Forgotten Silver

Rating:
Summary: "Here's this forgotten genius."
Review: "Forgotten Silver" by filmmaker Peter Jackson starts off well enough. Jackson narrates how he unearthed old 35 mm reel film locked up in a trunk. Jackson explains that the film is the work of forgotten filmmaker, Colin Mackenzie. And then Jackson proceeds to tell the tale of this chronically unlucky filmmaker. But this is a mockumentary--the filmmaker never actually existed. This is tongue in cheek very dry humour. At first, it's amusing, and quirky, but then as the film continues, the joke becomes old.

Mockumentaries have picked up in popularity recently. I think it's a tricky genre, and it seems to succeed rarely. For me, the film did not succeed. Jackson's presentation of the filmmaker's life put New Zealand on the map in many innovative ways, and that was fun, but after a while, the idea fizzled. Mockumentaries "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman" succeeded for me because the films examined phenomena--whereas "Forgotten Silver" focused on the life of a person. "Forgotten Silver" remains for me, an interesting idea that failed to hold my interest--displacedhuman

Rating:
Summary: Ingenious. Peter Jackson, you're my hero...
Review: "A delightful mockumentary" they say. A damn good mockumentary too. This was shown in New Zealand as an actual documentary, and had just about the whole of the country fooled until about a year later when Jackson revealed that it was all just make believe. I was very disappointed. This is a great and well made production. I read the reviews of other Peter Jackson films and it sounds as if he is more appreciated in America than here in New Zealand.

Forgotten Silver goes do show that Peter Jackson can do more than just horror.

Rating:
Summary: A little white lie from beginning to end (but don't tell)
Review: Continuing my quest to screen all of the films of director Peter Jackson, in order to see how a guy who started out making bloody zombie flicks in New Zealand eventually got to be a three-time Academy Award nominee for best director who is the favorite to finally bring Oscar home for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," I have come to "Forgotten Silver," the 1997 mockumentary made by Jackson and Costa Bostas. The obvious comparison is to the work of Christopher Guest and his cohorts, who brought us "This is Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind. But given the dry wit that runs throughout "Forgotten Silver" the film that springs to my mind is Woody Allen's "Zelig."

How dry is the wit? Well, when "Forgotten Silver" aired on New Zealand television it convinced quite a few Kiwi that they had a new national hero in Colin McKenzie, the lost film director who is the topic of this effort. This happened even though McKenzie is played by Thomas Robins, a New Zealand actor who was the original Host of the New Zealand, Saturday morning Breakfast show, "Squirt" (his only other film role has been as Deagol in "The Return of the King").

There is fun to be had in showing "Forgotten Silver" to unsuspecting friends, family and people dragged in off of the street, to see at what point they catch on that there is something amiss here. The idea is that Collin McKenzie was a cinematic innovator who came up with the first mechanized camera, the first full-length feature film with sound, and the first color film. Unfortunately while doing these things he forgot to invent subtitles and accidentally invented the porn film. Hopefully these people will be amused by what happened and not end up being outraged like the New Zealand viewers who bit hard on the proceedings and complained bitterly to the network and the press afterwards (excerpts are provided on the DVD's feature). But then I recall having to inform my oldest daughter that "The Blair Witch Project" was not "real," so I know you how dicey these things can be.

The hoax works for several reasons. First, nobody ever winks at the camera, including talking heads Sam Neill, Leonard Maltin, Harvey Weinstein. Their remarks are skewed only slightly and if you are not in on the gag you might not get it (How many of you got the joke of the Russian woman named Alexandra Nevsky?). Second, the documentary weaves in real history and historical footage from the start of the 20th century. Talking about the Battle of Gallipoli is always going to resonate down under. Third, all of the footage for "Salome," Colin McKenzie's lost silent classic, is done "straight" (an idea that has to be taken with a grain of salt when you are talking about acting in silent movies). Finally, Jackson and Bostas do the entire production from start to finish in true documentary fashion. If it looks like a documentary and it sounds like a documentary then chances are you have the audience hook, line and forgotten silver.

