Silent Films and the National Film Registry

Nosferatu is the first silent movie I have ever seen from start to finish.  Although it seems a shame to call it a silent movie.  The actors don’t speak, but there is music playing through the entire thing.  In a sense, it’s almost like watching a ballet; nobody speaks, but the music and action blend together so well that you feel the story come alive before your eyes.  You’re never in question as to what is actually going on.  The cutaways to read dialogue and book passages are unnecessary to understand the plot; they add more to milieu than the plot.

Nosferatu is an adaptation of Dracula, and it’s one that I have to respect.  Vampires were being romanticized before Stephanie Meyers stepped in with Twilight; she just took the romance to the extreme.  What Nosferatu does is glory in the madness and terror of the vampire.  He is quick, strong, and monstrous, and the terror is that his victims are attracted to him.  Rather than fleeing his presence, if they’re not waiting by open windows for him like the Darling children for Peter Pan, they’re running to his coffin.  The ship scene in Act III is perfection in a horror sequence, where the victims are utterly hopeless and none left alive.

Right after that, I found the documentary These Amazing Shadows, a look at the National Film Registry formed by the Library of Congress.  Since 1989, up to 25 movies are added to the National Film Registry, meaning the Congress recognizes these movies as being important enough to record and keep as part of our nation’s artistic and cultural history.  As such, nothing under ten years will be considered.

The Registry includes an amazing variety; it’s not just beloved theatrical releases and old movies, but they also include home videos, documentaries, advertisements, and propaganda.  Anything that somehow represents our culture and still can impact us emotionally, mentally, and perhaps even spiritually, the way that all good art will do.

As These Amazing Shadows closed, I asked myself, If there is one movie I could add to the Registry, what would it be?  Odd enough, I would put down a commercial:  The Diet Coke commercial featuring the song “Starry Eyed Surprise.”  It’s a cute little show where a girl on roller skates gets everybody to skate and dance at sunset, with some very creative CGI magic involving bubbles that highlights doesn’t overwhelm the actors but enhances their performance.  I first saw this commercial in 2005 when I went to see The Island in theaters, and just last year I saw it again with my roommate watching some show, and it had lost none of its appeal.  It’s not only an effective ad and a lot of fun to watch (I want to dance every time I see it), it seems to encapsulate the joys of youth and the optimistic spirit we had in those days, supported by shameless commercialism.

What would you nominate for the National Film Registry to recognize?