As New Zealand's finest film historians and restoration experts examined this treasure trove of footage, they quickly discovered that McKenzie was a true pioneer of cinema, creating many techniques that were subsequently credited to others. Unfortunately, his discoveries were often accompanied by disastrous bad luck. His 1908 film, Warrior Season, for example, can now lay claim to be the first film to ever feature sound recorded on set and location, and played back to the audience. His downfall was that the film, featuring all Chinese characters and actors, was not in English, and so audiences soon grew tired of the novelty. In 1911, McKenzie's successful experiments with colour film were ruined when his footage unintentionally captured naked Tahitian natives, leading to his being tried in court for 'exhibiting a lewd document', and then subsequently being jailed for 6 months.
Leaving behind his experiments, McKenzie turned to what would become his greatest work, Salome, based on the Biblical tale of Salome and John The Baptist. This would be a truly epic work, including the building of a huge outdoor set, the largest ever built in New Zealand, of a fantastic Biblical city, high in the New Zealand mountains. True to form, Salome was hit by one problem after another, including the death of McKenzie's brother and budgetary problems
After years of on and off filming, Salome was finally completed, but fearful that the people he owed money to would take his film away from him, McKenzie hid the footage so that it would never be found. Forgotten Silver then follows Jackson's search for the long lost Salome sets. Jackson and his team find not only the sets, but the hidden reels of film that McKenzie had buried within the crumbling buildings. With their quest complete, the film closes with the world premier of Colin McKenzie's newly restored Salome, bringing to an end an incredible, and personal, tale
Running for just over 52 minutes, Forgotten Silver is an amazing look back at one of the truly unsung heroes of world cinema, a man who, it is now known, was a genuine pioneer, not just in terms of his technical advances, but also his desire and determination against all adds to bring an unrivalled epic scale to the newly emerging wonder that was the moving image.
Or at least it would be, if any of it were true. Forgotten Silver is, in fact, a great big whopper of a wind up. Peter Jackson and Costa Botes have crafted a spoof that hits every spot perfectly, while still being straight faced enough to sound, just about, totally convincing. Their ingenuity shows itself in many forms. For example, the inclusion of interviews from the the likes of Miramax boss, Harvey Weinstein, actor Sam Neill, and film historian and critic Leonard Maltin all add to the incredible feeling of authenticity. All the interviews, while adhering to the basic story, are totally improvised, again adding to the air of authenticity.
The alleged 'McKenzie' footage was filmed by Jackson himself, using many of the contemporary techniques and equipment that would have been available at the time, and was then enhanced with models and digital manipulation, then aged and distressed in a number of ways, from visual effects to intentional damage, to result in footage that looks as realistically scratched, burnt and grainy as you might expect for such old film.
Forgotten Silver is a masterful spoof, showing a great mischievous side that was missed in Jackson's previous film, but makes a welcome return here. The game is almost given away at the start of the film, as Jackson, literally, leads the viewer down the garden path. All the participants, from local actors to the extremely game Weinstein, Neill, and Maltin muck in to help the ruse, and they pull it off brilliantly.
Image quality is unfortunately quite poor. Although Forgotten Silver was made for TV, the lack of a decent transfer is a real let-down. At times the image is extremely soft, and grainy enough to make me think it may have come from an analogue video source, rather than from film, while colours are generally very dull and washed out.
On the other hand, this rough and ready look does help increase the feeling of authenticity, and at least the transfer is lacking any compression artifacts
As with the video, the audio is very flat, although that's not really surprising, given that it's a documentary. Essentially mono, it's a very basic track. However, at least the dialog is always clear, and the whimsical musical score is well quite well served.
To make up for the pretty poor presentation, at least we get a few decent extras.
Firstly, we get an Audio Commentary from co-director Costa Botes. This is a great track, as Botes points out what is fake and what is real, and takes great pleasure in describing the various lies planted throughout the film. He explains some of the tricks used in creating the aged look of the McKenzie footage, and lets us know the real names and occupations of the many 'experts' and so-called friends of the great director. My only criticism of the commentary is the the film's audio is too loud in the mix, often making it difficult to clearly hear what Botes is saying. Other than that, it's an enjoyable listen.
Next we get Behind The Bull (21m25s), a look at the filming of Forgotten Silver. Here, Jackson, Botes and the various people who appeared in the film, either as themselves or as the characters, discuss the planning and conception of Forgotten Silver, and it's critical reaction when it was aired. Especially entertaining are the cries of indignation from those who were totally fooled by the program. One great anecdote has Thomas Robbins, who played Colin McKenzie, explaining how, when a family friend came over to watch the show on TV, despite the fact she was seeing footage of the man sat next to her, she was convinced that what she was watching was real!
Lastly, we get some Deleted Scenes (8m51s), that while adding nothing major to the main film, all serve to increase the illusion of a genuine documentary, consisting of more ad-libbed interviews and 'McKenzie' footage.
Forgotten Silver represents a return to Peter Jackson's more mischievous sense of fun, which was missed in Heavenly Creatures. On a technical level this film is flawless, with spot-on fakery of damaged and aged film, and pitch-perfect narration and interviews, no matter how ridiculous the subject being talked about.
Unfortunately, the presentation of this DVD leaves a lot to be desired. Although it was never likely to be a challenge to the blockbusters, I am sure a better transfer could have been done here. Thankfully, some enjoyable extras go to make up the shortcomings.
