DVD Review: Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
It is always gratifying when contemporary filmmakers and actors celebrate film history, especially when they exhibit an appreciation of the deeper aspects of cinema's development. Alice Guy-Blaché was one of the pioneers of the moving picture, giving film much of its syntax and dealing with issues and ideas that were far ahead of her time. Exploring gender roles, feminism, making a film with an all-black cast; experimenting with double-exposure, split-screen, color, all before 1920; Blaché was a true innovator of the medium.
A new documentary by Pamela B. Green shows her traveling the world to obtain as many films, photographs, and artifacts connected to Blaché, in an effort to better understand her life and work. She presents how little even the more savvy filmmakers are aware of her, how her contribution has essentially been lost to time, and how the further discovery of her many many films is allowing a greater appreciation of her importance to cinema's early development.
What is immediately impressive is the footage of Blaché's work that is contained in the documentary. Films that are over 100 years old are restored to look as good as they had upon their initial release. We get a look at the technology that allows that to happen, as filmmaker Green goes to several video technology outlets with a videotape that is in such bad shape, it actually has to be baked and cooled before it can be transferred to a digital copy.
But the center of the film is Green taking us along on her journey in finding out more, and presenting different perspectives on this early work from the likes of Diablo Cody, Ava DuVernay, Lake Bell, Geena Davis, and Julie Delpy along with historians and archivists like Serge Bromberg, Kevin Brownlow, and Tony Slide. Combining clips, interview footage, contemporary reactions, and her various exploits, Green makes a convincing case as to Blaché's significance to film's history and development. Jodie Foster's narration is perfect - a clear and eloquent enhancement of the footage provided.
A distant relative pulls out several boxes of artifacts for Green and allows her to keep them, obviously having no interest in the material. Relatives of her cameraman are tracked down and delighted by the further information that Green provides them.
Pamela Green has created a documentary that is important, interesting, enlightening, and entertaining. It helps us to understand and appreciate a filmmaker that helped create and define some of the most basic elements of the cinematic process. Taking on challenges, being creative and prolific while also being innovative, exploring possibilities, and enjoying creative triumphs, Alice Guy-Blaché remains far less notable than she should be. Hopefully Pamela Green's brilliant documentary will change that.
"Be Natural" is most passionately recommended for film history buffs, silent movie fans, academic and public libraries, and all research centers, especially those that deal with cinema or with women's issues. It is available at this link: Blaché