UK premiere with live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand
We welcome pianist Neil Brand, one of the world’s leading accompanists for silent film, to Barbican Cinema 1 for what will without doubt become one of the landmark events of the 2017 UK film year. Neil will accompany Henri Fescourt’s seven hour adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Never before screened in the UK, and known until now only in a black & white version, it will be presented in a new restoration with all the riches of the various colour techniques employed by Fescourt in 1925 (tinting, toning, and mordanting). With its 365 chapters divided into 48 books and 5 volumes, Victor Hugo’s 1862 masterwork is perhaps the world’s most adapted novel, with upwards of 50 film adaptations since 1909, as well as innumerable stage productions, animation films, video games, and radio adaptations (including Orson Welles’ 1937 series in which he played the role of Jean Valjean). Among all these, however, it is not too much to surmise that Henri Fescourt’s 1925 version is the most faithful in every sense – to the narrative, the philosophy, the humanity, and the morality. Join us for this epic, landmark event.
France 1925-26 Dir. Henri Fescourt 397 min
For info:
· It’s never before been screened in the UK – it’s a UK premiere
· Only previously existed in a black & white version – now presented in a ravishing new restoration with all the original colour tints!
· Neil Brand will be playing for 397 minutes – an epic undertaking!
· Will be screened in 4 parts as director Henri Fescourt intended – with 3 refreshment breaks, including a one-hour dinner break between Parts 2 & 3
Barbican Cinema 1
Silk Street
London
EC2Y 8DS
Tubes: Barbican / Moorgate
British Silent Film Festival 