6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
This meditation on cinema’s past from Decasia director Bill Morrison pieces together the bizarre true history of a long-lost collection of 533 nitrate film prints from the early 1900s. Located just south of the Arctic Circle, Dawson City was settled in 1896 and became the center of the Canadian Gold Rush that brought 100,000 prospectors to the area. It was also the final stop for a distribution chain that sent prints and newsreels to the Yukon. The films were seldom, if ever, returned. The now-famous Dawson City Collection was uncovered in 1978 when a bulldozer working its way through a parking lot dug up a horde of film cans. Morrison draws on these permafrost-protected, rare silent films and newsreels, pairing them with archival footage, interviews, historical photographs, and an enigmatic score by Sigur Rós collaborator and composer Alex Somers. Dawson City: Frozen Time depicts the unique history of this Canadian Gold Rush town by chronicling the life cycle of a singular film collection through its exile, burial, rediscovery, and salvation.
Starring: Kathy Jones-Gates, Michael Gates, Sam Kula, Bill O'Farrell, Chris 'Mad Dog' RussoDocumentary | 100% |
History | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.32:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Cineastes will surely respond to “Dawson City: Frozen Time” with utter joy, as it details a film distribution discovery previously thought impossible. The tale takes place in Dawson City, a remote Canadian town near the Yukon River, where, in the mid-1970s, a routine excavation project managed to unearth 533 film reels from the permafrost, exposing cans of nitrate film to the sun after 50 years, gifting the National Archive of Canada a treasure trove of lost cinema and footage of history. While the discovery occurred 40 years ago, director Bill Morrison endeavors to summarize not only the unearthing and ensuing restoration effort, but the very history of Dawson City itself, turning what initially seems to be a picture about a film preservation miracle into an offering of history captured in the moment.
The AVC encoded image (1.32:1 aspect ratio) presentation is largely made up of Dawson Film Find selections, which has been restored as much as possible, with most offerings still suffering from pronounced damage. Clarity on the footage and archival photographs reaches as far as it can, providing a dimensional look at documentary and dramatic offerings, permitting pauseable moments. Images are also filmic. Color is sparse but precise, and delineation is sharp.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix is only bookended by narration and interview footage, and voice come through defined. The majority of the listening experience is spent with scoring efforts from Alex Somers, delivering precise instrumentation and a heavier presence as dramatic movement reach intensity. Surrounds help to fill the room, but separation isn't utilized.
The nitty gritty on the Dawson Film Find isn't a priority to Morrison, who bookends the documentary with information about the excavation and general processing of the collection, which took some expert observations before the uniqueness of what was pulled out of the permafrost was defined. This may be a source of frustration for some viewers looking for a more procedural documentary on the salvaging of damaged footage and identification of the rarity of the find. Outside of a lengthy study of the dangers of nitrate film, "Dawson City: Frozen Time" remains on the surface when it comes to behind the scenes examination and negotiation. However, a lack of geekery is understandable, with Morrison investing more in history and the slow crawl of time to understand what the Dawson Film Find was all about, taking in the nuances of a burgeoning community and its fight for survival as fortunes were collected and lost, and the power of cinema became a shared experience for those in need of comfort, wonder, and nationwide connection.
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