Burning Passions: An Introduction to the Study of Silent Cinema

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Summary: New book excellent guide to archive locations/etiquette
Review: This book is indispensable to the collector who wishes to travel to the archives around the world to view rare films not on video. Highly recommended, informative, and interesting.

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Summary: Must read for silent film and film preservation issues
Review: This is a very good book about the technology and issues surrounding silent movies. It is not a history of Hollywood and is not going to have descriptions of movies or pictures of silent film stars.

Usai begins with discussion of how silent movies would have been presented when they were first released. I had been big into silent movies and had seen around 90 of them before reading this and I learned some interesting facts here. He describes film speed issues. In the 20's and earlier film speed had not been standardized. So when a modern distributor does not account for this disparity the print they make may play too fast for a comical and distracting "fast forward" effect. Sound actually was a big part of "silent" movies. Soundtracks in the form of music matched to action were common. Color tinting was common in movies throughout the 20's but because color film does not age as well, the versions we have now are black and white. Usai goes into each of these issues in detail. Seeing and understanding the examples he lays out helps very much in understanding why silent film is represented in certain ways today. Reading this has helped me to identifying good restorations of silent film and to separate the quality of the movie from the quality of that particular release.

The title, Burning Passions, refers to the film stock and chemical processes at work that make the film decay even in an airtight vault. One distressing issue is that most film is beyond repair and restoration after about 80 years. Usai estimates a 100 year max, but that max depends on many many storage "ifs". Storage concerns are addressed, including the extreme flammability of silver nitrate film stock (it produces oxygen as it burn and so will continue to burn under water). Issues surrounding preservation issues are discussed, including the extent to which a warped or scratched film can be repaired. Usai also connects back to the economics of film preservation. Money is only going to be available if there is commercial demand for these films. Hence the earlier section about film presentation and the quality of a restoration. Discussion of issues surrounding film preservation and storage are well written and easy to read even though they deal with chemistry and more dry subject matter. (One omission in Usai's book is discussion of how copyright restrictions impede preservation. The 1998 Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act set copyright at a minimum of 90 years - longer than the lifespan of film stock, and is retroactive to include works created after 1926. An excellent discussion of this issue, which emerged after Usai's book was released in 1995, can be found in Free Culture by Lessig.)

If you are interested in film preservation or are into silent film then this is a must read book. Usai writes in clear and accessible language and the book is very readable. University libraries should make a copy available for researchers and the curious to access.