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Nostalgia
is golden
certainly not forgotten.
We ask some aficionados why they still love
-thejgid silent films^^
BY JEFFREY RESSNER
DURING AN ERA in which Holly
wood movies rely on earsplitting
explosions and sonic-boom sound
tracks to throttle audiences, it may sur
prise some to learn that films were once
(gasp!) silent.
The last Charlie Chaplin film made
sans sound, Modern Times, w r as in 1936,
but audiences still watch silents on DVDs,
at film festivals and online via websites
like movieflix.com. Next month marks the
Chaplin’s death, and
movie buffs around
the world plan to
honor his career
with events includ
ing screenings of
his films, aecompa-
December
marks the 30th
anniversary of
Chaplin's death.
nied by live orchestras.
What exactly do these films provide
that modern blockbusters can’t deliver?
To find out USA WEEKEND asked sev
eral silent aficionados to explain their
passion. The responses were, um, loud
and clear.
10
USA WEEKEND • Nov. 23-25,2007
DUSTIN HOFFMAN, 70
Oscar-winning actor
I’ve always been interested in silent
movies. When I speak to film stu-
dents, I urge them
to watch silent films
because it enables
than to focus on the
structure of shots
without being dis
tracted by the dia
logue. I ask them
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how they would face the challenge of
“speaking” dialogue without being
able to talk. There were some mar
velously subtle performances given
by those silent actors, given the fact
that they had to tell a story without
the advantage of dialogue.
KARIE BIBLE, 34
Part-time tour guide
There’s something beautiful and dream
like about silent movies a poetry, a
grace. They’re like a cinematic ballet.
The first one that I ever saw T was the
I Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed
and starred in Modern Times,
the last of his great silent films.
Phantom of the Opera. I immediately be
came obsessed with Lon Chaney’s per
formance. Modern-day actors just can’t
compare to the silent stars. Back in the
1920 s and 19305, the actors looked so
glamorous, so alluring so mysterious.
Without a sense of mystery, an actor
isn’t interesting to me. And thanks to
YouT\ibe, camera phones and aggres
sive paparazzi, today’s film stars are way
too overexposed.
THOMAS J. STATHES, 18
Student blogger
One of my earliest memories is that of my
father digging around a friend’s house
and finding some dusty 16mm reels of
silent cartoons. From the moment that I
first saw the primitive animation flick
ering on a sheet he had taped against
the wall, I was hooked. A few years later,
a department store was closing down, and
I found a bin of cheap videos featuring
oddball silent shorts. I picked up arm
fuls, and my interest has snowballed to
the point where I have now dedicated
most of my free time to posting infor-
nation about them online on my blog,
CartoonsOnFilm.blogspot.com.
VICTORIA PRINCIPAL, 57
Actress and entrepreneur
In 1996,1 attended a Silent Film Gala,
and soon afterward I began contrib-
uting to film resto
ration efforts and
watched dozens of
old silent movies.
The arts can be an
antidote to chaos in
the world. If the
longest journey is
B jg
from the head to the heart, then si
lent films speed that journey. With a
silent film, you don’t talk or look away.
It demands undivided attention —you
become utterly focused. In today’s
world, how often does that happen?
MIKE 6EBERT, 45
Advertising copywriter
There are two reasons why I’m a devoted
fan of silent movies. As the hysterical
laughter of my 6- and 9-year-old sons
proves, there’s no one around today fun
nier than Laurel and Hardy, Buster Kea
ton or Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. These
films also serve as a time machine, tak
ing you back nearly 100 years to a more
innocent era. There’s just something magi
cal about films made in the ’2os the
giand passions, the unique perspectives.
Watch a good silent movie and you’ll be
swept away by the experience in a way
that today’s big, noisy movies seem too
clumsy to achieve.
DANYKA KOSTURAK, 32
Guitarist for the Vaticans,
a San Francisco-based rock group
When I was 6,1 sneaked into our living
room and watched the horror film Nos
feratu on TV. The story, the shadowy
light it was transfixing. I couldn’t look
away. These movies are just so much
more moody and elegant than anything
from my own generation. Watching a
good silent film is similar to walking on
air they pick you up and take you on
a ride. Cl
PRINCIPAL. MATHtW IMAGING/HtMMAGIC. HOFFMAN JON KOPAIOFF. FEMMAGIC