Shocking movie review; 100 Years At The Movies
The film “100 Years at the Movies” celebrates the first century of movie making. Although they can be traced back to Peter Roget’s Thaumatrope films in 1824 in England, the American debut of films originates on Broadway in 1894. Facts like this are the type of thing cineophiles (much like sports fans, foodies, or anyone with a defined passion) love to discuss and debate at length. 100 Years manages to provoke and enthrall viewers simply by its scope and magnitude. Any attempt to capture a full century of films within the time restraints of a single movie is an impossible task, let alone a nine minute
short. Director Chuck Workman handles the subject much like a music video. He gently yet forcefully weaves and patches together clips in a beautifully flowing montage of movement and music that is both inspiring, and entertaining. He does what all great visual artists do, no matter if the media be film, photography, or oil on canvas…he captures and manipulates light. This was produced for the 1994 Academy Awards presentation by Turner Classic Movies, and subsequently uses predominantly well known movies. Art and foreign film lovers may feel slighted, but for it’s intended purposes, it fulfilled a niche, and hit a home run with both style and substance.
The argument arises as to if this piece is a documentary or entertainment? Because it’s devoid of commentary, most would claim it’s entertainment, but Director Workman honed his chops via the 1984 work Precious Images. That short documented fifty years of movie making. This film goes one step further. He uses chronology and dates to set the time frame, and categorizes movies by themes to show popularity in styles and types of films. This, along with well selected dialogue gives an insight and education as to the mood of the nation, and the attitudes of the times. All of this gives credibility to 100 Years as a documentary.
The one two punch of this short is in the near perfect union of music and clips. The pacing is impeccable. No clip is left on long enough to be boring, and yet all run just enough to capture interest. The accompanying sound track, taken from proven movie themes ranges from light and airy to forceful and moving. It would’ve been easy to latch on to a few rock tracks to please the masses and cruise through this, but any homage to film wouldn’t be complete without these great themes that are just as pertinent today as they were when originally written. The short marches through film history highlighting the industries origins with The Great Train Robbery, and Birth of a Nation. It pays tribute to the silent era via the likes of Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd, The first ‘talkie’ The Jazz Singer, was noted, but the first color feature, The Toll of the Sea wasn’t because a working print wasn’t preserved. 100 Years did however note the first combined black and white, and color film The Wizard of Oz.
It also glimpses into the hay day of the Hollywood musicals of the 40’s, and the film noir of the early 50’s. It highlights the rebellious sixties through M*A*S*H, Easy Rider, and Dylan’s Don’t Look Back. It gives us cinemas coming of age via The Godfather, Network, and Schindler’s List, and finally gives us the everlasting imprint on the cultural psyche through films like Gilda, East of Eden, and E.T.
Speaking purely from my heart, I suggest this may in fact be a new category of film. As docu-tainement, we recognize its value in pleasing us with its education of an art form. Isn’t that what all film is supposed to do…touch our hearts?
Pete
Tags: 20th Century Fox, Broadway, movie, Movies
