A different way of telling a story

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Early film history geeks will get the most out of this mockumentary. Forgotten Silver (1995) follows the misadventures of fictional film genius Colin McKenzie, who managed to pioneer sound film, color film, aviation, "Candid Camera" style shenanigans, and the feature film, only to never get his due.The presence of real archivists and historians complete the illusion that what we are watching is legit. The footage of the films are less convincing, much too mannered even by the heightened standards of the 1910s and 1920s. Much of the biography is hilarious too, underlined by a wry sense of silly humor, almost Forrest Gump like in the intersections of fiction and fact, like the changes the Soviet Union censors wanted to make to McKenzie's biblical epic or how he invented the close-up because of his infatuation with an actress.Still, my fellow film history nerds will get a big chuckle out of this!

The famous director, Peter Jackson, created a very dry and realistic mockumentary about a fictional movie pioneer from New Zealand. And, since he filmed it in such a serious manner, audiences who saw it didn't realize it was all a put-on. My oldest daughter says this is because the viewers were stupid, but frankly considering how realistic it all appeared, I can understand their confusion. He does not at any time relent to humor--always keeping the illusion that it's a real documentary. Even the wonderful "Zelig" is obviously a put-on (unless you are, like my daughter say, a 'total idiot'). Now this creates a bit of a problem. While this dry and realistic approach makes the film more remarkable for folks like me to watch, it also makes it pretty boring and unwatchable for the average viewer. I mean, I understood it was a put-on because I am a huge student of silent movies--but how many people today are?! And how many will even appreciate this? Not many, I assume. If you are a total film nut, then this is your film--otherwise, you'll probably find it tough going.By the way, what's wrong with Leonard Maltin's voice in this film? It sounds barely like him--was he sick?

I had never heard about this "documentary" before, so I saw it with an open mind.. So when the footage of the first flight around 31 of mars 1903 came, I thought; "Wow, is this for real, is what I was thought in school just bull"... Then I remembered that the documentary was made in 1995, and this I would have heard of... Anyway, it is a mindblower in a way, it makes ppl think how much you are influenced by these socalled serious documentaries.. Allways remember that movies, news and documentaries are made in the eyes of it`s maker..

****Warning, Spoilers*******Hopefully the success of Lord of the Rings will encourage more people to seek out this wonderful 1995 mockumentary. This short film not only showcases Peter Jackson's versatility as a director, but also acts as a tribute to the early pioneers of cimema. Yes, the whole thing is one big lie, but it's a lie which may just get casual viewers interested in the work of the likes of D.W. Griffith and the Lumiere brothers, who are regularly namechecked in the film.At first sight, the story of New Zealand film pioneer Colin McKenzie is completely convincing. Details of his life are intercut with real historical events such as the First World War and the Spanish Civil War. The footage from McKenzie's films looks authentically degraded, just as if it had been shot on primitive cameras a century ago. Peter Jackson and co narrate the story in a completely straight, documentary style, while the inclusion of interviews with real life industry figures such as Harvey Weinstein, Leonard Maltin and Sam Neil lends the film an air of absolute authenticity (so much so that, as the DVD making-of reveals, for 24 hours after the initial showing of the film on TV, New Zealand thought it had discovered a lost national hero). But then little doubts start to creep in, and this is where much of the humour is. To say any more would be to spoil it, but needless to say much of the fun in Forgotten Silver comes from the fact that Peter Jackson and Costa Botes were so successful in pulling the wool over everyone's eyes while at the same time including absolutely outrageous details in McKenzie's life.As a side note, it's interesting to note the similarities between McKenzie's epic production of Salome and Peter Jackson's real life epic of The Lord of the Rings, which was four years away from filming at the time of Forgotten Silver's release. Salome, the production of which makes the shooting of Apocalypse Now seem like the filming of an average episode of Friends, took it's creator five years to film, featured epic battle sequences and required a huge cast and the construction of massive sets in the New Zealand country side. Sound familiar? If nothing else, this is a spooky foreshadowing of Jackson's later career in one of his own films. Then again, maybe Jackson had always wanted to make an epic, but at that stage in his career had to settle for a fake one.Either way, Forgotten Silver is an utterly delightful, charming hoax which surely deserves a wider audience.Rating - 8/10