My Favourite Documentaries…(including some railway films)

My friend and colleague, Jaap, just asked me to compile a list of my favourite film documentaries on youtube. Here’s the list I posted to him…they’re not all railway films, but there are a few…I’ve made a note against the title of each film to warn anyone who isn’t that interested in trains…

The documentary form is about the only type of cinema in which Britain is recognise dinternationally as having made a real contribution…the potential of documentary was identified by Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays in the aftermath of WW1. The potential was enthusiastically embraced, in Britain, by Stephen Tallents of the Empire Marketing Board and, subsequently, the GPO.

I’ve written about this period of film and design history and worked with the Post Office Archive and Museum at Mount Pleasant in London.

That reminds me, they have their own underground railway!

My favourite film from this list is the GPO film, Night Mail, for its complete integration of image, movement, music and word…my second favourite is the French film, Pacific 231, by Jean Mitry…the opening sequence of this film is brilliant, with its machine-noise soundtrack antipating the kling-klang of Kraftwerk…

I’ve posted before about Pacific 231, here

http://bagdcontext.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2011/06/19/image-et-son-mitry-honneger/

and about Night Mail, here

http://bagdcontext.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2014/02/16/night-mail-1936/