Academy Award Winner to Speak in Berkeley

Chances are, we have all seen a favorite film introduced by its director, or seen a favorite actor introduce one of the films in which they worked. But how many can claim to have seen or met an Academy Award winner?

Berkeley movie buffs will have the chance to meet a very special Oscar winner this week when British film historian Kevin Brownlow visits the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley to speak about Abel Gance's 1927 five-and-one-half hour epic, Napoleon. That film, which Brownlow and others consider the greatest ever made, is being presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on March  31 and April 1 at the historic Paramount theater in Oakland. [See www.silentfilm.org/ for info and ticket availability.]

On March 30th, Brownlow will give a talk about Napoleon and his life-long efforts to restore the film to its original glory at the Pacific Film Archive Theater. His 7p.m. talk will include film clips and live musical accompaniment with Judith Rosenberg on the piano.

Brownlow's talk will be preceded by a 5:30 reception and book signing at the PFA Cafe. The British film historian will be signing  copies of his seminal book on the silent film era, The Parade's Gone By..., which will be available for purchase at the reception. [See www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/brownlow for more info.]

Brownlow first became fascinated with Gance's film while still a schoolboy in London in the 1950s. "I was stunned by the cinematic flair," the historian and film maker stated in recent interviews. "I was exhilarated by the rapid cutting and the swirling camera movement. What daring! I had never seen anything comparable — and I set out to find more of it."

That early encounter led to a lifelong quest and a remarkable career as an acclaimed film historian, preservationist, author and documentary film maker. In the March issue of Vanity Fair, Martin Scorsese wrote "If you love silent movies, Kevin Brownlow should be your hero."

In 2010, Brownlow became the first film historian ever honored with a special Academy Award. But even before then, his reputation in film circles was legendary. Besides his work on Napoleon, Brownlow has been involved in the restoration of a number of other landmark films, among them The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and nearly two dozen others, including the first film to win an Oscar, Wings (1928).

Brownlow has also authored a handful of classic books including The Parade's Gone By... (1968), a work which helped shape a generation of film scholars and film buffs. It is still in print after more than 40 years (through the University of California Press). Brownlow has, as well, made more than a dozen extraordinary documentaries  including the 13-part television series, Hollywood (1979), which aired to great acclaim on both the BBC and PBS. It set the standard for every serious film documentary which followed.

According to press reports, it took Brownlow some 10 years to find an American group willing to properly present Napoleon with a live orchestra. The group that proved themselves up to the task is the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. No other screenings in the United States are planned at this time.

The Oakland screenings also mark what could well be the last time Napoleon will be shown as an actual film. Film stock is on its way out, and Brownlow is currently working on a digital restoration of Gance's masterpiece. Preservationist Robert A. Harris, who's assisting Brownlow with this latest project, stated in a recent interview with the New York Times, "This print will probably never been seen again in the United States."

Thomas Gladysz is a Bay Area arts journalist and early film buff, and the Director of the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and international fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has organized exhibits, contributed to books, appeared on television, and introduced the actress’s films around the world.