Madchen In Uniform (1931) 8.5/10
1:1 (2006) 6/10
Originally Posted by El Loro:
How did you manage to get hold of Madchen in Uniform? I didn't think it was available apart from on VHS tape. (I'm assuming you didn't buy the only DVD option on Amazon as that is an import at a mere cost of ÂĢ2,999 
).
I saw the film on youtube (click cc button for the subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DT9ikrtTM
Most of the old obscure foreign films i see are on youtube
Heres some of the best channels on there at the moment (some great uploaders have been banned over the years due to their videos getting mulitple copyright complaints)
http://www.youtube.com/user/PyccoTypucmo#g/p
http://www.youtube.com/user/Arigatosanflicks
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrStrangeflick
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrStrangefilm
http://www.youtube.com/user/Ig...g/c/DE5D983DD8AA6FB9
http://www.youtube.com/user/imageinconnu#g/p
http://www.youtube.com/user/memoirevisuelle#g/p
The Station Agent (2003) 9/10 3rd viewing
Tirza (2010) 4/10
Thanks for those links - as you say, there must be some doubt over copyright with some of the films there.
One chanel I found on Youtube has an extraordinary collection of silent films.
http://www.youtube.com/user/earlycinema
Some of them are fairly well known such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Greed, Metropolis,and various Buster Keaton films.
Probably the most important film there is Cabiria (1914). Not available on DVD here other than by import (NTSC). I believe that this is the first major full length film ever made and pre-dates Birth of a Nation.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ea...#p/u/104/FcDtfWjFl3c
Even very obscure films get deleted due to copyright claims, which i dont agree with as they are very hard to come across
I came across that early cinema channel a few days ago while film searching on youtube
I still havent seen any silent films, but i will get to doing so sometime soon
The length of copyright is very complex, particularly as different laws will apply around the world.
The States law is:
95 years from publication or 120 years from creation whichever is shorter (anonymous works, pseudonymous works, or works made for hire, published since 1978)
95 years from publication for works published 1964â1977; 28 (if copyright not renewed) or 95 years from publication for works published 1923â1963 (Copyrights prior to 1923 have expired.)
The UK says:
50 years after release or if not released 50 years after making (sound recordings) or 70 years after death. And to expand on this as far as films are concerned:
The copyright in a film expires 70 years from the end of the year following the death of all of the principal contributors to it, for example: the author of the screenplay; the author of the dialogue; the composer of music specially created for and used in the film.
As a film is likely to contain material other than the film itself, there will be multiple layers of copyright contained within it. If the producer has not sought copyright permissions from all of the film's principal contributors, you can only be fairly certain that the copyright of the film has expired 70 years following the death of all those involved.
Westerplatte (1967) 8.5/10
Le Petit Soldat (1963) 4/10 - I probably should give up watching Jean-Luc Godard films
Izzat (2005) 7/10
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Of the French New Wave directors, I never took to Jean-Luc Godard and think that the likes of Francois Truffaut and Louis Malle were much better.
I agree, Truffaut and Malle have done some great films and dont stick to the same style that Godard has done in all the films i have seen of his
Solstorm (2007) 5/10
Small Town (Kasaba) (1997) 7.5/10
Last Night (2010) 6/10
In the past few days I have reseen 2 of the major classics - Sunset Boulevard and The Magnificent Ambersons. The Magnificent Ambersons only exists in a heavily cut version. IMDB says:
There are three alternate version to The Magnificent Ambersons, none exist any more:
- the original version, Welles' first cut is the only one that has any type of record that exists. It was 132 minutes long. It included an extended Ball sequence. An extended sequence of Jack and George in the kitchen, a completely different ending, as well as other cuts to numerous to mention. The original last part of the movie was (in order): George and Jack at the Rail Station, George's walk home and comeuppance, Fanny at the boiler, Bronson's office, Eugene and Lucy in the garden, George in accident, Eugene hears of accident, Eugene visits Fanny in the Boarding house. The cutting continuity, which was recorded five days before the first preview, is included in the book, The Magnificent Ambersons- A Reconstruction.
- The first preview audience saw the original cut for the most part. Welles ordered small cuts and one major cut prior to preview but no record of what they were exists. The movie ends the same way except the scene of Eugene and Lucy in the garden was dropped.
- The second preview audience saw version that ran about 110 minutes. Twenty minutes of footage was scrapped and the ending went: George and Jack at the railroad station, Fanny's breakdown, Bronson's office, George's walk home, Eugene and Lucy in garden, George hit by car, Eugene hearing about accident, (shorter version of) Eugene visits Fanny in Boarding House.
- When the previews still weren't to the studios satisfaction, the film was cut over and over, a new ending was filmed (not by Welles) and the film was finally released at its current run of 88 minutes.
That means that one third of the film is missing. The majority of the cutting was done while Welles was out of the country in Brazil working on a film called "It's All True" which is one of those films which Welles never actually completed.
I have found Orson Welles' first film on Youtube - The Hearts of Age (1934). This is a short 8 minute experimental film, and is possibly influenced by Cocteau's Blood of a Poet. It is more than a bit wierd, but there is a strange hypnotic effect to it.
Treeless Mountain (2009) 8.5/10 2nd viewing
I resaw Hitchcock's Spellbound the other day. That's the one with the dream sequence on which Salvador Dali worked on. Budgetary constraints meant that the sequence is shorter than intended.
I think Spellbound which is in black and white has the shortest colour scene (I think there are 2 frames) ever.
The last two films I have seen are very different
Nanny McPhee - it's one of those children's films which adults can enjoy - a sort of cross between Mary Poppins and Roald Dahl.
The African Queen (reseen) The version shown on Film 4 recently is the recently restored version. An excellent film.
I suppose I should also add What Happens in Vegas, only watchable because Cameron Diaz was in it. It's the sort of film which makes one look back with fondness on the screwball comedies with the likes of Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night) or Katherine Hepburn (Bringing Up Baby and in particular the films with Spencer Tracy).
Yesterday I watched Ridley Scott's first feature film The Duellists. It is set in Napoleonic times and is about a 15 year grudge match between two officers played by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. Scott had hoped to have Michael York and Oliver Reed, but they were not available. A strong list of supporting actors in small roles - Albert Finney, Edward Fox, Tom Conti, Alun Armstrong and also Pete Posthlewaite in his feature film debut.
The film was made 2 years after Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and there are similarities between the two films to make me think that Scott was heavily influenced by Barry Lyndon.
The Duellists is based on a story by Joseph Conrad and is supposedly a true story. It is a slight story, but what makes the film stand out is the cinematography. The final scenes were filmed at ChÃĒteau de Commarque. It's located in Dordogne between Sarlat and Les Eyzies, in the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil. And the final shot has to be one of the most beautiful shots ever put to film.
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