Turn off the sound!
Feb 2, 2013 4:53:22 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2013 4:53:22 GMT -5
The sound revolution can be conveniently dated from October 1927. Within three or four years, thousands of cinematographic halls in Europe were wired for sound using technology cross-licensed from the Northern American giants, and showed mostly Northern American films. In the Soviet Union and Japan, and also in Latin America, the introduction of sound was slower, and encountered various forms of resistance.
The Soviet Union's difficulties with sound were mainly technological. Æsthetic objections to the dialogue-film by Eisenstein and Pudoffkin carried little weight, but the economic and technical difficulty of installing sound equipment throughout the vast and underdeveloped country-side meant that silent versions of films continued to be made in Russia for showing in rural areas well into the 1930s. In Japan, on the other hand, a strong tradition of oral accompaniment of films by the "benshi" - actors who spoke the parts and commented on the action - delayed the introduction of sound, even though there were no technological problems to be overcome. Meanwhile, in Latin America, audiences rightly rebelled against dialogue in French or English, and if the film was not spoken in Spanish (or, in the case of Brazil, in Portuguese), they angrily demanded the sound be turned off.
The Soviet Union's difficulties with sound were mainly technological. Æsthetic objections to the dialogue-film by Eisenstein and Pudoffkin carried little weight, but the economic and technical difficulty of installing sound equipment throughout the vast and underdeveloped country-side meant that silent versions of films continued to be made in Russia for showing in rural areas well into the 1930s. In Japan, on the other hand, a strong tradition of oral accompaniment of films by the "benshi" - actors who spoke the parts and commented on the action - delayed the introduction of sound, even though there were no technological problems to be overcome. Meanwhile, in Latin America, audiences rightly rebelled against dialogue in French or English, and if the film was not spoken in Spanish (or, in the case of Brazil, in Portuguese), they angrily demanded the sound be turned off.