PARHELIAN INVESTIGATIONS
| About this cinema |
 |
Brian Frye |
Everything that moves on a screen is cinema. I often hear the following criticism: this film may be interesting, but it's not cinema. I don't see why the use of moving images should be reserved for traditioial melodrama or burlesque comedy. A geographical film is cinema as much as BEN-HUR is. A film which teaches the alphabet to children is cinema as much as a big production with psychological pretensions is. In my opinion, the cinema is nothing but a new method of printing. It is a form of the total transformation of the world by knowledge. Louis Lumiere is a new Gutenberg. We owe to his invention as many catastophres as we do the spread of thought by books. --the first paragraph of MA VIE ET MES FILMS, Jean Renoir |
In 1915, American serviceman Robert Beck, while fighting in France,
was stricken by shellshock, leaving him deaf and dumb. Mr. Beck was sent
to a sanatorium in England to convalesce. Some time later, a film was
shown to entertain the patients. While viewing the film, Mr. Beck broke
into peals of laughter, and was suddenly cured of his affliction. (newspaper
clipping)
Unfortunately, the identity of the film in question is nowhere revealed.
We believe, however, that with the concerted efforts of our friends and
audience, this mysterious fragment of the True Cinema may be recovered.
We ask for YOUR PARTICIPATION in this endeavor. If you discover this film,
are able to recreate it from your knowledge of the event or can in some
way describe or other identify the film we seek,
contact the RBMC at:
135 Wythe Avenue #2L
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 486-6281.
Later this year (the date has yet to be set) we will convene to present
publicly the collected findings of you, our researchers. Direct any questions
to the individuals mentioned above.
"Vitam cum Morte Mutavit!"
Sincerely,
Brian Frye