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Around China with a Movie Camera
R0 - United Kingdom - British Film Institute Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (24th July 2016). |
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The Film
 “Around China with a Movie Camera” (2016) With the invention of the motion picture in the late 1800s, it was possible to capture a series of sequential images to be played back to give the illusion of movement - a living reality that still photos could not show. The new technology was to change the world entirely in the early 1900s with motion picture being used for entertainment, education, news, reference, and for personal use. For the latter “personal use”, it would only be the very rich that could afford a movie camera for home movies, but as seen in the earliest days, filmmakers like Charles Chaplin and Harold Lloyd made sure to record family outings via movie cameras. A very popular form of entertainment in the early days of movies was travelogues, a series of filmed images from lands far away. Air travel was still in its infancy and commercial flying across continents wouldn’t become a reality until the late 1920s, and only the extremely wealthy could afford such a trip. Travels by ship or by train to places were feasible for the average person, but with time consumption and fairly high costs, it was very rare for the average person to ever leave their own surroundings unless their job called for it. Travelogues showed footage from the other side of the globe, in distant lands that people never imagined in motion. Still photos were one thing, but people walking, ships sailing, animals moving, it was like a portal to a new world. The sense of wonder of the other side of the world has changed drastically for the 21st century as air travel has become commonplace that it would be harder to find a person that’s never flown on a plane. In addition - films, television, news broadcasts, and the Internet have made visual and virtual traveling a normal part of popular culture. There are still visual wonders to be seen whether in BBC documentaries such as “Planet Earth”, the real locations used worldwide in the 2006 film “The Fall”, the spectacles of people, places, and time in the Ron Fricke directed trilogy “Chronos”, “Baraka”, and “Samsara”, and with VR technology moving forward, it will only be a matter of time until Star Trek holodecks will become a reality. But even with technology becoming superior that color reproduction and virtual reproduction of the images become better, clearer, and more realistic, it is still very interesting to see and experience what it was like in the earliest days of motion picture technology. “Around China with a Movie Camera” is BFI’s latest silent film compilation work. Compiled from newsreel footage, home movies, and documentary footage shot in China in the early 20th century, this compilation film is not a narrative film (like “The Fall”) or a non-narrative art film (like “Baraka”) but is a sampling of the kind of footage stored in the vaults. The images are shot by various people in various locations in China, with differing film cameras and differing film stock. Some look pristine and crisp, some look a little blurry and soft, but considering that these films are around or more than 100 years old, it’s a miracle that they even exist. The footage shown is a fascinating look at a lost era - people eating at street vendors, kids playing outside, men getting their hair cut, street performers, life in the marketplace. Those may be the standard ongoings of China in present day as well, but there are no skyscrapers in Shanghai, no cars in Beijing, no tourists anywhere. In addition to the various footage of everyday life, there are additional fascinating shots of Behai Park and the Temple of Heaven, The Great Wall of China, the Grand Canal, the Gong Chen Bridge (in hand stenciled color), the Yangtze and Jianling rivers, and some dangerous looking locations where people live and work, all shot by documentarians including Pathe for newsreels. The sequencing of “Around China with a Movie Camera” is not linear or chronological, but by map. The cinematic journey starts from footage of Beijing, then moving south to Suzhou, followed by cutting westward down the Yangtze River all the way to Yunnan province, and lastly to the large cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Title cards explain where the particular sequence was shot and information on the work or the people who shot the footage whenever possible. “Modern China” (1910) which was commissioned by producer Charles Urban is a fascinating piece. 2000 meters of film was shot over 12 months, but because of surrounding issues of getting footage back to England, lost footage, and damaged materials, only one reel of the expedition remains. There are also home movies by the Chinese-British Eng family capturing China in the 1930s, the Pathe newsreel footage showing the riversides and boat views, French consul Auguste Francois’s films between 1901-1904 featuring every day routines alongside street performers and artists, and much more. There is a lot to see and even with more than a century after these images were captured, they continue as a time capsule for future generations. But even with all this footage compiled, there is a sense of incompleteness, and the ending of the film is very abrupt. It does make the audience want to see more, but at the same time, there is a feeling of wanting more rather than a full satisfying experience. Maybe that's a good thing? There are more than 100 films related to China in the silent era in the BFI national archive and for the “Around China with a Movie Camera” compilation film, clips from the following were used: Beijing - “Modern China” (1910) - “Street Scenes in China” (c 1925) - “Forbidden City” (c 1933) - “Wanderings in Peking” (1939) - “Eng Family Home Movies” (c 1932) The Great Wall - “China” (c 1928) - “Peking and Its Surroundings” (1910) The Grand Canal - “In China - A Trip on the Imperial Canal” (1908) Suzhou - “Chinese Scene” (c 1920) Hangzhou - “An Oriental