MoMA | Author: Charles Silver

Posts by Charles Silver

January 28, 2014 | An Auteurist History of Film

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

These notes accompany screenings of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds</a> on January 29, 30, and 31 in Theater 3.

Tippi Hedren and a feathered friend in The Birds. 1963. USA. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

In his seminal study of Alfred Hitchcock, critic Robin Wood focuses on the director’s career-long apprehension that civilization rests precariously on a very thin layer of what we accept as reality, but which covers a foreboding, underlying chaos.

January 21, 2014 | An Auteurist History of Film

The New Social Documentary and Television

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

These notes accompany screenings of a program celebrating the New Social Documentary and Television on January 22, 23, and 24 in Theater 3.

Documentary films had been there at the very beginning of cinema. Even before it occurred to filmmakers that they might create their own images, the example of still photography had paved the way for capturing the real world.

January 14, 2014 | An Auteurist History of Film

Ingmar Bergman’s Persona

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

These notes accompany screenings of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona</a> on January 15, 16, and 17 in Theater 3.

I have long championed (and been more comfortable with) Ingmar Bergman’s more directly narrative/linear films (Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring)

January 7, 2014 | An Auteurist History of Film

Gavin Lambert’s Another Sky

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

Another Sky. 1954 (1960 in USA). Great Britain/Morocco. Courtesy Photofest

These notes accompany screenings of Gavin Lambert’s Another Sky</a> on January 8, 9, and 10 in Theater 3.

It may seem a little peculiar to include Gavin Lambert (1924–2005) in this series, but he was an important figure in film history and scholarship, and his solitary directorial effort, Another Sky, is an interesting example

December 31, 2013 | An Auteurist History of Film

Martin Ritt’s Hud

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, and Brandon De Wilde in <i>Hud.</i> 1963. USA. Directed by Martin Ritt

Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, and Brandon De Wilde in Hud. 1963. USA. Directed by Martin Ritt

These notes accompany screenings of Martin Ritt’s Hud</a> on January 1, 2, and 3 in Theater 2.

The Hollywood and television blacklist in the HUAC/McCarthy era of the 1940s and 1950s had many victims.

December 24, 2013 | An Auteurist History of Film

Frederick Wiseman’s Titicut Follies

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

These notes accompany screenings of Frederick Wiseman’s Titicut Follies</a> on December 26, and 27 in Theater 2.

There were many significant developments in the field of documentary filmmaking in the decades following World War II.

December 17, 2013 | An Auteurist History of Film

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Gertrud

Posted by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film

Nina Pens Rode in Gertrude. 1964. Denmark. Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer

These notes accompany screenings of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Gertrud</a> on December 18, 19, and 20 in Theater 3.

Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889–1968), like Orson Welles, is generally considered one of the greatest of filmmakers in spite of a relatively small output spread over half a century.