Returns to the Beginnings : Cinematic reflections of former film performances

Abstract

The cinema perpetually reflects its past and its evolution. The paper focuses on one form of this reflection, namely the (re)construction and evocation of film performances from the silent era in sound films.

Using four films as examples, the paper describes characteristic features and functions of depicted performances (for instance the live narration).

Keywords

• reflexivity
• silent cinema
• film performance
• audience
• frame
• component of story