Be Natural - La storia mai raccontata di Alice Guy-Blaché

Pamela Green has done an incredible job showcasing the works of one of the most important figures in Cinema History, Alice Guy-Blache. From the clips of her films at Gaumont to her own studio Solax, Be Natural shines a light on a woman who for decades has been largely forgotten by mainstream audiences. One of my favorite scenes in the film was watching the attempts to recreate a couple of Alice Guy-Blache's films using the same camera she used. Using a camera that needed to be cranked at just the right speed to see real time speed on film makes you appreciate how much easier it is to film things today. As a student of film history, I want every moviegoer, whether they be casual or avid, to see this film and understand what Alice Guy-Blache contributed to the world of cinema. Pamela Green shows so many clips of unseen interviews with the director herself which gives you a good understanding of how she saw her own career. She's an inspiration to all aspiring filmmakers, women espeically. In the early 20th Century, Alice Guy-Blache was a woman who not only owned her own studio, but she was also a director, producer, screenwriter and actress to name a few. She also was one of the few who experimented with sound before Warner Bros perfected it with The Jazz Singer. She experimented with color tinting, special effects, and even had interracial casting which was unheard of at the time. Amazing job to everyone involved with this film, especially Pamela Green and a big thank you to the late great Alice Guy-Blache.

I went to see this film following a strong review in Melbourne (Australia). However, I thought that it was very poorly assembled as a film. It seemed that the film's makers were keen to include absolutely everything they could find, and the choice of order for all these clips was baffling as well as non-stop. I will be the first in the queue to see another film made to cover the astonishing life of Alice Guy-Blache - she deserves better than this attempt.

There is so much talk of the Hollywood Boys' Club and the lack of diversity right now. Anyone who cares should see this movie, about an early pioneer in the movies. A great untold story.

Just an amazing documentary with hilarious and wonderful surprises all through it. Amazing research and use of archival film. There is one point where they show a walking tour of the film locations in Paris from Alice Guy-Blache's films and superimpose the 100+ year old films over the streets in modern day. Never seen that effect used quite that way. It shows the documentarians share their subject's inventiveness. All the interviews with the film academic community, the film archivist community, as well as working directors and actors really paint a picture of a true pioneer. This woman was there at the very beginning, inventing the art form and the business model. A real history lesson as well, as it takes you through the industry's changes as the world went through two World Wars. You forget that it is Jodie Foster narrating because the subject is so interesting. A real labor of love, I can tell a lot of people gave their time to remembering Alice Guy-Blache.

I HAD heard of Guy-Blache, but then I have been a silent film geek for almost 50 years now. Have been catching what I can on-line of her work - so far, 1916 The Ocean Waif is the best, Doris Kenyon was a far more natural actress then Pickford or the Gish sisters based on that film.

I think that Simon could have skipped including so many phone interviews with distance relatives of Guy-Blache, (many of which could have used subtitles, I found them hard to understand) and included some longer clips of her actual films instead. It is obvious that a lot of work went into digging up information on Guy-Blache, and I appreciate it, but would rather have seen more of her work than her family life. Still, I gave it 9 out of 10 stars since the subject matter is so important to film history...and I LOVE the opening postcard collages that take the viewer back in time and across the ocean!