Venice” (c 1925) Hunan Province - “Travel Scenes in Hunan (c 1935) Yangtze River - “China II” (1930) Chongqing - “A Stilted City, Chungking, China” (1930) Yunnan Province - “Among the Tribes in South West China (c 1948) Kunming - “Scenes in China” (c 1902) Guangzhou - “A Visit to Canton” (1936) - “Riverside Scenes China” (c 1920) - “Guangzhou: Water Transport” (c 1933) Hong Kong - “A Gate of China” (1927) - “Hong Kong East Meets West” (c 1940) Shanghai - “Eng Family Home Movies” (c 1932) - “Nankin Road, Shanghai” (1901) - “Allied Reinforcements” (1927) - “Our Boys” (1927) - “Marines Arrive in Shanghai” (1927) - “A City of Chaos” (1927) - “High Jinks” (1929) - “China Today” (1936) - “The Face of Shanghai” (1944) (Somewhere in China - location unconfirmed) - “Chinese Men” (c 1900) The complete films with additional information are available on the BFI Player’s “China on Film” collection. Note this is a region 0 PAL encoded DVD which can be played back on any Blu-ray or DVD player worldwide which has PAL capability
Video
BFI presents the compilation film in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, non-anamorphic in the PAL format. As stated before, the footage compiled are close to or over 100 years old recorded on various film stocks through differing cameras, taken by both amateur photographers and by documentarian photographers in the early days of motion picture history. All the films have been scanned at 2K resolution with the exception of “An Oriental Venice” (1925) which was scanned at 4K resolution. Considering the high definition transfers, it is a little disappointing that the compilation film is only being released on a standard definition DVD. But in positive notes, the opening film “Modern China” (1910) looks spectacular with detail and clarity. “An Oriental Venice” with its colorized scenes are breathtaking. A lot of the amateur footage does have issues of blurriness and lacking definition due to film stock used and the quality of the cameras. These fragile 100 year old films have their issues of dust specs, tears, missing frames, telecine wobble, and other damage which are expected. BFI has cleaned up and remastered the footage to a very good state, and the inherent damage does give additional “life” to the images. A stellar job from BFI but if only it had been released in high definition rather than on DVD… The compilation film's total runtime is (65:55)
Audio
Music Dolby Digital 5.1 Music Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo As the films were silent, new music for the entire compilation film was composed by Ruth Chan, the British born Chinese composer. Combining traditional Chinese instrumentation with modern styles of jazz and electronic music, an equally traditional yet contemporary and experimental soundtrack has been set to the footage. The audio sounds very lively in the 5.1 track, and an optional 2.0 stereo track is also provided. As this is a silent film with no dialogue, there are no subtitles available. The text explanations are all in English in an easy to read font.
Extras
"Modern China" 1910 short film (7:28) This is the full reel of film that opens the “Around China with a Camera” film, shot by a camera operator working under producer Charles Urban. The tinted footage looks sharp and very detailed as mentioned above for the clips used in the compilation film. Very sad to think that of 12 months of footage shot, only this 7 and a half minute reel remains. There are some additional shots such as a funeral procession that was not used in the compilation film. Although the footage was shot in 1910, there is a 1919 copyright notice on the end of the reel. Like the main feature, the music was composed by Ruth Chan. in non-anamorphic 1.33:1, music Dolby Digital 2.0 "Homework and Street Scenes in China" 1907 short film (7:00) Another short film depicting life in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, with street performers, basket weavers, barbers, and children playing. The black and white footage is not as sharp as the previous short, but is still in a good watchable condition. The music for this short was also composed by Ruth Chan in non-anamorphic 1.33:1, music Dolby Digital 2.0 Booklet As a norm with BFI releases, a booklet is included in the case. The booklet contains the essay “Around China with a Movie Camera” by lead curator of the project Edward Anderson, a list of the films used for the compilation with a map of China of where each footage was shot, composer Ruth Chan’s essay “About the Music” plus her biography, with restoration and acknowledgement credits. As mentioned this is a DVD only release and even with 2K and 4K transfers of the films, they are relegated to standard definition for home video, which is a shame. Considering the rare and very old elements, a Blu-ray upgrade may not have been justified, but it would have been interesting to see. Luckily the full surviving films used for the compilation can be seen online on the BFI Player. It’s also a missed opportunity that of the 100 plus films available, only two are offered in the bonus features on disc - one that overlaps footage with the main feature and the other that was not used in the main feature. The DVD surely could have fit a few more. In addition there are no video interviews. I would have liked to hear Anderson or Chan in video discussion or behind the scenes, or possibly a historian talking about life in China at the time, including events such as the Shanghai Massacre of 1927 and the end of the 267 year reign of the Qing Dynasty.
Overall
“Around China with a Movie Camera” is a great time capsule compilation of a world that has completely disappeared. There are always questions of “I wonder what it was like to live there at that time?” and the film camera has truly been able to answer many of those thoughts. BFI has done a commendable job curating these long forgotten films and releasing them for public viewing. The DVD has good picture considering the source, with very good audio, though the extra features are a little lacking. Still a recommended watch.
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