I know it’s been a while since I updated my blog. Life just gets in the way sometimes.
I want to say something about the Widescreen Weekend held in Bradford last weekend. I would encourage anyone with an interest in films to attend this event. Anyone who wants to see films how they were meant to be seen, in analogue wide-screen, will love this. And to top it off they have one of only three Cinerama screens in the world. I saw How The West Was Won, which was one of the few films made specifically to be screened on Cinerama screens. This was a rare opportunity indeed. The screen is highly curved, in three panels, and is made up of many vertical strips like a blind, with each strip at a slightly different angle to catch the light. And whilst How The West Was Won is by no means a great Western, watching it as it was designed to be seen certainly elevates it to a level whereby one can appreciate its qualities much more and the sheer technical achievement of how the film was made.
Other highlights were the film Grand Prix, which I vividly remember seeing when I was a kid and to watch on a Cinerama screen brought all the memories back. The thing that struck me most about seeing it in this format was the way it used split-screen – an effect which would be completely lost on the small screen. This is surely the most effective use of split-screen in film history. If anyone has any other suggestions let me know. And the sound was phenomenal, the film really captures the sights and sounds of Grand Prix racing. Most importantly of all, one got a sense of the speed and the sheer danger of Grand Prix racing, something which is difficult to capture on film, but this film does admirably. This is thanks to the technical innovations Frankenheimer used such as placing a camera on the wing of a car. It’s just a pity that the off-track drama is so soapy and sentimental. Away from the racing, the film is firmly stuck in 1st gear.
Other films screened were Forty Guns, an excellent feminist Western by Sam Fuller, and Billy Wilder’s The Apartment, which was shown in a pristine restoration. What is great about The Apartment is the way it achieves a perfect balance of sweet and sour, something few films have achieved. I’m sure this is why Shirley MacLaine mentions liking “Sweet and sour” at one point in the film.
And I also saw Once Upon a Time in the West, one of my favourite films. All that needs to be said about that film is that it is the essence of cinema. In fact it is the quintessence of cinema. Every look means something, every spare line of dialogue speaks volumes. Like many great films one feels that the film continues after the credits have rolled.