New Zealanders Peter Jackson and Costa Botes conspired to create this witty mockumentary about Colin MacKenzie, a fictional film pioneer who, in the early 1900s, invented the tracking shot, the close-up, color film, and the talkie. MacKenzie's colorful career centered around the making of his three-hour epic masterpiece, SALOME, for which he single-handedly rebuilt the city of Jerusalem in the jungles of remotest New Zealand. The documentary film team sets out in search of MacKenzie's lost city and unexpectedly discovers a mysterious tomb in which he buried reels and reels of his work to prevent the mob and maybe even the Soviets (two of his backers) from gaining possession of it.
Appearing as themselves are actor Sam Neill, film critic Leonard Maltin, and Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein, who enthusiastically (and with remarkably straight faces) liken MacKenzie to Orson Welles and D. W. Griffith. Co-directors Jackson and Botes's hoax was so effective that, when the film was first shown on New Zealand television, many viewers thought they really were seeing a documentary on the exploits of a hitherto undiscovered cinematic genius.
(36 votes)
2.
This dryly funny mockumentary about the lost work of a pioneering New Zealand film genius is probably one of the best examples of the faux-documentary genre. In fact, it was so successful that when it originally aired on New Zealand television, hundreds of viewers bought the premise hook, line, and sinker. If you didn't know any better yourself, it's entirely possible you might be duped into believing the extremely tall tale of one Colin MacKenzie, an ambitious filmmaker who made the world's first talking movie (years before The Jazz Singer), invented color film, and created a huge biblical epic that would put Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith to shame. Filmmaker Peter Jackson (Heavenly Creatures) shrewdly inserts himself into the film via his documentation of the "discovery" of McKenzie's lost epic, which for years was preserved in a garden shed. This hidden gold mine, which Jackson likens to finding Citizen Kane in an attic, will forever rewrite the history of film--a fact to which both critic Leonard Maltin and studio exec Harvey Weinstein eagerly attest. Jackson chronicles MacKenzie's fame through newspaper accounts, still photos, and keenly inventive footage showing both the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of MacKenzie's Salome as well as clips from that crowning film achievement; if you don't believe the filmmakers, actor Sam Neill is on hand to vouch for its importance. Jackson has the self-importance of film documentaries down pat, from the "re-creations" of past events through photos and voiceovers (the film's narration is properly stentorian), and never tips his hand once through the interviews with film historians as well as MacKenzie's "wife." Even nonfilm historians and aficionados will be won over by Jackson's subtle humor and inventiveness--you'll remember the story of Colin MacKenzie for a long time to come. -Mark Englehart
(36 votes)
3.
"A work of demented genius…insidiously clever!" -Seattle Times
When director Peter Jackson discovers a cache of ancient nitrate in a neighbor's shed he realizes he has found "the most extraordinary collection of films I had never heard of. Imagine if Citizen Kane suddenly came out of the blue!"
So begins this insidiously funny, yet utterly believable "mockumentary" which uncovers the life of one Colin McKenzie, film pioneer and inventor extraordinaire in early 1900s New Zealand. The young genius McKenzie had invented motion picture cameras, color film, sync sound, tracking shots, and many other important cinematic techniques -- before the likes of D.W. Griffith and the Lumiere brothers. His Biblical epic Salome, for which he recreated ancient Jerusalem in the New Zealand jungle, is now recognized as a masterpiece of early cinema.
Featuring actor Sam Neill, film critic Leonard Maltin, and a cast of thousands, Forgotten Silver is "endearing and hilarious…a devilish ride straight into the heart of movie love!" (LA Weekly)
(33 votes)
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