Nosferatu and other early films....

[#Pedro]

Totally agree. In silent films the typical attributes of the media are on there top.
"M" is a early sound film, using sound as an independent part, not only to underlay the pic. But the general shooting style and the way the actors were playing is typical "silent". Have you ever seen "Nibelungen" (Fritz Lang)? It has 2 parts (2 independent films) and is the only good film treating this stuff, without introducing political idology. However, in Nazi aera this film was used for propaganda reasons. Another great film of Fritz Lang is "Der m?de Tod" ("The tired death"), also a "must". Remembering "Tabu" from Murnau? One of the first dokus, mixed with feature film elements.

Recently I got off ebay an Atlas S8 release of Metropolis and M. Very impressive, even in that 400 ft versions. Another big "catch" I made is "Psycho" in a 400 ft version.

Back in the 1980ies I watched Potemkin, screened in a big concert hall in Munich, the original music played live by a symphonic orchestra, with all that sound effects required. It was really great. The film was new released by the film museum Munich in very good quality. A short time after, I watched Nosferatu, performed with a small orchestra, in a new restored release with the original colors in the szenes. It was really very frosty, even in summer time!

I think anybody of us is passing thru his own silent area and all the other areas of film history, until he finds his own style. The problem is, that nowadays everybody is trying to imitate the style of tv soap operas, our new standard in quality. Every actriz MUST be able to perform that Hollywood standard smile...

Pedro

[rollemfilm]

funny how the mind works. i remember "M" as being a silent. but, it's been 15 years since i've seen it. those early sound films are interesting too. early Hitchcock films like "Blackmail" and the first "Man who knew too much" are great considering what they had to mix with. another area of interest is silent animation. the works of Max Fleischer and his brother. Walter Lanz & Walt Disney. my favorite is "Felix the Cat. Pat Sullivan and his crew were no doubt, some of the greatest pioneers in pre-sound animation.