Behind the Screen

Some films make history, some try to re-write it, and some invent it from scratch. The films considered here are those made by history. They are products of different societies at special moents of their evolution. Their words, images and sounds portray the features and details of those societies: their appearance, habits and rituals; their cities and countryside; morals and manners; work and ways of dealing with conflicts. These movies also have a lot to say about film-making. The stories told here highlight how it was done, who it was done by and for, how it set out to entertain, enlighten and at times change minds; and what brought it success with audiences. Film has contributed hugely to the way in which people imagine their own times. The collective memory of the 20th century's wars is inseparable from the films they created, for example. At the same time, social commentary in the form of film has created unsettling and revealing narratives of how we live, searching out the dark places of the heart and providing a sharp antidote to the tendency to romanticize the past.