Rating:
Summary: Don't read this review. don't even read the box. Just watch
Review: First of all, there is so much to say about Peter Jackson himself, but I'll leave it off. I originally got this as a christmas present because it had Peter's name on it. I just popped it in when I got it because, often enough, even looking at the cover can screw up a movie for you(there's a certain anchor bay release of a Herzog movie that even looking at the dvd itself will totally ruin the movie for you. Stop it!).
Anyway, I hope I'm not giving too much away to say that I was buying the lie for a little while. It may have been the bicycle scene that started me chuckling. Hell, all the reviews say it, so ......it's all fake!
I didn't tell my girlfriend this, nor did I tell anyone else. She was having a hard time watching it seriously, but at the end(I told her it was the only serious documentary that Pete did) she had a look on her face that was priceless. Wow! what a discovery! Then I told her.
New Zealand bought it, too. They REALLY bought it. Watch the feature "Behind the Bull" feature to see how far it actually went. It will blow you away.
The best part, I think, of the whole thing is that the "lost" set of the fictional Colin Mackenzie's version of Salome was actually filmed in downtown Wellington. In plain view. The terrific lying talents of NZ resident Sam Neill, (Hollywood Producer)Harvey Weinstein, and famous reviewer Leonard Maltin just add to the believability of what becomes an incredibly ludicrous story. Unfortunately, most of the lies are New Zealand lies. Americans won't identify with most of it. Not to the point of credibility. After all, it wasn't made for them, anyway. What you end up with is a genius story full of real history. You get the first? credible archive footage that actually looks old and dated. That alone is genius. And they don't play it all silly. Some of it is very sad. Just watch the lost footage and final chapter of Colin's story if you don't believe me. You can just tell that they had alot of fun just inventing lies. For instance, did you know that the first flight was actually by a New Zealander, and not the Wright Bros.? Colin had the proof on film. I could tell you the whole thing and ruin it for you, but I'll just say that apart from what he's doing now(does anyone know what pj's up to?), this is by far my favorite movie from Mr. Jackson. Note, it is also Costa Botes' film. If it's true that it has become rare, I hope that they re-release it. I'm on my second copy now, since I made everyone I know watch it with the instruction: don't even look at the cover, just watch the movie from beginning to end. You'll be amazed. (then you can watch the "making of" after)hahahaha.

Rating:
Summary: Don't read this review. don't even read the box. Just watch
Review: First of all, there is so much to say about Peter Jackson himself, but I'll leave it off. I originally got this as a christmas present because it had Peter's name on it. I just popped it in when I got it because, often enough, even looking at the cover can screw up a movie for you(there's a certain anchor bay release of a Herzog movie that even looking at the dvd itself will totally ruin the movie for you. Stop it!).
Anyway, I hope I'm not giving too much away to say that I was buying the lie for a little while. It may have been the bicycle scene that started me chuckling. Hell, all the reviews say it, so ......it's all fake!
I didn't tell my girlfriend this, nor did I tell anyone else. She was having a hard time watching it seriously, but at the end(I told her it was the only serious documentary that Pete did) she had a look on her face that was priceless. Wow! what a discovery! Then I told her.
New Zealand bought it, too. They REALLY bought it. Watch the feature "Behind the Bull" feature to see how far it actually went. It will blow you away.
The best part, I think, of the whole thing is that the "lost" set of the fictional Colin Mackenzie's version of Salome was actually filmed in downtown Wellington. In plain view. The terrific lying talents of NZ resident Sam Neill, (Hollywood Producer)Harvey Weinstein, and famous reviewer Leonard Maltin just add to the believability of what becomes an incredibly ludicrous story. Unfortunately, most of the lies are New Zealand lies. Americans won't identify with most of it. Not to the point of credibility. After all, it wasn't made for them, anyway. What you end up with is a genius story full of real history. You get the first? credible archive footage that actually looks old and dated. That alone is genius. And they don't play it all silly. Some of it is very sad. Just watch the lost footage and final chapter of Colin's story if you don't believe me. You can just tell that they had alot of fun just inventing lies. For instance, did you know that the first flight was actually by a New Zealander, and not the Wright Bros.? Colin had the proof on film. I could tell you the whole thing and ruin it for you, but I'll just say that apart from what he's doing now(does anyone know what pj's up to?), this is by far my favorite movie from Mr. Jackson. Note, it is also Costa Botes' film. If it's true that it has become rare, I hope that they re-release it. I'm on my second copy now, since I made everyone I know watch it with the instruction: don't even look at the cover, just watch the movie from beginning to end. You'll be amazed. (then you can watch the "making of" after)hahahaha.

Rating:
Summary: a fun mockumentary with good dvd extras
Review: Forgotten Silver is a little gem of a mockumentary. Unlike other films in the genre such as Waiting for Guffman or This is Spinal Tap, a true documentary tone is maintained throughout the film. It's only as one hears that the subject of the film, Colin McKenzie, developed the first tracking shot, the first color film, the first close-up, the first feature-length epic, the film of the *real* first human flight, etc. that one becomes suspicious .... who *is* this guy?! Did he really get arrested for stealing 2000 eggs? After all, it *does* take 12 eggs to emulsify one minute of film .... Interviews with industry experts such as Harvey Weinstein, Leonard Maltin and Sam Neill lend authenticity to this project. You'll have to watch it at least twice to appreciate the hoax, and it is a hoot to watch it with someone who doesn't know the truth.

