Cheap Cinema Europe - The Other Hollywood (DVD) (Michael Winterbottom, Kevin Brownlow, David Gill, Dan Carter (II)) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Cinema Europe - The Other Hollywood

Superb historical documentary on European silent films!
Why is it that the British always produce the best silent film documentaries? Thames Television produced the best documentary ever on American silent films, "Hollywood: A celebration of the American silent film," and now Great Britain has followed that with the equally fine "Cinema Europe: The other Hollywood." The British obviously have the best grasp of film history, or at least know all the best people to consult. This is ultimately an international effort, created with the active cooperation of film historians and archives from around the world.

This is a brilliant and well-organized piece of work. It's broken down by different countries and their respective specialties; I found the episodes dealing with French, German, and Swedish films to be especially interesting. (I agree with another viewer, however, that Russia's exclusion is puzzling). The French section convinced me that I had to see Abel Gance's "Napoleon," and I'm extremely glad that I did. It's one of the most astonishing and passionate films I've seen to date, a true eye-opener.

Like the "Hollywood..." documentary, this one features great film clips and interviews with people who were instrumental in the making of many of these films.

This is a must for anyone interested in silent films or the origins of the cinema. This was such a marvelous, exciting period in which everything was new and few things were viewed as impossible, so experimentation and creativity flourished. The multiculturalism of the film industry back then is sorely missing today (since foreign accents didn't matter in silent films, casts and crews were often multinational). This documentary does a fine job of recapturing that heady sense of exhilaration, the international sharing of ideas, and the pioneering spirit. It's a gem!

---

Silent pictures with a European accent.
This six-part documentary is created for serious students of film, as European silent pictures would be unfamiliar (and uninteresting) to most casual viewers. The six-hour running time can also be a deterrent. But, for those who are willing to partake of this journey, it is extremely well done. An off-screen Kenneth Branagh, bridging the material to me as an American viewer, narrates each segment. And the remastered quality of the selected scenes is startling considering most have been forgotten, lost or destroyed.

The first episode, entitled WHERE IT ALL BEGAN introduces the series and discusses the first movies and how they were affected by the onset of World War I. The second episode, PROMISED LAND focuses on hour on the Swedish impact on cinema. Then they discuss German expressionism in Part 3, THE UNCHAINED CAMERA. That is followed by the French contributions in THE MUSIC OF LIGHT, Part 4. Part 5 OPPORTUNITY LOST, reveals British filmmaking as sub par and only shows promise when they stylistic borrow from Germany. Alfred Hitchcock is also featured. END OF AN ERA chronicles the arrival of sound film and how it affected all the involved countries as well as the onslaught of World War II.

CINEMA EUROPE is a wonderful essay on silent European films but it can be a long journey with some repetition. But, many of the clips are marvelous and the musical reconstruction is great. The DVD has no special features beyond an episode scene selection.

---

Brilliant documentary on early film
Brownlow & Gill's documentary series was originally broadcast in 1996 by the BBC to celebrate 100 years of cinema. Not only is it incredibly interesting as a history lesson but top marks must go to the archive researchers who have dug up some incredibly rare footage (such as Dietrich's screen test for THE BLUE ANGEL). All 6 episodes are on this 1 disc and although there are no extras, you do get 6 hours of pure magic, masterly narrated by the excellent Kenneth Branagh. The quality of the archive footage is amazing and anyone contemplating studying film for education or academic reasons really should start with this disc, for it starts with footage circa 1895 (including the Lumiere bros) through to the advent of sound over 30 years later. It's all very well to read about this stuff in textbooks but seeing it on your TV really does make a difference. It is truly amazing just how much stuff has survived considering the time that has elapsed and the chemical volatility of early nitrate film stock. All in all this is well worth watching, masterfully put together and nicely presented. It is also worth noting that contrary to the technical information on the page, this disc is in fact not region coded so will play in any DVD player in any country so you really have no excuse not to get it (however the U.S. appears to be the only country where this series is available as a DVD).This disc is must for any film student or historian!.