- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,271
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Having been aware of the Dawson City Nitrate find for forty years or so, I really thought that I knew what to expect of a documentary on the subject.
Old gold mining territory in Canada. Hundreds of reels of 35mm nitrate film, left at the end of the film distribution trail, much like Australia and those environs.
Distributors didn't want them back, several years after they first opened.
Dawson City: Frozen Time is a two hour documentary on the subject.
Simple.
Well. Not exactly.
While it was nice seeing from friendly faces among the archivists involved, the film really doesn't start until past the thirty minute point, and then it's sometimes only tangentially involved with the film elements themselves.
The first half hour is a bit of a history lesson.
The gold rush.
A specific area of Canada.
Late 19th century.
Early settlers, native Canadians.
And then it becomes a bit of a tone poem.
A bit of a fever dream.
At two hours, it's also very long. My personal feeling is that it could have easily told the same story in 90 minutes or less.
But then it wouldn't be a tone poem, or a fever dream.
It's all very odd.
And not unenjoyable.
Once you realize where you are and where you're being taken.
If you're picking up this disc for a dry background on the nitrate find itself, there are easier ways of getting the information, albeit you won't see hundreds of (very) short excerpts from the film, most all with the very specific look and texture that you'll realize is a part of those film, after being encapsulated in permafrost for forty years of so.
Hundreds of films had already been burned, or dumped into the sea.
But these lucky survivors, left in an empty swimming pool that had been covered over, are an extraordinary time capsule, of the films that the good folks of Dawson City saw at their theaters (that seems to burn down almost annually).
Think of Dawson City as Deadwood. A bit further north. Possibly a bit less gunplay. But the same muddy streets, and tinder-ready buildings.
For those interested in film history, and the problems of film preservation, this should be required viewing.
But don't get ready for a Ken Burns type affair.
Bill Morrison's work is very different.
With a very specific personality all its own.
And once you realize that, it's all good.
Image - n/a
Audio - n/a
4k Up-rez - n/a
Pass / Fail - Pass
Recommended
RAH
Old gold mining territory in Canada. Hundreds of reels of 35mm nitrate film, left at the end of the film distribution trail, much like Australia and those environs.
Distributors didn't want them back, several years after they first opened.
Dawson City: Frozen Time is a two hour documentary on the subject.
Simple.
Well. Not exactly.
While it was nice seeing from friendly faces among the archivists involved, the film really doesn't start until past the thirty minute point, and then it's sometimes only tangentially involved with the film elements themselves.
The first half hour is a bit of a history lesson.
The gold rush.
A specific area of Canada.
Late 19th century.
Early settlers, native Canadians.
And then it becomes a bit of a tone poem.
A bit of a fever dream.
At two hours, it's also very long. My personal feeling is that it could have easily told the same story in 90 minutes or less.
But then it wouldn't be a tone poem, or a fever dream.
It's all very odd.
And not unenjoyable.
Once you realize where you are and where you're being taken.
If you're picking up this disc for a dry background on the nitrate find itself, there are easier ways of getting the information, albeit you won't see hundreds of (very) short excerpts from the film, most all with the very specific look and texture that you'll realize is a part of those film, after being encapsulated in permafrost for forty years of so.
Hundreds of films had already been burned, or dumped into the sea.
But these lucky survivors, left in an empty swimming pool that had been covered over, are an extraordinary time capsule, of the films that the good folks of Dawson City saw at their theaters (that seems to burn down almost annually).
Think of Dawson City as Deadwood. A bit further north. Possibly a bit less gunplay. But the same muddy streets, and tinder-ready buildings.
For those interested in film history, and the problems of film preservation, this should be required viewing.
But don't get ready for a Ken Burns type affair.
Bill Morrison's work is very different.
With a very specific personality all its own.
And once you realize that, it's all good.
Image - n/a
Audio - n/a
4k Up-rez - n/a
Pass / Fail - Pass
Recommended
RAH