Archival Footage in ‘Men’ Reveals Armenia’s Fate

Tonight at 8 at L.A. Contemporary Exhibitions, Filmforum presents Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucci’s 70-minute “Men, Years, Life,” an awesomely beautiful and tragic account of the fate of Armenia at the hands of the Turks and the Soviets that is composed entirely of archival footage.

What the Milan-based filmmakers uncovered on a 1987 trip to Soviet Armenia was footage of the 1915 massacre, Russia’s attack on the Turks in 1916, the mass exodus of Armenians fleeing communist rule in 1918, sequences depicting the pomp and circumstance of a 1906 Romanov parade, and of the timeless routines of the daily life of Soviet Armenian fishermen in 1935. The film concludes with footage of the 1918 exodus.

The filmmakers were right in not trying to intersperse any contemporary footage in respect to the power of the original material, which has an inherent poetic quality further heightened by a measured pace created through step-printing. However, the film, which shifts between time and place throughout, could be far more accessible and involving if it had some form of spare narrative either spoken or via subtitles simply to keep the viewer properly oriented. Information: (213) 663-9568.

Roaring ‘20s Comedies: Patsy Ruth Miller is today best remembered for her Esmeralda opposite Lon Chaney’s Quasimodo in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923). Since that film is frequently revived, the Silent Movie will present, Wednesday at 8 p.m., a pair of breezy, unpretentious Roaring ‘20s romantic comedies, as well as a personal appearance by Miller. “The Gate Crasher” (1928) and “Painting the Town” (1927) teamed her with irrepressible comedian Glenn Tryon (who turned to writing, directing and producing with the advent of sound).

In the first, the pretty and vivacious Miller plays a movie star who crosses paths with sign-poster and would-be detective Tyron, who amid much “goofy nonsense”--to steal a phrase from a favorable contemporary review--tries to retrieve her stolen jewels. In the second, also directed by the capable William James Craft, Miller is a Follies beauty who helps gas station attendant/inventor Tryon launch, amid mayhem, his wonder car. Information: (213) 653-2389.

Classic at UCLA: UCLA continues its “Golden Classics of the Silver Screen” series in Royce Hall Friday at 7 p.m. with Rene Clair’s timelessly enchanting and hilarious 1927 adaptation of Eugene Labiche and March Michel’s durable stage comedy “The Italian Straw Hat,” which will be presented along with a live musical revue directed by John Hall.

A bridegroom (Albert Prejean) on his way to his wedding encounters a pair of lovers, a dashing officer (Vital Geymond) and his lover (Olga Tschekowa), a married woman, in the woods when his horse takes a bite out of the woman’s Leghorn hat. From this evolves a merry, complicated farce that has subtle fun with bourgeois propriety and materialism. The film is also a stylistic tour de force, meticulously re-creating the period’s decor, fashions and the look of the earliest cinema plus some inspired fantasy sequences. With organ accompaniment by Robert Israel. Information: (213) 825-9261.

Italian Silents: LACMA’s “Classics of the Italian Silent Cinema” continues Saturday at 8 p.m. in Bing Theater with Augusto Genina’s captivating 1922 “Cyrano Di Bergerac,” which is being presented in an amazing, pristine, hand-tinted print that does full justice to the film’s splendid locales and fine period atmosphere.

Considering the quantity of intertitles necessary to convey the essence of Rostand’s poetic dialogue (which has been translated deftly into Spanish as well as English), this “Cyrano” is remarkable alone for the verve and flow it sustains throughout these frequent interruptions. With an eloquent Pierre Magnier in the title role, the film has an easiness which makes it an exceptionally adroit adaptation of a play to the screen. Information: (213) 857-6010.