Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films.(Review)

Produced by the National Film Preservation Foundation; curator, Scott Simmon; music curator, Martin Marks. Distributed by Image Entertainment. San Francisco: National Film Preservation Foundation, 2000. [4-disc DVD set, 342 mins; with book (xiii, 137 p.). $99.99]

"How will we know it's us without our past?"

John Steinbeck,

The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

Perhaps the urge to chronicle history is part of human instinct. We sense a need to know where we have been to assure ourselves of where we are. Recording the past through sound and visual images has always been as much a part of our behavior as our zeal for progress.

During the last century the motion picture became the consummate medium through which to preserve expressions and experiences, from the lofty visions of a distinguished auteur to the most ordinary activities of our daily lives. At no time prior to the development of film were the sights and sounds of history so perfectly preserved, with such clarity and exactness that we can witness the past whenever we desire.

We view the motion picture in a variety of ways: as art form, as entertainment, as cultural and social expression, and as part of our national heritage. Nearly every aspect of our lives has been captured by filmmakers, both professional and amateur. The preservation of their work is the preservation of our collective memory of the past hundred years.