Giornate del Cinema Muto

Thanks to the generous support of over 30 archives across the world, the 2014 Giornate is even more packed than usual: not one of the 60 screenings can readily be missed. The main programme section is devoted to The Barrymores, Lionel, Ethel and John - the Royal Family of Broadway who brought prestige to 20s Hollywood as its own Royal Family, with films like THE COPPERHEAD, DON JUAN and DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE. The Festival will open with WHEN A MAN LOVES, Alan Crosland's adaptation of Manon Lescaut, starring John Barrymore ("the great profile") and his bride Dolores Costello. The performance will recreate the 1927 premiere screening, with one of the most celebrated synchronized musical scores of the era, by the esteemed classical composer Henry Hadley, along with its supporting programme of Vitaphone shorts.
The closing show of the festival, in tribute to the centenary of the universally recognized Chaplin image, is a live performance of CITY LIGHTS, with Chaplin's own score restored by Timothy Brock and conducted by Günter Buchwald. Further tribute to Chaplin will be paid by Ichiro Kataoka, the celebrated Japanese benshi, whom we welcome back this year to perform with four Chaplin Keystone shorts - a recognition both of Chaplin's universality and the versatility required of the traditional Japanese film 'explainer'. Kataoka-san will additionally present his year's Jonathan Dennis Lecture.