Noi di Cinefilia Ritrovata ce la siamo presa un po’ comoda in questi giorni, prima della pausa estiva, e dopo il festival che tante energie e tante visioni ha stimolato. Ora, nel ricordare che in prima visione è già da alcuni giorni presente Per qualche dollaro in più, sempre nella versione digitale restaurata dalla Cineteca di Bologna, cominciamo anche a trovare saggi e articoli di esimi studiosi dedicati al Cinema Ritrovato. Oggi, per esempio, vi segnaliamo questo divertente esercizio di critica creativa del grande David Bordwell, che ha provato a recensire, con tanto di time table, una giornata di 12 ore al festival. Offriamo, come anteprima, il programma della mattina, il resto – e coma va a finire! – lo lasciamo alla lettura del blog di Bordwell, qui.

“Reporting on the magnificent Cinema Ritrovato festival at Bologna has become a tradition with us, but it’s become harder to find time during the event to write an entry. The program has swollen to 600 titles over eight days, and attendance has shot up as well; the figure we heard was over 2000 souls. The organizers–Peter von Bagh, Gian Luca Farinelli, and Guy Borlée–have responded to requests for more repetition of titles by slotting shows in the evening, some starting as late as 9:45. (You can scan the daily program here.) There are as well panel discussions, meetings with authors, and some unique events, such as carbon-arc outdoor shows, the traditional screenings on the Piazza Maggiore, and Peter Kubelka’s massive and mysterious Monument Film. Add in time to browse the vast book and DVD sales tables, and the need to socialize with old friends.

In all, Ritrovato is becoming the Cannes of classic cinema: diverse, turbulent, and overwhelming. How best to give you a sense of the tidal-wave energy of the event? I’ve decided to take off one morning and write up just one day, Monday 29 June. I don’t know when Kristin and I will find time to write another entry, for reasons you will discover.

9:00 AM: Ned Med Vaabnene! (Lay Down Your Arms!, 1914) was a big Danish production, based on a popular anti-war novel by the German Bertha von Suttner. It’s a remnant of the days when the rich went to war along with the common folk. (Sounds quaint in today’s America, where the elite have other priorities.) The Nordisk studio specialized in “nobility films,” melodramas that show the upper class brought low by circumstances; Dreyer’s The President (1919) is another example. The film, directed by Holger-Madsen, shows a family devastated by war and its aftermath. It’s shot in tableau style, with the restrained acting and sumptuous, light-filled sets characteristic of Nordisk. The combat scenes are remarkably forceful, but the most harrowing scene, for me, is the shot showing a battlefront hospital, with exhausted nuns and wounded men strewn around the shot–a tangle of limbs and heads.