SFSFF 2011 - Thursday

(I found a John Ford film I actually like)

It's thrilling and a little bit daunting that the San Francisco Silent Film Festival has spread out over four days. The opening night had two screenings - Upstream and Sunrise.

As much as I love silent film and the experience of watching it with THOUSANDS of other people (over 18 000 attend, according to the program), I really have to pace myself. Attending Upstream (1927) was mandatory since I heard the announcement at the festival last year. I'm so glad I did. The pacing was quick, the ensemble cast was terrific and I especially liked the balance of story time each character was given. I'm very happy this film was rediscovered. Donald Sosin's ensemble was wonderful accompaniment.

Why Husbands Flirt (1919) Cute and vivacious short feature, starring actresses with the largest eyes to hit the screen. Photographed by the great Ross Fisher.

I skipped Sunrise because I had seen it in a previous festival. I was also wary of a solo guitar accompaniment - you know by now my discerning taste considering musical performances alongside silent film. Mostly, something had to give as Friday seems to be a very full day.

one third of the trio

Marked men.

Strong diagonal lines often suggest movement.
They can also suggest violence;
like a slashing perhaps
or a cross punch.
Here, they often coincide with betrayal.










This is one of the three films by Fernando de Fuentes
examining the Mexican revolution,
beginning with El Prisionero 13
and ending with Vamonos con Pancho Villa.
All highly recommended.

El Compadre Mendoza (1934)
directed by Fernando de Fuentes
and Juan Bustillio Oro
cinematography by Ross Fisher

prisoner 13

I'm completely blown away by the quality of light in the photo above.
It is one of the most gorgeous scenes ever captured onto film.









el Prisionero 13 (1933)
aka Prisoner 13
directed by Fernando de Fuentes
cinematography by Ross Fisher








No relief offered by the end of the film:

los tres garcia

Los Tres Garcia (1947)

directed by Ismael Rodriguez

cinematography by Ross Fisher

The three dueling cousins had a hit comedy films with this one. Slapstick coupled with singing is a winning formula. The best scene shows the cousins, all three longing after the blonde, sitting silently while singing harmonious love songs in their hearts that only we can hear on the soundtrack.

This isn't a very high quality video which is very unfortunate because there is a lot of gorgeous camera work at play here; lots of deep focus photography as well as traveling shots. The most spectacular effect is a backwards tracking from a medium shot at the front of a church that pulls away, takes a different angle and continues to a wide shot from the back of the church. Most of the people moving into camera view are so smooth that I didn't even notice the complexity until the final long shot.

But all you get are these two pictures.