These Amazing Shadows Page #3

It's to sell magazines.

It's to get people arguing,

and that's what lists do.

The congressional language

setting up the registry was done...

by congressional staff back in

1988 and they used...

"culturally, historically

or aesthetically significant,"

which, we love that phrase because

it basically means almost anything.

Whoever came up with it,

I forget the person's name, the staffer,

but I'm forever thankful

because it does allow...

a lot of leverage in terms of

the sort of films we're able to pick

and put onto the registry and preserve.

Because of the 10-year rule,

we look at only films

that are 10 years old,

and that gives us

some space and some time.

And I tell ya what.

From his footprint,

he looks like a big fella.

You see something down there, chief?

No, I just think I'm gonna barf.

Why the 10 years?

Why not 50?

Why not five?

Why not one that just opened?

But I suppose it's to have

a little bit of a distance, which is proper.

Does the film have a lasting benefit?

Does it stand to history?

The idea is that here

is an arm of the U.S. government

saying that,

hey, some films are important.

They're part of the picture.

So you immediately confer upon them

a certain status and dignity.

Each year we do try to fashion

an eclectic list,

one that is also stand-alone

on its own merits.

If we pick 25 famous films one year

or 25 films no one had ever heard of each year,

then the list, to us,

would be a lot less useful.

The way we pick the national film registry

each year is a multi-stage process.

We start off by soliciting

public balloting.

So we take very seriously

what the public recommends.

They often recommend things

that nobody's even heard of.

We tabulate those results...

and send them to the members

of the film preservation board.

Each year a group of people,

representing all areas

of the industry and education

come together and recommend

to the Librarian of Congress

the films of enduring cultural, historical,

aesthetic importance.

People have their personal

campaigns, their pet films,

their pet causes,

and that's as it should be.

Having gone through the obvious choices...

Citizen Kane, Citizen Kane, Citizen Kane.

Rosebud.

Then the less obvious films

come up for discussion,

and that's where

the discussions get interesting.

This was really a good meeting,

and I've been on this board

since its inception.

In the early years, you knew

there were certain kinds of movies...

that were the sprocket-worn classics,

the great films,

they would be on the list,

and then you'd put in a couple more

that you hoped you would expand people's

consciousness about.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes