Best tips for things you have to see in a foreign city are always given at 2 AM in the morning in another far away city, this one came from @emmapersky and @emp one rainy night in London, that there is a film theater in San Francisco that plays silent movies with live background music.
- Image by Gandalfar via Flickr
I totally forgot about this until I noticed posters for The San Francisco Silent Film festival across the city, with a bit of good luck I then managed to go and see a show – The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by Jean Epstein and based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe.
I don’t know much about surrealism and the movies of the time, but I truly enjoyed the whole experience around the movie. Castro Theater is a beautiful old theater that makes the whole experience very authentic. In addition to that, lots of people in the audience dressed-up in the clothes from the era making it even more magical.
The film was accompanied by by a pianist, who made such a good effort that it felt like it was a really well produced soundtrack that was part of the movie. Additional narration and translation of subtitles into English (they were in French) made it also very unique.
- Image by Gandalfar via Flickr
I still haven’t found the original Silent theater location, but this was close enough. Go see a silent movie next time a festival is in town, it’s magical.
