In this modern day of the summer blockbuster and YouTube, where anyone can post a video they shot with their cell phone, it’s easy to forget that cinema, as an art form, is still just over a hundred years old. In that time film has developed and evolved to include color, sound and countless practical and digital effects.
Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies is a fascinating documentary about the birth of cinema and specifically how it effected the life and work of two important artists of the time: the titular Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Narrated by Martin Scorsese with interviews of artists like Julian Schnabel (director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) among others and countless film historians, the documentary shows magical early examples of cinema and how this helped to evolve the Cubist style of painting.
Within the clips of early Lumiere, Edison, Melies, and Gaumont films true cinema magic is seen. Sure it’s a choppy black and white silent film, but images of a cop being cut in half by a bicycle then stuck back together, clowns dancing around then jumping into a giant drum that rolls around and a man inflating his according so he can get to the second floor window to see he beloved are some magical that you can’t help but smile when you see them.
Film, as an art form, is still just a child really and I can only imagine where it will go in the future. The documentary gives a fantastic look at the birth of this wonderful thing we call film and shows the important roll it had in evolving the work of two great artists.
This film is presented in 1.66:1 widescreen format and Dolby Digital Stereo. It is a very well put together documentary. The modern images are all crisp and clean and the early film clips are some of the best you’re going to see.
Special Features include over an hour of early short films. You get the short films of Gaumont (60 min.), Thomas Edison’s Frankenstein (1910) (13 min.) and Ferdinand Zecca’s Slippery Jim (1910) (9 min.). All of these are fantastic examples of early cinema.
If you love film, art, history or any combination there of, then you’re sure to enjoy this documentary. Plus it’s got some fantastic special features in the form of early short films.
Arthouse Films presents Picasso And Braque Go To The Movies. Directed by: Arne Glimcher. Starring: Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel and Chuck Close. Running time: 60 min. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: May 24, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
