Cultural fest features Hitchcock
By Yao Minji |
July 12, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE says a true talent is a master of both pen and sword. In that spirit the London Olympics is accompanied by the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year arts platform featuring thousands of performances and workshops.
The peak of the Cultural Olympiad is the London 2012 Festival, the largest festival in UK, held at the same time as the Olympic Games.
Among all the refreshing and innovative cultural activities, four of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, newly restored by British Film Institute National Archive, are screened with new and specially composed scores - at intriguing city landmarks that are significant in the films or for the director himself.
Before The Master of Suspense took everyone's breath away with more than 50 feature films in Hollywood, he had a thriving career in the UK, with classic works such as "The 39 Steps" (1935). His 10 silent movies, made between 1925 and 1929, were also successful at the time but are less known today due to the degraded quality of the nitrate films.
British Film Institute National Archive's three-year project "Rescue the Hitchcock 9" has finally brought out nine of these early works, many bearing the master's signature traits, to crisper image, with extra footage. They were made after scene-by-scene comparison with different versions and use of advanced digitalization technology.
"The Mountain Eagle"(1926), the director's last and 10th silent film, is still missing.
Four of the nine films, "Blackmail" (1929), "The Lodger" (1926), "The Pleasure Garden" (1925) and "The Ring" (1929) are screened as part of the London 2012 Festival, while the rest will be shown later in the year.
The serial screening started with the director's debut feature film "The Pleasure Garden" at the end of June. The film, opening with a music hall sequence, was shown at the Wilton's Music Hall, one of the city's first public house music halls. "Blackmail" was shown at the iconic British Museum, which is featured in the movie in a climactic chase sequence. "The Ring," a major inspiration for Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist" (2011) and "The Lodger," which Hitchcock called "the first true 'Hitchcock' film," will also be screened for the London 2012 Festival.
BFI National Archive started collecting films and television videos since it was founded in 1935 and now has more than over 180,000 films and 750,000 TV programs from around the world. Its head curator Robin Baker brought some rare footage, including some of the earliest shots of Shanghai, to the city for an exhibition at the historic Bund in June.
The archive contains quite a few films from China, including 600 movies shot between the 1950s and 1970s, donated by the Chinese Embassy in 1980s. The rarest films are early footage of Shanghai, shot by both professional cameramen and amateurs, including travelers and diplomats, Baker told Shanghai Daily during his visit.
The earliest Chinese film dates back to 1901 and contains two minutes of Nanjing Road at the time. It already shows the city as an international metropolis, with foreign women riding bikes and foreign soldiers on the street.
The peak of the Cultural Olympiad is the London 2012 Festival, the largest festival in UK, held at the same time as the Olympic Games.
Among all the refreshing and innovative cultural activities, four of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films, newly restored by British Film Institute National Archive, are screened with new and specially composed scores - at intriguing city landmarks that are significant in the films or for the director himself.
Before The Master of Suspense took everyone's breath away with more than 50 feature films in Hollywood, he had a thriving career in the UK, with classic works such as "The 39 Steps" (1935). His 10 silent movies, made between 1925 and 1929, were also successful at the time but are less known today due to the degraded quality of the nitrate films.
British Film Institute National Archive's three-year project "Rescue the Hitchcock 9" has finally brought out nine of these early works, many bearing the master's signature traits, to crisper image, with extra footage. They were made after scene-by-scene comparison with different versions and use of advanced digitalization technology.
"The Mountain Eagle"(1926), the director's last and 10th silent film, is still missing.
Four of the nine films, "Blackmail" (1929), "The Lodger" (1926), "The Pleasure Garden" (1925) and "The Ring" (1929) are screened as part of the London 2012 Festival, while the rest will be shown later in the year.
The serial screening started with the director's debut feature film "The Pleasure Garden" at the end of June. The film, opening with a music hall sequence, was shown at the Wilton's Music Hall, one of the city's first public house music halls. "Blackmail" was shown at the iconic British Museum, which is featured in the movie in a climactic chase sequence. "The Ring," a major inspiration for Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist" (2011) and "The Lodger," which Hitchcock called "the first true 'Hitchcock' film," will also be screened for the London 2012 Festival.
BFI National Archive started collecting films and television videos since it was founded in 1935 and now has more than over 180,000 films and 750,000 TV programs from around the world. Its head curator Robin Baker brought some rare footage, including some of the earliest shots of Shanghai, to the city for an exhibition at the historic Bund in June.
The archive contains quite a few films from China, including 600 movies shot between the 1950s and 1970s, donated by the Chinese Embassy in 1980s. The rarest films are early footage of Shanghai, shot by both professional cameramen and amateurs, including travelers and diplomats, Baker told Shanghai Daily during his visit.
The earliest Chinese film dates back to 1901 and contains two minutes of Nanjing Road at the time. It already shows the city as an international metropolis, with foreign women riding bikes and foreign soldiers on the street.
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