DVD extras are worthwhile: director's comments over the film; 'Behind the Bull', a featurette with explanatory comments by the directors and technical crew; a number of deleted scenes and stills.

This is a worthy addition to a fun genre, and the DVD extras make this purchase worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Like it's subject, a little-known treasure
Review: Forgotten Silver is one of those films you've probably never heard of but once you see it, you'll wonder why. This mockumentary produced in the late 1990s for broadcast on New Zealand television is funny, clever and thought-provoking -- one of the true cinematic pleasures of the past 10 years, blending wit, technology and the products of a relatively little-known culture.

The film is the creation of Peter Jackson, best known today as director of The Lord of the Rings, and actor Costa Botes. Jackson, playing himself in the movie, claims to have discovered a collection of old films in a neighbor's shed, revealing that New Zealander Colin McKenzie (Botes) invented motion picture cameras, color film, sound technology and other landmarks of cinema in complete obscurity before others who are regularly credited for doing so. His ultimate achievement, a biblical epic called Salome, is the lost treasure of film history.

Jackson enlists the aid of other well-known film personas, including critic Leonard Maltin, to explore the life of Colin McKenzie and reveal just how sensational this discovery is. Most of the humor is subtle and tongue-in-cheek, as it is in Peter Jackson's other films. However, the subject matter is treated with the utmost seriousness and therefore hard to discern from fact. Similar to the effects created by Woody Allen in Zelig, Jackson creates extremely authentic-looking black-and-white nitrate footage in which Colin's achievements are well documented. A sequence in which the filmmaker sets out in search of the ruins of the Salome set feels like an episode of "National Geographic Explorer." In fact, the overall film is so utterly believable that it caused a minor scandal in its native land upon its original airing. The populace of New Zealand demanded to know why one of its native sons had never received the recognition he so clearly deserved.

The DVD's special features serve to enhance the already-convincing documentary aspects, even though they open up the whole bag of tricks like magicians revealing their secrets. In addition to a commentary audio track by Jackson and Botes, the DVD includes interviews detailing the production of the film and the controversy Jackson and Botes created by doing their jobs so well. What truly enhance the overall viewing experience are the inclusion of footage outtakes and a demonstration of the special-effects test shots. The outtakes invigorate the film's impressive mystique, and the test shots are illuminating inside looks at the tools of the film trade and the progress that has been made.

Rating:
Summary: Forgotten Silver - Discover It!!!
Review: Here is an interesting DVD. If you were a Peter Jackson freak back before LOTR, you might be lucky enough to have a copy of this wonderful film on DVD. Peter Jackson is obviously a great storyteller, and he has conjured up a beauty with this "forgotten" gem! A great, original take on documentaries.....and starring Peter Jackson himself! The discovery of the incredible filmaker from New Zealand, Colin MacKenzie, who worked making films in obscurity for years..... creating many firsts for early cinema....lost for years until his films were re-discovered by Mr. Jackson in a backyard garden shed......this has to be seen to be believed!
So well done, even with its tongue in its cheek, that you really can't tell if they are pulling our legs or are dead serious....such a fun film to "discover"
If you can find a copy, you must see it. It helps to see why I think Peter Jackson is one of THE BEST storytellers in film to come along in a long time....he just keeps getting better and better. We are so lucky to have films like this to watch, and to be able to look forward to more from this talented filmaker and storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect example of New Zealand humour
Review: How I wish this film had been edited to be over 60 minutes. Atabout 54 minutes, it misses being able to be promoted and reviewed asa feature film. That is truly a shame. This 1995 film (U.S. video release - 1997) is a masterfull example of "tougue-in-cheek" humour, typlified by New Zealanders. This is not physical comedy-it is subtle, and requires your attention. Watch it with some friends who are not forewarned about its humour. See if any of them catch on before the end and why. This is not a childrens movie, but it is not for reasons of violence or sexual content. It due to references to events that would not be appreciated by many children. If you were to see only one new film this year, make it this one. END

Rating:
Summary: Passafist Reviews Forgotten Silver
Review: I was amazed. This production (like most by Peter Jackson) just oozes fun. I have watched and recommend this to all my friends and even strangers on the street. Watch it.