| 7:00 p.m. | Lyrical Nitrate Peter Delpeut (The Netherlands, 1990) |
(Lyrisch Nitraat). This compilation of rare film fragments dating from 1905 to 1915 is a paean to the subtle colors and shimmering luminescence of tinted nitrate stock, celebrating the aesthetic possibilities of a famously fragile and fleeting medium. This is an emotional approach to film history, an investigation of mood that is only enhanced by traces of decay and disintegration. In a period often associated with "slapstick and honky-tonk," as director Peter Delpeut says, he seeks "the melodrama, the romance, the lyricism." His obvious pleasure in the early filmmakers' mastery of mise-en-scène, color and lighting, acting and gesticulation is infectious, intimate, and inviting: like the best of film historians, he asks us to take this old film material anew. The soundtrack is taken from old recordings, ranging from Caruso to the thin but insistent sounds of a glass harmonica.
Written by Delpeut. (50 mins, In Dutch with English subtitles, Color/B&W, 35mm, From Holland Film, permission Zeitgeist Films)
—Judy Bloch
Preceded by:
Treasures of the Rijksmuseum
Peter Delpeut (The Netherlands, 2001)
All Delpeut's films are themselves looking at images, and this beautifully conceived and staged documentary is no exception. Filming in Amsterdam's national art museum when it is closed to the public but abuzz with activity, Delpeut makes a wordless mystery out of the archival impulse, and shows how objects and people wondrously bring one another to life.
(50 mins, No dialogue, English titles, Color, Video, From IDTV/Peter Delpeut)
Cinéma Perdu
Peter Delpeut
Delpeut has selected three ten-minute episodes from a forty-part series for Dutch television on the genres, styles, and curiosities of early cinema, featuring treasures from the archives of the Netherlands Filmmuseum set to newly created scores or soundtracks. As in Lyrical Nitrate, Delpeut shares his idea of the past as a foreign but fascinating country.
(30 mins, In Dutch with English subtitles, B&W/Color, Video, From Netherlands Filmmuseum/Peter Delpeut)
(Total running time: 130 mins)
