112 •Metro Magazine 195 | © ATOM
its evocative rendering of the past, its capturing of particular inci
dents, the expressive commitment of its often broad but colourful
characterisations (particularly those portrayed by the almost always
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of a very different screen industry, one that has been transformed
almost as radically in the last forty years as it was between the time
of3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@M’s production and its setting in the 1920s.
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the cinema, mostly within local halls rigged up for the screenings,
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complete entertainment package (with live performers and piano
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cranked projection. This is both a strength and
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opportunity to provide a more layered ‘lesson’
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more concerned with giving its audience a sense
of being in a particular time and place, one in
keeping with the highly situated and peculiarly
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show audiences of the 1920s. Of course, this
preoccupation with the ‘texture’ and peculiar
temporality of the past is a key characteristic
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Wars(Michael Thornhill, 1974),!QD@J NE #@X .HQ +DQQDP
3GD (QHRGL@M 'RQDOG &URPELH 6D NE SGD -DUDQ -DUDQ(Igor
Auzins, 1982),4MCDQBNUDQ 'DYLG 6WHYHQV DQGWKHPRUH O\UL
cal passages of/HBMHB @S '@MFHMF 1NBJ.^29
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try’ – a connected but distanced ‘physical’ space carved from a
very different temporality.This particular emphasis in3GD /HBSTQD
2GNV ,@Mwas met with both praise and criticism. For example,
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suggested that ‘3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@M’s faults are almost wholly
derived from a screenplay that moves at a snail’s pace, as if pace
or energy were vulgar’.,Q FRQWUDVW %ULWLVK FULWLF 'HUHN 0DOFROP
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for a good mood. And that’s a rare enough thing in movies todayto be instantly cherishable.’These two responses suggest
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DQG RYHUVHDVOpenings and closings
The opening sequence of3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@Memphasises
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fully, for just about the last time – is heard the theme song meant
to evoke the spirit and sound of the 1920s, but more accurately
reminiscent of any number of anachronistic novelty songs of the
1970s.Immediately following the credits, the
camera cuts to a closer shot of the carriage and
establishes the isolation of its occupants within
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of transport waylaid by the mud cloying around
the wheels of their carriage. From this moment
onwards, we are attuned to the struggle of these
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fashioned way of life in the increasingly modern
ised world that surrounds them.
In3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@M, the cinema appears less as a force
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immediately reinforced by the appearance of a rival, the American
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polished advertising that adorns his carriage – and immediately
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This was also true of the actors themselves. Both Meillon and
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VLJQLĺFDQWLQURDGVLQWRLQWHUQDWLRQDOSURGXFWLRQZKLOH7D\ORUPRYHGAbove, L–R:0YMAND&REDDIECHALLENGE!MERICANCOMPETITOR0ALMER2OD4AYLOR WHILEPIANIST,OU'ARRY-C$ONALD WATCHESON0YM -ADAME#AVALLIAND&REDDIEPower’s film survives as a
remnant of a ver y different
screen industr y, one that has
been transformed almost
as radically in the last forty
yearsasitwasbetweenthe
time ofThe Picture Show
Man’s production and
its setting in the 1920s.