Sometimes there are films that surprise you by their dichotomy. You follow a story, become accustomed to the style and the narrative form, and all of a sudden something completely new begins. On the one hand, one can condemn this as inconsistency, or on the other hand as brilliant direction. It depends on the viewer’s preference. Lucretia Lombard, better described by its alternative title Flaming Passion, starts as a chamber play about a young woman’s unhappy relationship with an old gentleman. After she breaks free, the tone of the film changes completely and a passionate love story fully unfolds. The new storyline is set in the wilderness, where the drama slowly develops, culminating in a brilliantly staged tragic ending. The use of colour in the last sequences of this film is lavish and once again brings to light the visual power of silent film and how filmmakers staged action scenes by using the colour technologies available at that time.

Karl Wratschko

Audiences who have had the privilege of attending a screening of tinted prints know that the experience of a digital or Desmet print cannot compare to the impact made by authentic tinting. When one is fortunate enough to see an original print, there is an added element of emotion, created by the vibration of the graded colour. The tinting of these vintage prints travels through the space and time of the film and enhances the magnificent sharpness of the image. The advantage of 16mm diacetate is that we can project the original tinted prints in public without safety restrictions. The print presented here is unique in that it bears witness to the non-commercial nature of the inter-war period: the 1928 print is American, the inserted English-French intertitles come from the Canadian Kodascope library, and the titles at the beginning and end of the reels were added by the French subsidiary of Kodascope. The exceptional state of conservation of the print allows us to screen the film after having ensured its digital preservation.

Naeje Soquer and Benoît Carpentier