Silent Britain

Silent Britain (2006)

**** (out of 4)

Excellent documentary hosted and narrated by Matthew Sweet that covers the impact that Britain had on the silent cinema. It's funny to think but when most fans and even film buffs talk about silent cinema, they usually start with America and then places like Germany and Italy. Britain is pretty much overlooked until you start to discuss the work of Alfred Hitchcock so this documentary really is special because it's going to introduce you to many films and names that most might not have heard of. The film starts off talking about who "really" invented cinema and of course this starts with Edison but we're introduced to three other names who had their hand in it. We then see countless clips from various British silents that were made between 1898 and 1910 and then we see how the films started to get longer. There's also breakdowns of certain films showing how close-ups were being used long before they're often given credit for and we also see how something like THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY was influenced by a British film. The documentary really does a great job at telling the history of the British silent film and in just 88-minutes you feel as if you're given the entire story and a great place to start off in viewing some of these films. Fans of cinema will certainly find this documentary to be a must-see as the topic is just so interesting and it's going to open your mind to things you might not have known about.