Forgotten Silver is now out of print on DVD, but I would recommend anyone who finds a copy to snatch it up, and all those who already have it to keep a tight hold. This really is a superb, funny and extremely clever piece of whimsy, and, as Botes says, it's only a little white lie.
Leaving behind his experiments, McKenzie turned to what would become his greatest work, Salome, based on the Biblical tale of Salome and John The Baptist. This would be a truly epic work, including the building of a huge outdoor set, the largest ever built in New Zealand, of a fantastic Biblical city, high in the New Zealand mountains. True to form, Salome was hit by one problem after another, including the death of McKenzie's brother and budgetary problems
After years of on and off filming, Salome was finally completed, but fearful that the people he owed money to would take his film away from him, McKenzie hid the footage so that it would never be found. Forgotten Silver then follows Jackson's search for the long lost Salome sets. Jackson and his team find not only the sets, but the hidden reels of film that McKenzie had buried within the crumbling buildings. With their quest complete, the film closes with the world premier of Colin McKenzie's newly restored Salome, bringing to an end an incredible, and personal, tale
Running for just over 52 minutes, Forgotten Silver is an amazing look back at one of the truly unsung heroes of world cinema, a man who, it is now known, was a genuine pioneer, not just in terms of his technical advances, but also his desire and determination against all adds to bring an unrivalled epic scale to the newly emerging wonder that was the moving image.
Or at least it would be, if any of it were true. Forgotten Silver is, in fact, a great big whopper of a wind up. Peter Jackson and Costa Botes have crafted a spoof that hits every spot perfectly, while still being straight faced enough to sound, just about, totally convincing. Their ingenuity shows itself in many forms. For example, the inclusion of interviews from the the likes of Miramax boss, Harvey Weinstein, actor Sam Neill, and film historian and critic Leonard Maltin all add to the incredible feeling of authenticity. All the interviews, while adhering to the basic story, are totally improvised, again adding to the air of authenticity.
The alleged 'McKenzie' footage was filmed by Jackson himself, using many of the contemporary techniques and equipment that would have been available at the time, and was then enhanced with models and digital manipulation, then aged and distressed in a number of ways, from visual effects to intentional damage, to result in footage that looks as realistically scratched, burnt and grainy as you might expect for such old film.
Forgotten Silver is a masterful spoof, showing a great mischievous side that was missed in Jackson's previous film, but makes a welcome return here. The game is almost given away at the start of the film, as Jackson, literally, leads the viewer down the garden path. All the participants, from local actors to the extremely game Weinstein, Neill, and Maltin muck in to help the ruse, and they pull it off brilliantly.
Image quality is unfortunately quite poor. Although Forgotten Silver was made for TV, the lack of a decent transfer is a real let-down. At times the image is extremely soft, and grainy enough to make me think it may have come from an analogue video source, rather than from film, while colours are generally very dull and washed out.
On the other hand, this rough and ready look does help increase the feeling of authenticity, and at least the transfer is lacking any compression artifacts
As with the video, the audio is very flat, although that's not really surprising, given that it's a documentary. Essentially mono, it's a very basic track. However, at least the dialog is always clear, and the whimsical musical score is well quite well served.
To make up for the pretty poor presentation, at least we get a few decent extras.
Firstly, we get an Audio Commentary from co-director Costa Botes. This is a great track, as Botes points out what is fake and what is real, and takes great pleasure in describing the various lies planted throughout the film. He explains some of the tricks used in creating the aged look of the McKenzie footage, and lets us know the real names and occupations of the many 'experts' and so-called friends of the great director. My only criticism of the commentary is the the film's audio is too loud in the mix, often making it difficult to clearly hear what Botes is saying. Other than that, it's an enjoyable listen.
Next we get Behind The Bull (21m25s), a look at the filming of Forgotten Silver. Here, Jackson, Botes and the various people who appeared in the film, either as themselves or as the characters, discuss the planning and conception of Forgotten Silver, and it's critical reaction when it was aired. Especially entertaining are the cries of indignation from those who were totally fooled by the program. One great anecdote has Thomas Robbins, who played Colin McKenzie, explaining how, when a family friend came over to watch the show on TV, despite the fact she was seeing footage of the man sat next to her, she was convinced that what she was watching was real!
Lastly, we get some Deleted Scenes (8m51s), that while adding nothing major to the main film, all serve to increase the illusion of a genuine documentary, consisting of more ad-libbed interviews and 'McKenzie' footage.
Forgotten Silver represents a return to Peter Jackson's more mischievous sense of fun, which was missed in Heavenly Creatures. On a technical level this film is flawless, with spot-on fakery of damaged and aged film, and pitch-perfect narration and interviews, no matter how ridiculous the subject being talked about.
Unfortunately, the presentation of this DVD leaves a lot to be desired. Although it was never likely to be a challenge to the blockbusters, I am sure a better transfer could have been done here. Thankfully, some enjoyable extras go to make up the shortcomings.
Forgotten Silver is now out of print on DVD, but I would recommend anyone who finds a copy to snatch it up, and all those who already have it to keep a tight hold. This really is a superb, funny and extremely clever piece of whimsy, and, as Botes says, it's only a little white lie.
Top Box Office
- 1.$70.2M
- 2.$35.8M
- 3.$23.9M
- 4.$3.2M
- 5.$3.0M
- 6.$2.8M
- 7.$2.3M
- 8.$2.2M
- 9.$2.2M
- 10.$1.2M