2015 National Film Register Inductees at MPL!
Each year the Library of Congress’ National Film Preservation Board selects 25 films for special preservation, due to their cultural, historical, or aesthetical significance. The 2015 inductees were recently announced, and we wanted to make sure you knew that we had many of those selections in the library system, available for check-out.
Now sure, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that we have old hits like LA Confidential or Top Gun in the system, but if you’ve not yet seen these classics of neo-noir mystery and fighter pilots playing volleyball, you should definitely take this chance to finally do so. We of course also have the perennial favorites Ghostbusters and The Shawshank Redemption in the library system, so whether you’re ready to get busy living or bustin’ makes you feel good, we can help you with that.
But we also have many of the other films chosen for preservation this year, and these are the ones we’d particularly like to highlight. For instance, Dream of a Rarebit Fiend is a completely bizarre early silent film of early special effects. A man gorges himself on Welsh rarebit, and begins to hallucinate his furniture spinning around and imps tormenting him! This bizarre bit of film history can be found on the Unseen Cinema compilation DVD.
For those looking for more reality than surrealism, you should check out Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One. This 1968 experimental documentary featured 3 film crews, the first filming actors in the audition process, the second filming the first film crew, and the third filming anything that fits into the documentary's overarching theme, including the actors, the other two film crews, and even bystanders who happen to fit into the overarching theme of "sexuality". Director William Greaves thought this would be the only way to truly document actual human reality, preventing any sort of ‘acting to the camera’.
A plethora of genres are represented in this year’s inductees, which we’ll highlight rapid-fire. If you’re looking for horror, well there’s the Spanish language Dracula, produced concurrently with the famous Bela Lugosi version. For a classic comedy, Preston Sturges’ Hail the Conquering Hero should fit the bill. Adventure comes in the form of the 1920 silent film The Mark of Zorro, and the 1966 Rock Hudson film Seconds is a dose of sixties sci-fi. Our Daily Bread is a romantic drama about the importance of collectivism over corporate greed, and Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life is a drama tackling issues of gender, race, and class.
The last two films to talk about are pretty different. The first is the 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason, the story of Jason Holliday, an African-American gay hustler and aspiring cabaret performer. The film is entirely Jason telling his own story, the only presence of others being the questions and reactions of the filmmaker and crew during the film (shot in one 12-hour session at the director’s hotel room). This film was actually thought lost for some time, until full uncut footage being discovered at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.
The final film from this year’s National Film Registry inductees that you can find in the Milwaukee Public Library System is the last great film from the career of comedy legend Peter Sellers: Being There. The story of a simple gardener who is treated as wise and sagely by a series of more and more powerful individuals, eventually the President of the United States of America. Understated and filled with excellent performances, this is one to see if you’ve not yet taken the time to do so.
Of course, if none of these movies tickle your fancy, there’s a wide variety of others available at your local branch library. Stop in today! (Or, well, not today if it’s New Year’s Eve or Day. We’re closed, sorry!)