archive about Native Americans – a woman is kidnapped, so a man tries to save her and rides away. The highlight of the piece was the sign pointing one way to “United States” and the other way to “Mexico”.

Main Feature – The Blizzard

This is a Swedish silent film by director Mauritz Stiller (of Erotikon fame.) I found this film highly interesting; the plot is not particularly predictable or typical. The film dubs itself a “saga,” and deserves the appellation – it carries over five parts, following a boy through manhood. He obsesses over the memory and legacy of his grandfather and wants nothing more than to live up to his reputation.  He learns the violin as a result – to the dismay of his mother. I will not summarize the plot, but some of the main themes were that of art and love versus economy – in the end art saved the day (told through an interesting foreshadowed allusion to Faust.) The film contains a bit of his depth into madness, which was interesting, and then it all ties together with a very funny and satisfying ending. Read More…

The judgment of the art directors and curators was once again sound, and the three programs I saw were fantastic.

Program 1:

Orphan Film

The program began with an anonymously created short about a plane flying around the camera, and featuring a baby Charles Lindbergh. A nice little novelty that one never would have had the chance to experience if someone didn’t find the film in an archive and decide to put it on.

I Was Born, But… by Yasujiro Ozu

This was the film that I was most excited to see in the festival and was not disappointed. It is a coming of age film set and shot in pre-war military dictatorship Japan, in 1932, about two brothers whom, with their father and mother, move to the suburbs so that, we soon find out, the father can live closer to his boss. The boys are immediately picked on and try to avoid the bullies. The mood and atmosphere are unique, and reminded me more than anything of that of many of the French New Wave films, including Truffaut’s 400 Blows – one of a simple, lighthearted exterior and a dark and complicated interior. In this case, the problem in the interior seems to be one of class, and the dual worlds of the children and adulthood illustrate this. In childhood, wealth does not matter – what matters is strength (perhaps acquired by eating a sparrow’s egg) and friendship with the strong; in adulthood, class and wealth are all that matter, and to get ahead you must be rich or grovel at the feet of the wealthy. Like the French New Wave, you can’t help but be charmed by all that you see, and yet it makes you inadvertently consider a difficult subject. Read More…

It’s a privilege to be able to cover the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I admire silent film greatly as an artform, and can understand why many of the greats said it was pure cinema. Over the next few days I will post recaps and will introduce the following day’s programs, so you will remain updated!

First, the big news, which was introduced to us in part by film historian Kevin Brownlow:

Next year, on March 24, 25, 31, and April 1st, 2012, Abel Gance’s 1927 film “Napoleon” will be shown in its entirety for the first time in U.S. history.

This work is considered to be, still, one of the most daring and epic works in the history of film – its runtime is around 5 and a half hours, and parts of the film require three projectors to simultaneously play.

It will be showing at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

This is going to be an amazing experience, and one which I wouldn’t miss for the world. Tickets go on sale on Monday, July 18th.

For the programming… Read More…

Once again silent film enthusiasts have a reason to cheer, as the Castro Theatre plays host to the 16th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival.  From July 14th to July 17th expect professional musical accompaniment by those wonderful organ players that you see performing before every movie doing their thing to some great silent films.  Of course, what would a silent film festival be without at least one Charlie Chaplin film.

Follow the jump to see a full list of the films, Tom’s Silent Film Festival diary, and how to purchase tickets. Read More…

Here is the schedule for the 4 day event:

Thursday, July 15

7:00 PM The Iron Horse General $20 Members $17

9:45 PM Opening Night Party General $30 Members $25

Friday, July 16

11:30 AM Amazing Tales from the Archives I: Lost and Found Films General and Members Free

2:00 PM A Spray of Plum Blossoms General $14 Members $12

6:00 PM Rotaie General $14 Members $12

8:15 PM Metropolis General $20 Members $17

Saturday, July 17

10:00 AM The Big Buisness of Short, Funny Films (3 Short Films, The Cook, Pass The Gravy and Big Buisness) General $14 Members $12

12:00 noon Variations on a Theme (A special moderated program on compsing music for silent films) General $14 Members $12

2:00 PM The Flying Ace General $14 Members $12

4:00 PM The Strong Man General $14 Members $12

6:30 PM Diary of a Lost Girl General $17 Members $15

9:30 PM Haxan General $14 Members $12

Sunday, July 18

10:00 AM Amazing Tales from the Archives II: First the Bad News… Then the Good! General and Members Free

12 noon The Shakedown General $14 Members $12

2:30 PM Man With a Movie Camera General $14 Members $12

4:30 PM The Woman Disputed General $14 Members $12

7:30 PM L’heureuse mort General $17 Members $15