IMDb > Forgotten Silver (1995) (TV)
Forgotten Silver
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Forgotten Silver (1995) (TV) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   3,042 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Costa Botes (written by) &
Peter Jackson (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Forgotten Silver on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
3 October 1997 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Forgotten Silver is a mockumentary which details the prodigious life of "lost" filmmaker Colin McKenzie... more | add synopsis
Awards:
2 wins more
NewsDesk:
Fangoria Profiles: Peter Jackson
 (From Fangoria. 28 February 2009, 12:03 PM, PST)

User Comments:
What is real anyway? more (49 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Peter Jackson ... Himself
Johnny Morris ... Himself - Film Archivist (also as Jonathon Morris)
Costa Botes ... Himself - Film Maker

Harvey Weinstein ... Himself - Miramax Films

Leonard Maltin ... Himself - Film Historian

Sam Neill ... Himself - Actor / Director
Marguerite Hurst
John O'Shea
Lindsay Shelton ... Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Beatrice Ashton ... Hannah McKenzie
Peter Corrigan ... Stan the Man

Sarah McLeod ... May Belle (research assistant)
Thomas Robins ... Colin McKenzie
Jeffrey Thomas ... Narrator
Davina Whitehouse ... Herself
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
53 min | USA:70 min (DVD)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was originally screened as a genuine documentary to an unsuspecting New Zealand public, and was only revealed to be a hoax a few days afterwards. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: Colin's synchronized sound film is supposed to have been released in 1908. If we are to believe that it was the first film to feature synchronized sound, we would have to discard the lesser known, but still earlier work of Arthur Gilbert and John Morland, and others, who had all produced and exhibited sound films at earlier dates. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Behind the Bull: Forgotten Silver (2000) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
What is real anyway?, 16 December 2004
9/10
Author: Chris Peterson from A loungeroom in Melbourne

Documentary is all about taking real life and shaping it into a story. 'Forgotten Silver' suggests that real part doesn't even have to be real, as long as the story's good.

I watched this again tonight - probably the 4th or 5th time I've seen it since it was first screened as an (allegedly) true doco back in 1996. Despite knowing the whole thing was cod, I was quite surprised to find tears in my eyes as NZ pioneer film-maker Colin McKenzie accidentally filmed his own death in Spain, so drawn was I into the story.

Once you strip away the hype over the hoax factor, what's left is just a great story about a struggling film maker facing and almost overcoming insurmountable obstacles to create a work of mad genius. Anyone expecting belly laughs from 'Forgotten Silver' is probably going to be disappointed, because viewed as a story, this isn't a comedy - it's a tragedy. It's no wonder so many people were sucked into believing it when it first screened - the Colin McKenzie saga has an emotional depth which is heartbreaking.

Bonus points for a brilliant musical score, some superb technical effects (especially the corroded, bubbling, self-destructing nitrate film; most filmmakers would have settled for a couple of cliché tramlines to make the footage look old), and the gorgeous Thomas Robbins as Colin McKenzie.

Was the above comment useful to you?
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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Forgotten Silver (1995) (TV)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Did anyone believe this? thofry
Parallels with LotR anyone? debbie-willoughby
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Kiwi Stereotypes... baghetti
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